From the Founder: The Justice Department Declares War on Doctors


A recent article in the Christian Science Monitor, titled " The Justice Department Declares War on Doctors",  explores the impact of a newly DOJ in enforcing government price controls on physicians (click here).  Not surprisingly, this article has already sparked quite a discussion in the Sermo community (click here).  However, the timing of this development is particularly concerning for a number of reasons.

With a 21% physician payment cut looming this coming week, CMS has decided to delay all physician payments for at least two weeks while Congress passes this political hot potato around (click here).  We are also seeing several states attempt to link medical licensure to participation in these very same programs (click here).   In effect, this boxes in physicians, giving them little choice but to accept these arbitrary payment terms or loose their ability to care for their patients.

It should be noted that a provision in the healthcare reform bill that would have repealed the McCarran-Ferguson Act, taking away insurance companies' anti-trust exemption was removed from the final version of the bill.  This means that insurance companies (and now the government) are exempt from any anti-trust or price fixing scrutiny, while physicians are legally banned from coordinating their efforts, much less unionizing.

With the evidence now mounting that the government is going to "back door" a socialized healthcare system, what steps should physicians be considering in order to safeguard our profession and provide the best possible care for our patients?

Daniel Palestrant, MD

Founder & CEO

Sermo, Inc.

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