Physician licensure has created a cartel. There I said it and I said it out loud. The right to practice medicine has high barriers to entry, both in terms of high standards and high costs. It takes 7-to-11 years beyond college to train a new physician, but it really begins long before medical school.
Category: Doctors & Hospitals
Does Medicare Underpay Physicians? Yes, No and Sometimes
There is a shortage of physicians in the United States. There is especially a shortage of primary care physicians willing to treat Medicare enrollees. People nearing the age of Medicare eligibility are often advised to begin searching for a primary care physician who accepts Medicare a year ahead of time.
Data published in 2020 by the Association of American Medical Colleges estimates that the U.S. could see a shortage of 54,100 to 139,000 physicians by 2033. That shortfall is expected to span both primary- and specialty-care fields.
Are Direct-to-Consumer Body Scans Good or Bad? Doctors Say Bad.
Several years ago I got a full-body CT scan. It found a spot on my liver that was “statistically unlikely” to be anything serious. It also found something else that was just a typical anomaly and told me my coronary arteries were in great shape for my age. I don’t recall what else it found but it wasn’t something that changed my life. A few years earlier a relative got a full-body CT scan because of pain in his side that his doctor wasn’t taking seriously. It found kidney stones. Someone else I know got his & her body scans. What all these scans have in common was they were all direct-to-consumer, with no input from their doctors. They were also all paid for in cash.
Is Your Doctor’s Advice Influenced by Money? Probably More Than You Realize
The Department of Health and Human Services, and many other federal agencies, love having experts to advise them. But are the experts always unbiased? Some are, while others are probably not. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is made up of 16 primary care experts, all volunteers who make recommendations about cost-effective preventive medical services and screenings….