“Medicare For All”…YAY! What Happens to the Doctors?

Excellent reply (by someone I know) to an advocate of Sanders-Warren socialized medicine (a Hollywood actor) who’s disgusted and “disappointed” that his sister (diagnosed with stage 4 cancer) has to deal with insurance for payment of treatment … rather than free, through the government.

“Very sorry about your sister, but why are you disappointed that surgeons don’t work for free? Do YOU? Or do your contracts specify in great detail how and when you’ll be paid? A general surgeon has to excel in college to get into a good medical school; excel in medical school to get a residency post; he has to spend five years in residency working 80 hours+ per week for very little money; he spends up to two more years in a fellowship; he has to pass his board exams; and when he’s finally an attending he can expect to pay $200k/year on malpractice premiums. Through unremitting hard work he’s gained the skills to save lives; why on earth should he do that without wanting to get paid? There’s nothing disappointing about that.”

Nobody ever considers the doctors. Only “will my medical care be paid for”? Payment is a valid concern, although it’s not valid to force others to pay your bills (which is what government does). But even more valid concerns are the people who will PROVIDE you with that medical care. Rest assured, doctors will not be treated well by the government when the government has NO competition. That’s what “Medicare for All” means … no private insurance, no private sector. It means ALL GOVERNMENT AND ONLY GOVERNMENT. And that means the costs of that poor treatment of doctors– not all of them financial — will be passed on to you, the patient.

 

 

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