Doctors, Insurance and Lawyers, Oh My!
By Brad Snyder
The seven year old girl told her mom, “A boy in my class asked me to play doctor.” The horrified mother gasped, “What did he do to you honey?” “Nothing, he made me wait 45 minutes and then double-billed the insurance company.” We all know jokes about doctors, but the problem with health care in America is no laughing matter. The major cause for the decline in America’s health care involves its change from a benevolent service to a highly-profitable conglomeration. Proponents of our health care system in America claim we have the best system in the world. I disagree. I say we have the most expensive.
This past Thursday, the senate passed a medical Malpractice bill that limited “pain and suffering” awards in malpractice law suits to $250,000. This goes along with President Bush’s promise to fix our ailing health care industry. The problem as he sees it is frivolous law suits, but he doesn't go nearly far enough. Who benefits the most with his resolve? Doctors! Who can be blamed for much of what is wrong? Doctors! If you could see all the waste, abuse and fraud that go on in medical offices that I see everyday, your head would hurt. (Take two aspirins, and call me in the morning. That will be $150.00 please).
Guns don't kill people…doctors do. Out of the 700,000 doctors in America, there are approximately 160,000 wrongful deaths each year, that’s not counting errors where fatalities do not occur. This means, statistically speaking, approximately 22% of doctors cause injury and death rather than life. The most complex of brain or heart surgeries take place every day without a written protocol, because doctors think they are all knowing and all wise. The number of doctor errors that take place on a daily basis suggests otherwise. Why is President Bush protecting doctors, when he should be protecting you and I.
When doctors and lobbyist at the AMA complain about high malpractice insurance rates, they mean their net income is not as large as they think they deserve. Doctors should stop getting mad at lawyers, and start getting mad at doctors who make mistakes. How often do we hear a doctor speaking out about another doctor?
It is my view that doctors should never have been made the richest kids on the block. Money has corrupted these public servants. They used to be the most respected because they could be counted on to be there, in our time of need, but not anymore. Try going to the hospital in the middle of the night. Most nurses will refuse to wake their ogre superiors, and if they do, God help their poor soul. Physicians’ claim that they are in their profession to “help people” should be looked upon with skepticism. More likely, they're in it for their pocket books and stock portfolios. The real problem with Health care can be summed up in one word: “Greed”.
Aside from their inflated salaries, not all excess can be attributed to MDs. Consider Leonard Schaffer, Chairman of Wellpoint, Inc., the largest health insurance company in the U.S. He makes a whopping $46 million a year, and this doesn't include perks and retirement benefits. Compare that to $600,000, a high end salary for a vascular surgeon. Small peanuts, huh? Companies like WellPoint claim to keep their costs low for the purpose of not overcharging the public with high insurance premiums. But last year, the top six health insurers alone received approximately $150 billion in premiums and paid out only $90 billion in claims. This $60 billion differential is enough money to pay the health care premiums for the 40 million people in the United States who can't afford insurance.
Many Health insurance companies disallow physicians to perform treatment based upon the insurance company’s financial criteria. They systematically deny payment for legitimate claims, and purposefully misrepresent the amount of coverage the insured should receive. A common insurance company practice pays bonuses to claim assessors to meet claims-denial quotas. For many of these reasons, lawsuits against insurance companies are prosecuted under the RICO Act (Racketeering Influenced and Corruption Organization Act). In other words, the insurance world is made up of thugs who might make John Gotti look like a choir boy.
Now, enter lawyers. There are 5 lawyers in a Suburban, and it’s about to drive over a cliff. What’s wrong with this picture? Suburbans seat 8. It used to be that personal injury lawyers crept from their netherworld when someone in a car was rear ended. These low life lawyers were looked upon as outcasts by the legal community, but not anymore. Now we have personal injury lawyers everywhere, and the money they make is obscene. The award sought in a current fast food obesity case is $480 Million. These lawyers aren't just chasing ambulances anymore. They're suing the pants off Joe Camel and Ronald McDonald. Now, when I try to buy a Quarter Pounder with cheese, it costs me $86.95. Ok, I exaggerate, but we consumers pay the price for these petty law suits. No doubt, much of this legal exploitation is absorbed into our healthcare and insurance costs.
If given the chance to further confound the problems of healthcare, Liberal-with-my-money Hillary’s solution is constitutional “insurance for all”. As horrible as this sounds, I am more in line with Hillary than I am the President. Our constitution gives us the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is in our control, but life and health are not. I believe it is the federal government’s responsibility to procure good healthcare for all citizens. Everyone should have access to medication and healthcare without concern for quality of care, because withholding healthcare is a crime against humanity.
