4 ms·

Like, the living of some drug middleman who is a leach on the system and only exists because of some lobbying or other screwed up structure?

s3r3nity 8y ago
More like the doctor who has dropped six-figures + a crazy amount of years in education and certification to work very long hours seeing a lot of patients, many of whom think you're a quack and trust an online forum over anything you say. Oh and don't forget the high premiums for malpractice insurance, as you're working crazy hours without breaks, and if you make a mistake you're sued up the whazoo. And that's just describing a PCP - never mind a surgeon, EHS driver, hell even the nurses (though the latter are most likely unionized.)
- erentz 8y ago
  Doctors aren’t a huge cost issue. Their pay isn’t that outrageous or out of line. It’s the pharmacy costs and administrative costs (and I think also DME costs?) that are seriously out of whack in this country.
  - s3r3nity 8y ago
    Oh I'm not claiming they're out of line - they deserve that pay. My point was that it's not all these evil salesmen / drug capitalists driving high-costs in medicine. Sometimes better quality care just costs more.
- dc_gregory 8y ago
  These people get paid very well in Australia.
- jashpool 8y ago
  Cost controls also have a cost. The UK NHS has chronic staffing shortages, UK doctors are going abroad for better pay; currently the favourites are Australia, Canada and the Middle East. I have heard quite a few people say they actively discourage their children from being doctors.
  - jddj 8y ago
    Australia and Canada have universal healthcare. Poor purchasing power / stagnant wages is a problem across all sectors (except finance?) in the UK, not just healthcare.
- InclinedPlane 8y ago
  People will stop making lame arguments pretending that socialized medicine is impossibly unworkable maybe about 30 years after it's been successfully implemented in the US. Why do we constantly pretend that America is an island universe and ignore that the rest of the developed world has already done this?

s3r3nity 8y ago

More like the doctor who has dropped six-figures + a crazy amount of years in education and certification to work very long hours seeing a lot of patients, many of whom think you're a quack and trust an online forum over anything you say. Oh and don't forget the high premiums for malpractice insurance, as you're working crazy hours without breaks, and if you make a mistake you're sued up the whazoo. And that's just describing a PCP - never mind a surgeon, EHS driver, hell even the nurses (though the latter are most likely unionized.)

erentz 8y ago
Doctors aren’t a huge cost issue. Their pay isn’t that outrageous or out of line. It’s the pharmacy costs and administrative costs (and I think also DME costs?) that are seriously out of whack in this country.
- s3r3nity 8y ago
  Oh I'm not claiming they're out of line - they deserve that pay. My point was that it's not all these evil salesmen / drug capitalists driving high-costs in medicine. Sometimes better quality care just costs more.
dc_gregory 8y ago
These people get paid very well in Australia.
jashpool 8y ago
Cost controls also have a cost. The UK NHS has chronic staffing shortages, UK doctors are going abroad for better pay; currently the favourites are Australia, Canada and the Middle East. I have heard quite a few people say they actively discourage their children from being doctors.
- jddj 8y ago
  Australia and Canada have universal healthcare. Poor purchasing power / stagnant wages is a problem across all sectors (except finance?) in the UK, not just healthcare.
InclinedPlane 8y ago
People will stop making lame arguments pretending that socialized medicine is impossibly unworkable maybe about 30 years after it's been successfully implemented in the US. Why do we constantly pretend that America is an island universe and ignore that the rest of the developed world has already done this?