From Daniel Palestrant, Founder & CEO of Sermo
In a recent posting, a physician proposes a letter to his patient’s that explains why he will be unable to accept Medicare and Insurance. He explains that the intervention of government and insurance companies in the doctor’s office has damaged the physician-patient relationship. Click below to read through the physician comments and see the results of the nearly 800 physicians who responded to the survey.
Originally Posted to the Sermo Community
by: EurekaDoc, Family Medicine
Dear Colleagues,
Regardless of what ends up being the punch-line of Congress'
current "healthcare reform" joke, one thing is becoming undeniably
clear: To reclaim our freedom to practice medicine without
oppressive government and bureaucratic meddling, WE MUST BEGIN TO
WITHDRAW FROM MEDICARE, MEDICAID AND ALL CONTRACTUAL INSURANCE. To
give both ourselves and our patients time to adapt, we can do this
gradually over 2-3 years, one contract at a time. To help explain
this essential process to our patients, I propose the
following. - Dan Jones, MD
Why I Will No Longer Be Able to Accept
Medicare or Your Insurance
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little
temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin
Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania (1759)
"...every unjustifiable intrusion by the Government upon
the privacy of the individual, whatever the means employed, must be
deemed a violation of the Fourth Amendment." -- Justice Louis
Brandeis (Olmstead v. US)
Dear Patient: For over 30 years now, Medicare (aped by
private insurance companies) has been increasingly interfering in
the patient-doctor relationship, and increasingly meddling in my
business, to the point that it is now virtually impossible for me
to deliver quality, affordable healthcare, or to enjoy my cherished
profession. The alleged purpose of this meddling is to "control
costs." But because these efforts have been short-sighted,
knee-jerk measures that ignore fundamental laws of economics and
human behavior, the actual effect has been to cause healthcare
costs to increase at TWICE the rate of inflation. These cost
increases are not making doctors or hospitals rich --
average inflation-adjusted physician incomes have steadily
declined, in sharp contrast to the wage trends for other
professionals. I and a growing number of my fellow physicians are
no longer willing to participate in this lunacy that is destroying
our healthcare system, depriving many citizens of needed care,
stifling medical innovation, and even driving patients overseas to
obtain affordable treatment.
To accept your insurance, I and my clinic staff would be
required to waste enormous time and other resources coping
with numerous complicated requirements intended to limit your test
and treatment options. Virtually everything I do as a physician
would be subject to being second-guessed, micromanaged, or rejected
as "not medically necessary." As a free American, I can no longer
in good conscience tolerate this level of government interference
in my business, nor should you.
History proves that services can only be provided at the lowest
cost with the greatest quality when service providers (such as
doctors) compete with each other in a free market, based on
quality, reputation and price. Medicare and most insurance
contracts PREVENT doctors from competing based on quality and
price. This is horribly inefficient and, in my opinion, downright
un-American. In fact, Medicare's economic policies (price controls
and central bureaucratic planning and micromanagement) ape the
spectacularly failed Communist economic policies of the former
Soviet Union! No wonder healthcare costs have been steadily
increasing as efficiency has steadily declined during the Medicare
era.
I understand this situation may be difficult for you
financially. It is certainly a financial hardship for me and my
staff, since our patient visits and income are bound to decrease.
However, we will do our best to make our fees affordable for you.
Despite the hardship, I feel strongly that it is important for both
doctors and patients to stand up for our right to live and work
free from harmful government or bureaucratic meddling.
If you have private insurance: I encourage your to change
to a high-deductible policy, combined with an HSA (Health Savings
Account) to pay for your office visits and other minor medical
expenses. You should specify a policy that reimburses all
expenses submitted by a licensed doctor, without requirements
for "prior authorization" or limitations based on ICD or CPT codes.
(This office can no longer afford the expense of providing those
codes, the only purpose of which is to limit your test and
treatment options.) You will probably find this approach costs
you less overall, while accumulating money for your
retirement.
If you have Medicare or Medicaid: You should be mad as
hell -- I know I am. I've been paying Medicare taxes my
entire adult life, and it infuriates me that the federal government
has so mangled and miss-managed Medicare and Medicaid that I and
many other doctors can no longer accept these insurances. Please
call, write or email your congressmen immediately and let them
know, LOUD AND CLEARLY that:
1. You're mad as hell at the way they've screwed up Medicare and
Medicaid so badly that few physicians are willing to accept them,
and…
2. You want them to FIX Medicare and Medicaid so that they are
compatible with economic realities and American ideals.
<INSERT CONTACT INFO FOR YOUR CONGRESSMEN HERE.>
In the meantime, I will do my best to make my fees affordable
for you, until Congress is able to fix the sorry mess they've
created.
Yours For Better Healthcare,
Daniel Jones, MD
www.JonesPlan.BlogSpot.com
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