A return to slavery? Not kidding.

This is a rarely discussed problem with a "single payer" system.

Docs who cannot make the kind of money they want to, will opt out of the system. 

Fewer doctors. We are already experiencing a shortage of family care physicians and other docs.

Some docs are already refusing to take Medicare and Medicaid. "Only half of family doctors accepted Medicaid in 2013, down from 65 percent four years earlier, according to a 15-city survey by physician staffing firm Merritt Hawkins. About half the providers listed by privately run Medicaid managed-care plans aren’t taking new patients, according to a report published..." says the Bloomberg report.

So we're seeing a drop in the number of docs. We're also seeing more and more in med school choosing high-dollar specialities. "What the researchers discovered, however, was that over the course of their training, almost half the young doctors who began wanting to become primary care doctors changed their minds, most deciding to pursue a subspecialty career instead," says the NYT blog.


We also have a real-world indicator of what docs think of the current system, AKA Obamacare. "The New York Post recently reported on a very troubling survey from the New York State Medical Society, which found that 44 percent of New York doctors are not participating in Obamacare. Worse yet, three-fourths of those who are participating are being forced to because of existing insurance contracts. Only one-fourth of those participating volunteered to do so," says a NYT blog.

SLAVE LABOR?

This then begs the question, what will happen when doctors refuse to participate in "single payer" system?


I have heard some (usually liarberals and socialices) said doctors should be forced to accept such a system. Throw in the occasional fascist as well.

Come again?

And here's a "Carrot and Beat-You-To-Death-Stick Otherwise" approach. "States could also play a role in forced participation.  States license physicians and oversee insurance contracts.  Many Democratically controlled states are just as invested in the success of Obamacare as the president.  Thus a blue-state governor and state legislature could mandate all of the state’s doctors accept Obamacare as a condition of practicing in the state..." says the Forbes piece. Yeah, I realize this piece is 2 years old and it speaks of Obamacare and forcing docs into that, but do you really believe there is a difference between Obamacare and the two Medis?

Force a doctor to accept a payment plan? Force a doctor to work for a set amount of money? Force a doctor to work?

True, this is not quite slavery. The docs could opt out of medicine or go into a field that is not covered by mandated insurance. California is Ground Zero for cosmetic surgeons, most of whom do procedures not covered by insurance.

This is not fantasy land either. It's happening. Right now. "The researchers looked at three financial indicators — profitability, uncompensated care and Medicaid shortfalls — to arrive at their findings," this article states.
Yeah, Obamacare promised to hike Medi payments. SCOTUS ruled states can't be forced to participate the way Abominablcare demanded. Lotta people don't like this decision, but the Supremes have yet to make a decision that everyone can agree with.

Reality remains, hospitals are closing, wannabe docs are choosing specialties and we're looking at a shortage.

MONEY TALKS

You can point to the dubious successes of socialized medicine in other countries.

I point you to the fact that the US leads the world in medical research.

We can all argue the whys of this, but as a reporter in Shanghai (yes really) once told me, "I keep looking until I find the money." So I give you this quote, [T]he researchers found U.S. decline was driven almost entirely by reduced investment from industry, not the public sector. This includes support for clinical trials testing potential new therapies."

So yeah. Single payer with fewer docs already in the queue. Single payer to further limit what doctors can expect to earn. Single payer to expose docs to the same torts with no more protection, but a legal requirement that they offer services?

There is, of course, a solution. Most people will not like it. A lotta people will get quite vehement about their objections. But as I tell the people who currently live under the roof I provide, "I gotta solution and it won't make anybody happy but me."

Before the solution, one more Bakerism - If the truth hurts, yer living wrong.

So my solution to this? If you are one of those demanding a single-payer system, then

Become a doctor.

If you do that, I'm going to be a lot more inclined to listen to your opinion about Abominablcare and a single-payer system. If you are not willing to become a doc and work for whatever government decides to pay you, then how do you have the right to dictate that to someone else?

Healthcare is a basic human right, you say? I repeat - Become a doctor (or a healthcare provider) or else wear your hypocrite label with pride.