Re: Connecticut considers 3% tax on physician revenue
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Wed Mar 14 19:16:11 2007
The 3 R's used to be: Reading, (w)Riting, and (A)Rithmetic. Now the 3
R's are Retirement, Relocation, and Restriction (of Practice.)
Art
At Wed, 14 Mar 2007, Henry Gregor wrote:
>
>"Joanne Bulley, MD" <islesannie@gmail.com> wrote:
> U-N-I-O-N or all find some other job to do.
>
> Well the establishment - political/judicial/societal - isn't gonna' let meaningful collective bargaining come to pass. Not surprising, given the fact there are more non md voters than voting mds.
>
> Of course any coordinated physician response is fraught with dangerand therefore unthinkalble and not something ever to be advocated. (I have been told any half literate law school student could tell us antititrust is whatever the justice department or any administration wants to say it is.One can oppose them judicially of course, but it is a losing propostion.)
>
> Anyone or any group could of course fight such charges up until, or even beyond, the point where all resources have been expended, practices have become insolvent, marriage relationships have fractured, groups have disbanded, etc. etc...all the historically documented bad things that occur when medical folks try to fight antitirust issues with state or national government agencies with enough vested interests and resources to litigate us all into oblivion.
>
> So, Joanne may have just hit the nail on the head...when providers figure out it is possible to maintain self and family with economic activities outside the field of medicine, than the field of medicine may morph into something that is once again economically viable, as well as personally fulfilling and rewarding. (Years ago I used to have a more monastic response to fulfilling, but that was before school tuition, my own inevitable physical aging, etc. put a different perspective into my mind). My suspicion is that quite a few providers (you know, the folks that used to be called physicians) would find life without HIPPA, CLIA, hospital committee work, PFP, precertification review of orders for aspirin (uh, sorry, getting a little histrionic) etc. quite attractive. I also think most md's are socially concious enough that they would find ways do things socially useful, outside the current context of medicine. My ultimate speculation is that, absent willing numbers of
> docs rolling over to be abused, a more realistic economic format would develop. The hiatus from medicine into other job fields would probably be limited in time, as those changes brought the sheep back into the (hopefully improved) fold.
>
> Just an opinion of course, but as I reflect on this ramble, it does occur to me that since the last medical staff meeting here locally, the most relaxed and smiling docs I have seen have been the ones who are retired, doing volunteer work. Not all of us can retire, but I suspect most of us could find employment in something other than a medical practice, if need arose.....plans such as the Connecticutt proposal were probably predictable once Arrhhnold brought out his plans for universal coverage in California earlier this year, which also featured a similar financing angle.
>
> H
>
> Hank
>
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art fougner, md
"May The Wings of Liberty Never Lose a Feather." - Jack Burton
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