World Class President Ronald Reagan knew back in 1961 that government involvement in healthcare would be the downfall of our system. In his famous recording, he stated:
“[T]he relationship between patient and doctor in this country is something to be envied any place. The privacy, the care that is given to a person, the right to choose a doctor, the right to go from one doctor to the other.
But let’s also look from the other side, at the freedom the doctor loses. A doctor would be reluctant to say this. Well, like you, I am only a patient, so I can say it in his behalf. The doctor begins to lose freedoms.”
And under Obamacare, that’s exactly what is happening. Burdensome regulations, endless paperwork, numerous compliances – doctors are losing the freedom to practice medicine as they see fit. With government bureaucracy becoming a costly permanent fixture, it’s easy to see why physicians are closing their private practices, or even worse, hanging up their white coats for good.
Michigan resident Brian knows all too well how the new healthcare law is adversely affecting the field. He lost both of his doctors, citing “Obamacare was the straw that broke the camel’s back” for them.
“The first to be affected was my private-practice cardiologist. He had invested in new diagnostic equipment, and in our casual conversation, he alluded to the challenge of covering the costs of doing business when Medicare and insurance reimbursements were not keeping up with the cost to provide quality care in the manner he and his patients expected,” explained Brian. “I received a letter from him, informing all his patients that he was closing his practice.”
While losing the cardiologist who has treated him since his heart attack in 2007 was difficult, it was even more painful to forego the 30-plus year relationship that he has established with his primary care physician.
“My primary care physician, also in private practice, had similar complaints about the divergence between reimbursements and the cost of doing business. He felt Obamacare was going to make the situation far worse and was going to inhibit his ability to practice patient-centered medicine,” Brian stated.
Joining the growing trend among doctors, Brian’s physician changed the nature of his practice and became associated with MDVIP, a type of concierge medicine.
“The cost just to remain a patient of his was $120 per person per month – unaffordable for us,” said Brian.
Due to his doctor’s thoughtful planning, Brian fortunately did not have to undergo the arduous process of finding a new practitioner, which can be difficult as a Medicare patient.
“We were very fortunate. My primary physician brought an additional person [a doctor of Osteopathic] into his clinic to handle those [of us] who weren’t going to continue with him. We got lucky there,” Brian stated.
Seeing how many seniors are struggling to find care in a shrinking pool of Medicare doctors, Brian admitted, “Our story has a good ending, but I understand the dilemma that many people are finding themselves in – I certainly feel for their situation.”
For both of his doctors, he noted that there is a common theme, “It was the red tape – having to fight for the reimbursements and having to justify procedures prior to performing them. It was the overall increasing burden on a small privately-owned practice.”
Doctors are losing freedom, and patients are losing their doctors. Maybe this is why President Reagan in his wisdom said, “[T]he doctor’s fight against socialized medicine is your fight.”
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