30 ms·
Coming from a country where the number of MDs per capita is 100x that of the US, I am sorry to tell you that this would not have the impact you think it would h
by rscho 9y ago
Coming from a country where the number of MDs per capita is 100x that of the US, I am sorry to tell you that this would not have the impact you think it would have.
As of now, no first world country seems to have found a real solution to healthcare prices. My personal opinion is that doctor salaries have a minor impact on prices. Healthcare system structure and culture (as in how much do insurance companies control, and how readily you perform expensive tests) is much more important, I think.
- pancreas 9y agoYES. Salaries are not that high, either, for people in medical academia and now in HMOs as well. One can justify paying a neurosurgeon 430 per year - after 8 years of post-graduate training, and if you count college and medschool, that is 16 years. During all that time a future neurosurgeon mostly acquired debt, while working 120 hours per week.
- camiller 9y agoAccording to the WHO the country with the most MD's per capita is Cuba with 7.5 per 1000, while the US has 2.5 per 1000. So at best you come from a country with 3x that of the US, not 100x. Edit: http://gamapserver.who.int/gho/interactive_charts/health_workforce/PhysiciansDensity_Total/atlas.html http://gamapserver.who.int/gho/interactive_charts/health_wor...
- rscho 9y agoIndeed, I was misinformed. The ratio is much lower than I thought. I think my point still holds, though.
- Moshe_Silnorin 9y agoYou are asking me to believe that 2 in 10 people in your country are doctors? And accepting this, prices haven't come down?
- rscho 9y agoI was told that the US had far less MDs than what is actually reported by the WHO. My bad for not checking my sources. However, we apparently have 40 MDs per 10'000. My main point was that doctors salaries have a minor impact on the cost of the whole system, and i think that still holds, though. If you calculate the ratio of the in-pocket sum that goes to the MD compared to the whole bill for a hospital stay, I do not think it is that high. So even if you are right about the guild problem, I don't think that makes it a solution. I admit I did not look at official numbers about that, though.