Inherently Different

reformation

I have friends who are hotly debating healthcare reform. I’m not too knowledgeable about the situation, but it seems to me the biggest problem with the cost of healthcare has more to do with civil law than anything else.

Medical care cost so much because it is so easy to sue a doctor for malpractice. Doctors, self-serving, god-like creatures that they are, don’t like being sued for saving lives so they have to carry large amounts of insurance. The insurance companies don’t like to shell out their profits so they charge exorbitant rates for their coverage. Doctors, realizing how much they have to pay, pass the buck along to their patients (HMOs too).

I would imagine, if the laws governing malpractice changed, the cost of medical care would go down… at least in theory, but lets be honest… a lot of doctors probably still wouldn’t lower their fees because most of them like to live within a certain standard and Maserattis and houses on the beach don’t come cheap.

If I was in control, aside from automatically executing pedophiles, I would also make medical school free… then I would make anyone who wants to be a doctor serve 15 years in a state run medical facility giving people free medical treatments and advice. After they serve their 15 years in the system, they have to serve 5 years instructing at the medical school. After that, they are free to open their own practice. I would also make citizenship mandatory before being accepted in a US medical school to keep the riffraff out.

3 thoughts on “reformation”

  1. Medical malpractice is a huge issue. Not only do doctors have to have tons of insurance but they also practice CYA medicine that’s “cover your ass” which means they will order expensive tests on patients that instinct and experience tell them the patient doesn’t really need but they have to cover all of their bases to avoid being sued later.

    Secondly, foreign medical graduates are not riffraff. This is a misconception. FMGs are in fact the cream of the crop from around the world. They have to go through many more hurdles and screenings than American graduates to get to a point where they can actually practice medicine in the U.S. Don’t let the accents fool you. There are many American medical graduates who can’t come close to FMGs when it comes to knowledge and brains.

  2. You watch too much TV or are related to a foreign born MD… oh wait… I know which.

    But I agree. Most doctors who get an MD from a foreign country tend to be better prepared to treat certain diseases and medical problems. They should since they see a higher number of these diseases in their home countries.

    But before you jump down my throat (er, fingers) about my xenophobia, read my post again dawn. I said, “would also make citizenship mandatory before being accepted in a US medical school to keep the riffraff out.”

    Which means I don’t want people from foreign countries to take advantage of the free medical school I advocate. There is nothing to keep them here once they get their degree… and an American educated doctor in their native land will probably yield better job offers… whether or not the education is actually better.

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