Physicians working in private practice have that choice. Though the fact that those private practices are going out of business and are steadily being bought by

Physicians working in private practice have that choice. Though the fact that those private practices are going out of business and are steadily being bought by hospitals is probably a sign as to the long-term viability of private practice as a business model[0]. Don't look at the salary of a physician, because not all doctors are salaried, and even for the ones that are, net worth is a much more meaningful measurement. $250K is a little high for some specialties, and it depends heavily on the part of the country. In any case, once you factor in the massive debt from medical school (plus the amount of time that physicians spend making essentially minimum wage while training in residency), the answer is that many doctors can't afford to make much less than they currently are[1]. (Also keep in mind that most statistics you see for "salary" for private practices are really more equivalent to revenue, since physicians in private practice obviously aren't salaried. Oftentimes, these numbers include only some, not all, of the costs of maintaining a practice.) [0] This is a trend that is over a decade old (depending on the part of the country) but accelerated in recent years (before the ACA, though the ACA has also contributed to this trend as well) [1] http://www.cbsnews.com/news/1-million-mistake-becoming-a-doctor/ http://www.cbsnews.com/news/1-million-mistake-becoming-a-doc...