I part with Hillary in that this should not be done at taxpayer’s expense. Doctors, lawyers, and insurance companies along with pharmaceutical companies should be made to renovate this impairment they alone have fashioned. It’s their screw up, they must fix it. The government might act as enforcer and perhaps even mandate price controls for medication and medical services. But much has been given to these highly paid professionals of the healthcare industry. It’s time they give back from their pots of gold, in their land of plenty. Doctors should be “encouraged” to volunteer their time and labor in free medical clinics and hospitals primarily for the uninsured. Those who cooperate can be enticed with lucrative tax breaks. Those who do not will face salary caps.
Like auto insurance, health insurance should be required by law. But for those who can not afford it, catastrophic and emergency health care (not health insurance) should be provided by the generosity of participating medical providers. Medicaid qualifications would be the rule de facto for participants of this free medical service. Can you imagine insurance execs, doctors and lawyers working together for the common good of their fellow man? A pipe dream? Naïve? Over simplified? Perhaps, but the dream is far greater than the nightmare we currently have, and anything else Washington has on the table.
Brad Snyder
As a former collegiate football player, Brad graduated from Evangel College of Springfield, Missouri, in 1982, with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and Economics. His occupation has been divided between careers as a stock broker, Director of Business Development for a commercial insurance brokerage firm, and most recently financial management within the healthcare industry. While using the podium of various Internet message boards, he discovered an appetite for engaging Liberals in the "warfare of words". Stemming from his sometimes overly zealous demeanor and passionate, "take-no-prisoner" approach, he has been labeled by some as angry and others a rebel. At present, as a contributing writer, his work can be read at TheRant.us, PeoplePolitical.org, and TheConservativeVoice.com, among others. Website Link and Email Address
The seven year old girl told her mom, “A boy in my class asked me to play doctor.” The horrified mother gasped, “What did he do to you honey?” “Nothing, he made me wait 45 minutes and then double-billed the insurance company.” We all know jokes about doctors, but the problem with health care in America is no laughing matter. The major cause for the decline in America’s health care involves its change from a benevolent service to a highly-profitable conglomeration. Proponents of our health care system in America claim we have the best system in the world. I disagree. I say we have the most expensive.
This past Thursday, the senate passed a medical Malpractice bill that limited “pain and suffering” awards in malpractice law suits to $250,000. This goes along with President Bush’s promise to fix our ailing health care industry. The problem as he sees it is frivolous law suits, but he doesn't go nearly far enough. Who benefits the most with his resolve? Doctors! Who can be blamed for much of what is wrong? Doctors! If you could see all the waste, abuse and fraud that go on in medical offices that I see everyday, your head would hurt. (Take two aspirins, and call me in the morning. That will be $150.00 please).
Guns don't kill people…doctors do. Out of the 700,000 doctors in America, there are approximately 160,000 wrongful deaths each year, that’s not counting errors where fatalities do not occur. This means, statistically speaking, approximately 22% of doctors cause injury and death rather than life. The most complex of brain or heart surgeries take place every day without a written protocol, because doctors think they are all knowing and all wise. The number of doctor errors that take place on a daily basis suggests otherwise. Why is President Bush protecting doctors, when he should be protecting you and I.
When doctors and lobbyist at the AMA complain about high malpractice insurance rates, they mean their net income is not as large as they think they deserve. Doctors should stop getting mad at lawyers, and start getting mad at doctors who make mistakes. How often do we hear a doctor speaking out about another doctor?
It is my view that doctors should never have been made the richest kids on the block. Money has corrupted these public servants. They used to be the most respected because they could be counted on to be there, in our time of need, but not anymore. Try going to the hospital in the middle of the night. Most nurses will refuse to wake their ogre superiors, and if they do, God help their poor soul. Physicians’ claim that they are in their profession to “help people” should be looked upon with skepticism. More likely, they're in it for their pocket books and stock portfolios. The real problem with Health care can be summed up in one word: “Greed”.
Aside from their inflated salaries, not all excess can be attributed to MDs. Consider Leonard Schaffer, Chairman of Wellpoint, Inc., the largest health insurance company in the U.S. He makes a whopping $46 million a year, and this doesn't include perks and retirement benefits. Compare that to $600,000, a high end salary for a vascular surgeon. Small peanuts, huh? Companies like WellPoint claim to keep their costs low for the purpose of not overcharging the public with high insurance premiums. But last year, the top six health insurers alone received approximately $150 billion in premiums and paid out only $90 billion in claims. This $60 billion differential is enough money to pay the health care premiums for the 40 million people in the United States who can't afford insurance.
