[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by jimjamuser

It is obvious what we are doing wrong by looking at that list. The US is the only non-National Health Care country. The US has too many middle-men in its system.

No, that's not it. Here:

We have a much higher level of technology
We have a population that wants everything done (but doesn't want to pay for it)
We have way too many lawyers and don't cap malpractice awards
We spend 70% of our health care dollars on people in their last 6 months of life.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

We spend 70% of our health care dollars on people in their last 6 months of life.

Back in 1990, the race for the Mass Governorship, was between 2 very smart men, neither of them experienced politicians. Bill Weld vs John Silber. John Silber was the President of Boston University (the famous school that AOC graduated from).

Silber lost by a hair. One of the most famous sound bites from that election, was when John Silber said:

".... old people have an obligation to die".

His contention of course, was that we can continue to subsidize "death watches" as we do.

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

One of the most famous sound bites from that election, was when John Silber said:

".... old people have an obligation to die".

His contention of course, was that we can continue to subsidize "death watches" as we do.

If people were executed at 65, that would certainly take care of the problem of social security running out of money in a few years. I would have taken mine at 62 - even with the lower payout!

And it would be easier to get a tee time!

But housing prices would probably fall because of a decreased demand.

However, you can expect some pushback.

Against a Duty To Die | Journal of Ethics | American Medical Association

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Greatlawn

I don't know this first hand but a friend who consulted small medical practices for efficiency and profitability told me that to break even a primary care physician had to see minimum 32 patients a day. At 15 minutes per appointment that works out to eight hours. Most of my appointments with the Dr are 10 minutes or less. I don't know if they get paid for referrals to specialists or hospitalizations, that would be an interesting subject.

Glad nobody I know ever used that "consultant". At least if they only "broke even", there'd be nothing left to pay for that advice, which is what it is worth.

At 32 patients/day,5 days/week, office-based practice only and a normal insurance and coding mix a primary care physician would do just fine.

Just as a ballpark estimate, he would generate about $850K in billing, collect about $750K, pay 50% overhead and leave about $375K pre-tax income. Just "a little" better than "break even"

And no, physicians are not paid for referrals to specialists any more than they get "kickbacks" from pharmaceutical companies, believe in the Easter Bunny, or any of the other ridiculous accusations that float around on the internet.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

No, that's not it. Here:

We have a much higher level of technology
We have a population that wants everything done (but doesn't want to pay for it)
We have way too many lawyers and don't cap malpractice awards
We spend 70% of our health care dollars on people in their last 6 months of life.

I would also add the higher cost for prescription drugs.