I think we all knew from the first article in the Daily Sun that Marcus Welby was a fictional character who portrayed the reality of doctors who do care and do spend time talking with patients to know more about them.
I have doctors and know others who do care and want to spend time with patients....but the cost of doing business in light of low insurance/medicare/medicaid reimbursement does not always permit that. And if you think private insurers pay a lot more than medicare does, think again. What private insurers often call "reasonable and customary" charges are often what Medicare pays...which is below cost to the clinicians.
"Marcus Welby" isn't what we're looking for. It's the concept, Stupid.
And the ad slogan "Marcus Welby" was chosen to remind us of the concept to keep in front of the discussion....when talk of healthcare financing sucks up all the public attention and the concept gets lost in the wrangling about "who pays?".
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