You Want a Good Doctor?

If you have gone to the doctor recently, look at your E.O.B (explanation of benefits) and see what your doctor actually made.

I was alarmed by the actual pay for my recent knee replacement. The surgeon who performed this surgery was paid $1,365.  Compare this to a cost of a dental implant!!  I am not going to battle the payment but I do want to point out that this low pay will discourage  new physicians. In today’s world doctors are required to go to at least 7 years of schooling plus interning time. Their malpractice insurance is an overhead that can’t be ignored. They have a staff to pay and medical offices to support. I do know that dentists have some of the same financial burdens. I do not feel their worth is less. I do think that a total knee replacement is a bigger deal than a dental implant.

Medicare sets the bar for how much something should cost. Our country has a very large number of Medicare patients (those 65 years and older). When the current administration actually wants to expand Medicare to age 60 or less. Ultimately this will effect the number of physicians available to everyone. When a college student considers a career they do consider wages. Remember the education debt they have to pay back! The low reimbursement for their work is a problem for all of us.

The current administration does not change this issue. The Medicare erosion has been going on for some time. We need to pay more attention to this issue.