Many Health insurance companies disallow physicians to perform treatment based upon the insurance company’s financial criteria. They systematically deny payment for legitimate claims, and purposefully misrepresent the amount of coverage the insured should receive. A common insurance company practice pays bonuses to claim assessors to meet claims-denial quotas. For many of these reasons, lawsuits against insurance companies are prosecuted under the RICO Act (Racketeering Influenced and Corruption Organization Act). In other words, the insurance world is made up of thugs who might make John Gotti look like a choir boy.
Now, enter lawyers. There are 5 lawyers in a Suburban, and it’s about to drive over a cliff. What’s wrong with this picture? Suburbans seat 8. It used to be that personal injury lawyers crept from their netherworld when someone in a car was rear ended. These low life lawyers were looked upon as outcasts by the legal community, but not anymore. Now we have personal injury lawyers everywhere, and the money they make is obscene. The award sought in a current fast food obesity case is $480 Million. These lawyers aren't just chasing ambulances anymore. They're suing the pants off Joe Camel and Ronald McDonald. Now, when I try to buy a Quarter Pounder with cheese, it costs me $86.95. Ok, I exaggerate, but we consumers pay the price for these petty law suits. No doubt, much of this legal exploitation is absorbed into our healthcare and insurance costs.
If given the chance to further confound the problems of healthcare, Liberal-with-my-money Hillary’s solution is constitutional “insurance for all”. As horrible as this sounds, I am more in line with Hillary than I am the President. Our constitution gives us the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Happiness is in our control, but life and health are not. I believe it is the federal government’s responsibility to procure good healthcare for all citizens. Everyone should have access to medication and healthcare without concern for quality of care, because withholding healthcare is a crime against humanity.
I part with Hillary in that this should not be done at taxpayer’s expense. Doctors, lawyers, and insurance companies along with pharmaceutical companies should be made to renovate this impairment they alone have fashioned. It’s their screw up, they must fix it. The government might act as enforcer and perhaps even mandate price controls for medication and medical services. But much has been given to these highly paid professionals of the healthcare industry. It’s time they give back from their pots of gold, in their land of plenty. Doctors should be “encouraged” to volunteer their time and labor in free medical clinics and hospitals primarily for the uninsured. Those who cooperate can be enticed with lucrative tax breaks. Those who do not will face salary caps.
Like auto insurance, health insurance should be required by law. But for those who can not afford it, catastrophic and emergency health care (not health insurance) should be provided by the generosity of participating medical providers. Medicaid qualifications would be the rule de facto for participants of this free medical service. Can you imagine insurance execs, doctors and lawyers working together for the common good of their fellow man? A pipe dream? Naïve? Over simplified? Perhaps, but the dream is far greater than the nightmare we currently have, and anything else Washington has on the table.
Brad Snyder
As a former collegiate football player, Brad graduated from Evangel College of Springfield, Missouri, in 1982, with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration and Economics. His occupation has been divided between careers as a stock broker, Director of Business Development for a commercial insurance brokerage firm, and most recently financial management within the healthcare industry. While using the podium of various Internet message boards, he discovered an appetite for engaging Liberals in the "warfare of words". Stemming from his sometimes overly zealous demeanor and passionate, "take-no-prisoner" approach, he has been labeled by some as angry and others a rebel. At present, as a contributing writer, his work can be read at TheRant.us, PeoplePolitical.org, and TheConservativeVoice.com, among others. Website Link and Email Address
8 Comments:
Well if you like completely over simplified drivel then maybe the rant by Brad Edwards suits your style. Of course he doesnt bother to research any facts to back up his outrageous claims.
Doctors incomes when measured against inflation have been FLAT SINCE 1985.
Doctors incomes are not the reason healthcare has gotten so expensive. Try looking at the huge overhead created by managed care HMOs. These middle men are what have driven up costs, not doctors.
Doctors are among the most highly regulated income earners in the nation. 95% of doctors incomes is derived from 3rd parties (i.e. insurance, government). Doctors already face de facto caps on their income. All insurance companies tie their reimbursements to Medicaid/Medicare.
As a comparison, consider dentists. Unlike doctors, they work in the free market, and on average dentists earn more than primary care doctors. Thats one indicator that doctors are actually UNDERPAID compared to a purely free market. Healthcare is not a free market, and doctors have to take whatever reimbursement the insurance companies and government offers. Dentists on the other hand, can rely on patients to pay out of pocket. Only 10% of medical care dollars are paid out of pocket, compared to 44% for dental care.
