First Physicians' Organization Files Suit Against Obamacare...

... and it is a group to which I belong.

Comments

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

Interesting. I think their membership is going to go up.

I'm thinking about all of the legal wailing and gnashing of teeth that might have been avoided if Obama and his gang of Chicago goons had done this right and played fair and come to a real consensus.

As it is, pop the popcorn and hold on tight.

[Joe Guarino]

Mary, this group filed suit in response to the Clinton Health Plan during the 1990's. The suit was brought in opposition to the secretive meetings that Hillary Clinton had convened in order to come up with her plan. And the AAPS won their suit.

Let's hope they can do it again.

[Stormy]

Went to my doc today, and I told him that I had heard he was leaving his practice. He didn't confirm or deny it, but he did say that if the government doesn't get out of his business, he is considering going to Costa Rica to live and practice. He said that he had been there several times, and it was a real consideration. He said that he really liked Costa Rica. I told him that I had heard of some insurance companies offering to insureds the opportunity that if they paid for their flight there, the insurance company would cover the medical expenses and living accommodations while there under their policy. It is actually cheaper for them to do that in Costa Rica, because of the lack of government regulations and interference in the practice of medicine, and it is quality medicine, many times better than can be had in the States. They are called Medical Vacations. It seems that a lot of American physicians are going to Costa Rica and being replaced by physicians from other countries. For both, it is considered a good professional career move.

[Joe Guarino]

Stormy, I expect many will be looking to "check out" of American medicine over the next 5-10 years in various ways. Many others, of course, will be stuck. I suppose there could be much worse places than Costa Rica.

[Stormy]

Joe, actually, Costa Rica is attractive. Great medical care, and friendly government, tropical weather, and nice beaches. I understand that it is not a typical Central American country, at all. Nicely developed and not expensive. There are many far worse places to live.

[michele]

If that pans out and health care reform results in Costa Rican medical vacations for everybody, then I think that's a check for the "pro" column. I want to go. ;)

[Roch101]

Costa Rica, huh? With universal nationalized health insurance.

Idiots.

[Joe Guarino]

It would be good to know, Roch, if Costa Rica has socialized medicine as you suggest, whether physicians are prohibited from charging American travelers whatever they see fit. American travelers, I suppose, may not be considered enrolled beneficiaries in their system. If this environment represents only a tiny niche of freedom for American expatriate physicians, it seems it would represent an alternative for only a small number of us.

But it would really be best to refrain from calling people idiots.

[JC]

My best friend is a doctor who graduated with an MD/MBA and has been practicing in a large city in the southeast for about 8 years now. I spoke with him last week about the recent health care bill.

His practice is losing a third of their doctors to early retirement or career change. My friend is seriously considering leaving his practice and going into hospital administration or leaving medicine altogether. He was (is) an extremely talented doctor.

Many doctors, like my friend, will change careers. Others will find a more suitable market for their trade. The only "idiots" in this debate are the ones who claimed this type of situation wouldn't happen, or still dont believe it is going to happen today.

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

Roch is not going to refrain from calling people "idiots", Joe. Don't waste good ATP's on typing out the suggestion.

[Bubba]

"Idiots."

Another classic comment by our favorite perpetually alternate reality-based poster.

[Stormy]

Costa Rica Medical Care provides largely elective surgeries, but at tremendously reduced prices. A few examples:

Hip Replacement USA - $43,000, Costa Rica - $12,000

Knee Replacement USA - $40,000, Costa Rica - $11,000

Heart Bypass USA - $130,000, Costa Rica - $24,000

And, many insurance companies gladly pay for surgeries in Costa Rica, as they are so much cheaper. Yes, it is likely that Medicare will not pay for these procedures in Costa Rica, and everyone can not take advantage of it, but if everyone did, they couldn't handle it all. Costa Rica is much too wise not to ever install socialized medicine. They value the high level of the medical that they deliver to ever do that. They might even be willing to treat personality-challenged people like Roch Smith.

And, Joe, it should be noted that there are many countries that offer the opportunity to get top health care at significantly cheaper prices, and the best at this time are India, Thailand, Singapore, Turkey, and Mexico. But, Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, and Argentina are coming on fast, not only offering top quality medical treatment, but great travel destinations. As ObamaCare starts to denigrate the quality of medical care in this country, especially for older citizens who have some resources, medical tourism is going to start looking better and better. Canadians come to the U.S. to get medical care, and it won't be long that Americans will be taking medical vacations. Countries like Costa Rica will be the beneficiaries of ObamaCare.

I know that all of this is painful to physicians such as you and Dr. Mary, but this will be one of the legacies of ObamaCare.

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

Probably notsomuch, Stormy. I've already done painful. In that regard Obama and his goons are wannabes. Pretty numb now.

I'm actually one of the docs considering getting out entirely within the next few years, and leaving all the primary care to PA's and NP's.

Since I'm apparently a dolt/drone in primary care . . . only in it for the money . . . and just here to wipe the runny noses & dry off the well-babies.

