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Politics : A US National Health Care System? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (6596)	4/4/2009 11:40:52 AM
From: i-node	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 42652

This is a fact and it really shoots a hole in the argument that government run health care will reduce costs because government would then be able to negotiate pricing downward. What you'll do is simply drive physicians to other, more lucrative fields of study. It is a simple truth: Physicians lose money on every Medicare patient they see. They see Medicare patients for one of three reasons -- a) In a new practice, docs need all the patients they can get to help cover the fixed operating costs; b) As a public service; or c) They don't understand that they are losing money on them. That's it. No other reason. The reimbursement rates are insanely low. Specialists, in particular, are in a position to just say, "No, thanks", and some -- particularly in the cities, are doing it.