It is my view that doctors should never have been made the richest kids on the block.
I would venture to say that greedy people typically do not go into medicine. They go into business or law, where they can make more money with less time and effort.
Boy this seems personal. I am so sorry that you had such negative experiences with certain individuals in the past... they represent the professions that should hold a sacred trust within a society.
I doubt any physician or lawyer would complain too much about their income, but it is somewhat disingenuous to use the high end to misrepresent where the middling median... the average physician makes 150,000, only slightly more than the average attorney. Comfortable, but hardly a sporting salary.
There is an awful lot wrong in healthcare. Consumer expectations, insurance companies and a pace of change that outstrips phsycians' ability to adapt among them.
The writer of this rant interestingly fails to discuss the failure of insurance companies to correctly and properly invest their monies. Repeatedly, studies have shown that the reason insurance companies continue to raise their malpractice premiums is because of downward spirals in investment decisions. The stock martket has a downward spiral and so too does a malpractice insurance company. Those companies that fail to correctly identify and create financial reserves for their expected losses must look to their policy holders to make up any differences they must pay out.
The rant described above does point out that doctors are responsible for other doctors. However he again fails to point out that medical societies and State and County health organizations and disciplinary committees take a very long time to investigate any allegation and even when they do, it's rare for them to revoke a physician's license.
By the way, what doctor do you know gets up at 2:00 a.m. in the morning to deliver a baby and says to themselves, "Gee, how can I screw up this baby's life and the mother's life, since I have nothing else to do at this hour of the morning?" The other comment he made was correct...that many businessmen earn far greater than any physician ever will. Why is there no public outcry about the money that CEO's earn- especially CEO's of insurance companies?
In any event, he states, "Ok, I exaggerate, but we consumers pay the price for these petty law suits." Again, he fails to identify or even comment on what is a frivolous lawsuit, and he never mentions anything about how important it is for a seriously injured individual to seek compensation for their injuries.
Many are quick to label a publicized lawsuit as 'frivolous' or not. Yet you haven't heard any evidence; you haven't taken testimony; you haven't seen what the experts have seen and evaluated. Do you think that those five lawyers in the suburban would deserve to be compensated because of a careless car mechanic who fixed the suburban andleft his $86.00 big mac sandwhich inside the engine while being distracted, which caused the engine to seize just as it was passing a truck on a two lane highway?
Get real, and if you're going to talk about your opinions, please make sure your facts are accurate and you include all the facts. Selective discussion only further distorts the issue and gives folks who are not informed on the issue a distorted viewpoint.
Insurers Earn $28 Billion! in First Three Quarters of 2004.
I urge you to read the article published by the insurance journal, http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2005/02/28/51997.htm. After reading these articles, you decide for yourself if the problem is with the lawyers and the injured victims, or with the insurance companies and big businesses.
The post-residency life of a general practitioner: 50-60 hour weeks (plus nights and weekends at times), $200,000+ yearly overhead, and no employer intiated pensions. Not to mention close to $100,000 in med school debt.
And this is usually around the age of 30 to 35, after 8 years of intensive schooling and usually at least 3 years of residency.
"Tracking the fortunes of graduates of medical schools, law schools, and business schools with comparable entering grade-point averages, he found that the annual rate of return by the time they reach middle age is sixteen per cent per year in primary-care medicine, eighteen per cent in surgery, twenty-three per cent in law, and twenty-six per cent in business."
Medicine is becoming indentured servitude.
The post-residency life of a general practitioner: 50-60 hour weeks (plus nights and weekends at times), $200,000+ yearly overhead, and no employer intiated pensions. Not to mention close to $100,000 in med school debt.
And this is usually around the age of 30 to 35, after 8 years of intensive schooling and usually at least 3 years of residency.
"Tracking the fortunes of graduates of medical schools, law schools, and business schools with comparable entering grade-point averages, he found that the annual rate of return by the time they reach middle age is sixteen per cent per year in primary-care medicine, eighteen per cent in surgery, twenty-three per cent in law, and twenty-six per cent in business."
Medicine is becoming indentured servitude.
I've noticed several sites on the Internet that promote a penis enlargement through "ancient" techniques of strengthening (and yes, lengthening) the penis through exercises. These sites claim that since the penis is a muscle, it can be conditioned and exercised for greater and permanent length and girth. Is this possible?
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