No Need to Worry About Socialized Medicine

In the last decade, earning a good living in a private medical practice has become so difficult that there has been continued speculation about two disliked alternatives. Either there will be a dramatic shortfall of physicians (forcing more people to see lesser trained mid-level providers for primary care), or what some people see as the “threat” of socialized medicine looms on our horizon. Looking at the way people are cared for in all other industrialized nations, I don’t see why this is a threat to anyone but the insurance companies, but that is the perception in the US. Since nothing has been done to correct the situation (and no significant change is in sight), we are apparently seeing a third option taking hold “under the radar.”

The 11/8/10 Wall Street Journal reported that the number of physician-owned practices is declining rapidly, as more doctors are going to work directly for hospitals: the number of doctors working in hospitals reached 51% in March, up from 45% a year ago, while the number of physician-owned medical practices has declined from about 75% in 2002 to around 40% in 2009.

So, instead of private physicians or physicians receiving payment from a single payer source, we’re now faced with the increasing probability of Corporate Medicine. Yes, we’ll all be “cared for” by those wonderful folks who brought us the economic meltdown of 2008! Hospitals will contract with such “caring” corporations as AIG, and our health care will be determined entirely by their bottom line.

In his seminal work, “Democracy in America,” Alexis de Tocqueville observed that “people get the government they deserve” when they fail to take an active part in how they are governed. Apparently, we also get the health care we deserve.

WELL DONE, CONGRESS!