<p>HCR is about to pass tomorrow.
Current doctors, expect to see yourself making less than 90k/year.
Future doctors, expect to see your starting salary at 50k/year.
Let's be real here. Most of us aspiring to become doctors only want the cash and status that comes with being a doctor. We don't really give 2 ****s about the people.</p>
<p>Most doctors said they would quit their jobs and retire early if HCR passes.
Life sucks, doesn't it?</p>
<p>“Let’s be real here. Most of us aspiring to become doctors only want the cash and status that comes with being a doctor. We don’t really give 2 ****s about the people.”</p>
<p>-_- that is not true with a huge portion of us</p>
<p>It was an idiotic thread when you posted it earlier. Time didn’t help it any.</p>
<p>Gunner.</p>
<p>[The</a> OP… (picture)](<a href=“http://www.untwistedvortex.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/dontfeedthetroll.jpg]The”>http://www.untwistedvortex.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/dontfeedthetroll.jpg)</p>
<p>@ tb0mb93</p>
<p>Oh sure. Let’s forget about the 66% of doctors in the US who said they would retire early if the HCR passes. let’s forget that of the 66%, 93% said it was due to pay cuts. They must have been lying.</p>
<p>DidIMakeAMistake,</p>
<p>My fianc</p>
<p>UCLAri: For those physicians not in lucrative specialties, things are definitely not looking up.</p>
<p>-Lurker-,</p>
<p>That remains true regardless of planned reforms. My fianc</p>
<p>Interesting post on how Medicare changes on account of planned reforms: [Managed</a> Care Matters](<a href=“http://www.joepaduda.com/archives/001433.html]Managed”>http://www.joepaduda.com/archives/001433.html)</p>
<p>It seems to me, and I’ve only read part of the bill, that primary care docs will likely benefit. It’s specialists who will hurt. To be fair, though, some specialties are pretty darn far on the pay curve these days from what some would argue is their actual societal utility. </p>
<p>It’s definitely an interesting time to pick a field, though!</p>
<p>Of the 66% of doctors (I thought it was 33% but whatever) that threaten to quit, 99.9% are full of hot air. There are better ways to fight back than quitting anyways.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My fianc</p>
<p>Colleges00701,</p>
<p>It seems to me that most of what you claim is based on a sort of mismatch of media bluster (I’m part of the media, full disclosure), and your own research.</p>
<p>Most of what I’ve read suggests that primary care salaries go up, specialist salaries go down. Nothing that’s going to destroy the profession. If anything, it might take more people out of specialties and put people where we need doctors.</p>
<p>UCLAri: I am interested in why you think primary docs will benefit from the health care reform bill. From what I have read, medicare reimbursements have been significantly cut this year, and with further cuts in the future to make the health care bill “budget neutral” for the next decade. This does not even factor the taxes that the bill will levy on small businesses (which will certainly hit practices). </p>
<p>The only up seems to be the 33 million more insured people. But the problem with the primary doctor compensation has never been not enough customers, but not enough compensation per customer.</p>
<p>Time shall tell. At this point do we can’t even be sure it’ll pass. I doubt the changes will that drastic and even then people will go into to the profession because they enjoy it. And compensation for doctors is still more than for most professions these days, and most jobs are full of stress, long hours, hard work. In the end, even if salaries decrease, i think medicine will still be a lucrative profession, and at least its stable.</p>
<p>-Lurker-,</p>
<p>Reimbursements are cut largely for specialties. Remember that reimbursements are not blanket billings, and that different kinds of procedures get different treatment by Medicare/Medicaid. My understanding is that primary care is actually bumped up a bit, while specialties get nudged down.</p>
<p>I’m not saying that primary care physicians are going out and buying Aston-Martins on the reimbursement bump, but it’s definitely looking to me like the winners amongst physicians will be primary care/family practice.</p>
<p>Ultimately, however, I’m not trying to say that everyone is happy super fun time winner. I just think the OP’s numbers are ridiculous. Anyone who has even a passing familiarity with the bill knows that no physician’s salary will get pushed down to $50K. Silliness.</p>
<p>@UCLAari</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^^^ I agree, doctors salaries won’t be 50K, but even if it gets pushed to 100k, the OPPORTUNITY COSTS with becoming a doctor WON’T BE compensated by a 100k (at least for me, and other doctors I have spoken to.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^^^ How is this possible?, ObamaCare wants to increase the role of PAs/NPs in health care, won’t PAs/NPs start providing the “services” normally reserved for Primarycare/family doctors? If that is the case, then primary care doctors will lose out.</p>
<p>Colleges00701,</p>
<p>And where are you getting this $100K figure from? I see a lot of wide-eyed numbers thrown around when, quite frankly, most of the billing reforms are VERY conservative.</p>
<p>Yes, opportunity costs to go into medicine are quite high, but you have a remarkable number of people looking to go to law school for an on-average lower overall inflation/time-cost weighted payout than for medicine. There’s little doubt in my mind that we’ll have plenty of people to go into medicine even if salaries are reduced. </p>
<p>Increasing the role of PAs and NPs doesn’t necessarily reduce what primary care physicians get paid: look at how Medicare and Medicaid pays out. Most primary care docs will get higher overall payouts from Medicare and Medicaid based on how they are paid by the system. </p>
<p>And really, PAs and NPs are already providing plenty of services, but they are not doing so in solo practices. This is a trend that has been ongoing for a long time-- it has little to do with “ObamaCare.”</p>
<p>I agree. Doctor pay, no matter how you look at it, will be screwed in the next century no matter if HCR passes or not; look at the 2010 Medicare rates. Doctors ESPCIALLY primary cares are in arms about it.</p>
<p>Anyways, if pay is cut, the oppertunity cost would be far too great. I’d suspect with rising taxes (someone has to pay this damn deficit), fewer/ more expensive financial aid (our government is borrowing too much capital), doctors would never be able to pay off their loans.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I’d suspect some of our brightest potential doctors will become investment bankers, especially when Goldman is paying it’s average employee $700k a year…</p>
<p>jasonInNy,</p>
<p>I doubt it. The i-bankers, that is. Most people who go into medicine don’t have the personality for it. i-banking really takes a “special” type of person.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>
[quote]
I see a lot of wide-eyed numbers thrown around when, quite frankly, most of the billing reforms are VERY conservative.
[quote]
</p>
<p>^^^ I am curious as to what you expect doctor’s salaries to be after ObamaCare. </p>
<p>I also disagree with the principle of health care reform. I do not believe the government should be expanding its role in the health care field, nor do I believe in increasing government based programs. ObamaCare is trying to “cut” the costs of health care, but whenever a third party payer system exists, there will always be really high costs, its an inherent part of third party payer systems, and I DO NOT want the government trying to take on the cost themselves. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>^^ I agree.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If not investment banking, then something else, that doesn’t have a high opp. cost.</p>
![http://www.untwistedvortex.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/dontfeedthetroll.jpg]The](http://www.untwistedvortex.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/dontfeedthetroll.jpg%5DThe){kind=link}
