March 22, 2010
Physicians Will Quit? Why Now?
The Basil and Spice article, Doctors Will Quit Under New Healthcare Proposals really touched a raw nerve. The author, Dr. Jeffrey English, an Atlanta neurologist proposed that physicians will “quit” because of government healthcare involvement. Dr. English, with all due respect, please speak for yourself.
The time for physicians to “quit” was when the insurance industry took over our profession. They introduced managed care, bribed our colleagues with “capitation” income and then entered the back door of our profession and like a thief in the night, took over. We, as physicians are to blame for this unholy mess. We never stood up to the insurers for fear of being “disenrolled” from their lousy plans. We never protested for fear of being deemed as “antitrust.” We never complained when they redefined us as “providers.” And sadly, many of us never fought for our patients’ rights or dignity for fear of making waves.
The nonsense of “government” takeover is a joke! The “government” wouldn’t have to intervene if we had stood our ground, but we didn’t. We now have to depend on the government to make the insurance companies pry their greedy hands off our profession and patients. I’m an Ivy League grad (Columbia U.) and a board certified ob-gyn physician. I’ve devoted my life to serving vulnerable, public health patients, the kind none of my colleagues want to manage. I live next door to a teacher, a bank manager and live within my means. My kids attend public school. I’ve been taking care of Medicaid patients all my life and I’m not starving, still breathing and living in a country that allows me to be free. Doctors will quit? Really? I think it’s much too late for that now. We, as physicians need to put our egos in our pockets, roll up our sleeves and find some solutions instead of whining like babies.
