> i personally am sort of disappointed to see doctors becoming even more sidelined. doctors really do an important job of filtering info for patients, advocatin

> i personally am sort of disappointed to see doctors becoming even more sidelined. doctors really do an important job of filtering info for patients, advocating / negotiating with insurance companies, and looking out for them Tell that to my doctor, who on a routine checkup sent me to the lab for lab work without clearing it with my insurance company. I got a nice $600 bill for the lab work that the insurance company didn't agree was 'preventative.' After calling the insurance company they ended up waiving it, but told me that in the future I should clear every single thing the doctor orders with them, because the doctors won't do it. The supply of doctors in the US is artificially constrained, and physician care costs more here than anywhere else in the world. Anything that removes them from the equation, especially for basic things like prescriptions, is a plus in my book.