Quote:
Originally Posted by ThirdOfFive
Like some who have posted, I have no problem being seen by a P.A. I DO have a problem paying Doctor prices for P.A. service.
That said, I recognize that America has a doctor shortage particularly in non-specialist areas, so I believe that seeing a P.A. instead of a doctor will be more and more frequent.
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I had a total hip replacement four months ago. The hospital and the doctors and physical therapists combined billed around $100,000. I have Medicare backed up with Blue Cross. The two combined paid about ten cents on the dollar and didn’t allow most of those charges to be passed on to me. I’ve been personally billed, I think, $233. My surgeon was paid about $2,500, and out of that he has to pay his staff and pay for his office building. The physical therapists got about $35 from insurance for each intensive two hour session and I paid nothing. They could probably make more money giving massages or manicures. I don’t really see how doctors and hospitals stay in business given what they are paid by insurance. I do understand why it’s a nurse who generally takes my blood pressure and goes through my meds and medical history and all, which the doctor then looks at on an iPad. I’m glad that so much of medical history-taking is now done with the aid of computer programs that advise what questions to ask. This lets doctors who ranked low in their graduating class discover problems that used to be noticed only by the best diagnosticians. It lets nurses and PAs do much the same while keeping down health care costs.