[Roch101]

Joe, idiotic is as idiotic does. For Stormy to tout Costa Rica's "quality medicine" and attribute it to "lack of government regulations and interference in the practice of medicine" when Costa Rica has nationalized health insurance is idiotic. For him to repeat the assertion even after his ridiculous self-contradictions was brought to his attention is beyond description.

For you to watch him stumble over himself without some redirection is cruel. It demonstrates that you would rather have people on your side even at the price of their own embarrassment.

[Brenda Bowers]

I lost an outstanding doctor December 2008 due to paperwork and fighting with officialdom when he was trying to do what he felt was best for his patients. He is only 39 so has many years to practice medicine. All his training, all his hopes and dreams of helping people but the frustration of fighting to do what was needed and to get paid was taking more time than he spent with patients! Now doctors will spend less time with patients, have much more paperwork and frustration and a whole lot less pay.

I always wondered why anyone would want to be a doctor in the first place. They are in school and training for 10 years and then have to continue their training forever to keep up, they work un-Godly hours---up with the sun and still making rounds after dinner. (I once asked a doctor if she ever went home, and in fact did she have a home or did she just go into a closet in the hospital when off duty.) they are never able to truly rest or take a vacation because the dedicated doctor is always aware of and concerned for his sick patients and concerned that they are getting the care they need in his absence and most of all they have to carry huge amounts of insurance because if anything goes wrong with a patients imperfect body the doctor is blamed. Adding all the hassle with the government and insurance companies is adding insult to injury.

Thank God there are people in this world who so want to help others they are willing to go thru all this. BB

[Dr. Mary Johnson]

Roch, you're the one here who is stumbling all over himself in order to to assert that someone else is an "idiot". That's what's really embarrassing.

Joe's been way too nice for way too long.

As I understand it, Costa Rica's economy (excepting booming medical tourism) is in the toilet - with high inflation and poverty rates amongst the indigenous peoples, and a faltering infastructure - moreover, it does not have/maintain a standing army/national defense (or the tremendously expensive - in blood and dollars - responsibility of leading/protecting the free world).

We're comparing apples and oranges.

I'm not exactly sure I'd want to be living in that lovely little republic when all hell breaks loose.

[Bubba]

So that we might educate our resident doofus dingledork (or just laugh and point our fingers at him, as usual), let's get some perspective on Costa Rican PRIVATE health care vs the PUBLIC health care system the Usual Idiots don't want you to understand:

"People claim that in Costa Rica health care is a right, not a commodity. The problem surfaces when you actually need to exercise your 'right.'

Last July, La Nación newspaper carried a report about one hospital that had 5,000 people on a waiting list for surgery, some waiting up to a year. Among those on the list, 900 patients waited months to have possible cancerous tumors extracted. According to the head of the Oncology Department, “We know that 85% to 90% will be cancer cases based on previous medical tests.” For many of these patients, the wait is the equivalent of a death sentence.

Stories like this are common in the Costa Rican press."

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/03/24/a-glance-into-costa-ricas-health-care-system/

And then we have these testimonies:

"Others are not so happy with the Caja.

Take Matt Hogan, 35, co-founder of Finca Bella Vista, a sustainable treehouse community near the Osa Peninsula. In late 2009 he had a motorcycle accident, and was taken to the newly opened public hospital in Ciudad Cortéz. 'All the newspapers had been boasting about the brand-new, state-of-the-art facilities and medical equipment, 300 clean new beds, and the rest,' says Matt.

What the newspaper accounts failed to mention, according to Matt, was that all those new beds were serviced by only a few doctors who showed up only once in a while. Matt says he suffered serious neglect and misdiagnosis (they told him he was fine).

Feeling anything but fine, he had himself driven by ambulance to San José and checked himself into private Clínica Bíblica. There he was found to have one collapsed lung and the other in mid-collapse, as well as severe internal bleeding in his chest cavity. The doctors at Bíblica said that if Matt had waited another day to seek proper care he most likely would have suffocated."

http://missmoveabroad.com/private-vs-public-hospitals-in-costa-rica/

On the other hand, people who populate the Usual Idiot crowd don't think people should be allowed private choices when it comes to health care, unless they're members of the politically elite class, and (coming soon!) members of favored "progressive" affinity groups.

[Stormy]

So, Roch Smith is saying that if I go to Costa Rica and have a medical procedure for which I pay out of my pocket, then I am participating in their nationalized health care? I'm sorry, but I don't get it. Roch should be aware that there are many celebrities that go there for plastic surgery as it is cheaper and of quality. Are they participating in nationalized health care? Was the minister in Canada who went to Miami for surgery violating his responsibility to have his surgery done in his country's nationalized health care program? Is there coverage in ObamaCare for a personality transplant? Roch is in critical care, needing one badly.

[Roch101]

I get your point, Stormy. Costa Rica, which has nationalized health insurance, has such great health care that people travel there to avail themselves of it. I am glad you brought that to our attention. Thank you.

[Bubba]

Not only does he need a personality transplant, he needs surgery to remove his cognitive dissonance tumor.

He clearly doesn't understand the difference between public health care and private health care. He doesn't WANT to understand; hence the tripe tripe treat on this thread, which is what we've come to expect from him.