I received the following email from a friend. I don’t know the doctor but thought his take on the new healthcare reform was worthwhile. His predictions seem reasonable to one not in the medical profession.
I am not inclined to pass along each and every message received over the internet. This one is for real and from a long-standing friend of mine, Lee Waller. He is also a friend and acquaintance of many of those receiving tis message. Lee, in turn, is a friend of Dr. Salvatore Moscatello, who is a Gastroenterologist in Charleston, S. C. The predictions do not speak well for our healthcare going forward. It is unfortunate that we will lose a professional like Dr. Sal, an individual who not only is held in high regard by those in the medical field, but one who contributes substantially to other humanitarian causes, civic and social endeavors.
Just thought I would pass this mail on. Sal has been my neighbor for the last 14 years and I know him to be an honest person. I realize everyone may not agree with him….but unless you happen to be a Dr. in Private practice I suspect he has more knowledge of the subject than you or I do. In any event I wanted to pass this analysis on……..everyone will have to decide for himself/herself if our country now has agood deal or not.
Subject: healthcare predictions
Hello Everyone-
Well, the the initial firestorm about the Healthcare Bill Has been extinguished. Now, the ashes must be cleared and a road forward constructed. In
this debate, there was little, if any, substative contributions from REAL practicing physicians as to the merits of this grand plan and how it would
effect the day-to-day doctor patient relationship that has been the bedrock of medical practice from ancient times(Hippocrates). These 10 predictions
are from me to help you understand where we will be once Mr. Obama leaves office in Jan. 2017(an 11th prediction!!) in the healthcare marketplace
right here in America at that time-
1. up to 200,000 physicians will quit or retire. the average age of the practicing physician in America is 49. Each one of these doctors will take 4 jobs w. them. The New England Journal of Medicine(liberal as it comes in medicine) actually predicted 250,000 doctors leaving. Well, you do the numbers. I will be one for sure.
2. The federal government will continue to decrease reimbursement to physicians in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to unsustainable levels. MDs
will be forced to join the new National Physician Manpower Corps or face economic disaster. This will happen in primary care first and specialist physicians will follow.
3. the States will be driven to the brink of bankruptcy as more and more individuals now qualify for medicaid. In SC alone, the estimate is 480,000
more people on medicaid. The State will be forced to make drastic cuts in education, transportation and other programs to support this. Taxes will soar here and elsewhere to support these programs . CA is looking at 3.2 MILLION more residents on MEDI-CAL!! Who would want to live there??
4. Hospitals all across the USA will close because of unsustainable cuts in funding and increased lawsuits. The border states of TX, NM, AZ, CA will be especially hard-hit as more undocumented people from Latin America come to the USA for health benefits. More jobs lost.
5. Pharmaceutical companies will have massive layoffs They have already started as they are forced to pay higher taxes and receive less for their products thru Government programs esp. medicare. drug R&D will essentially be non-existent in the USA due to lack of revenue and liability.
6. Health care rationing will be implemented in small steps. The first programs to be restricted will be dialysis, organ transplants, oncologic care. and neonatal services. (KIDS DO NOT VOTE.) Vaccines will be in chronic short supply , if available at all, as the reimbursement will not cover costs. Ultimately, the FEDS will take over almost all vaccination programs.
7. The additional taxes to support the massive expansion in medicaid, pharmacy coverage in medicare, and coverage of illegal persons residing in the USA will accelerate unemployment. A permanent unemployment rate of 12-14% here will be a reality.
8. Abortions and other progressive healthcare initiatives will be covered by the new plans.
9. The Government currently covers 55% of all lives in the USA by medicare, medicaid, and the military programs. Once that number exceeds 85%, a single-payor Federal system will take it all just like England and France. Think of what that will really mean for you and your family who have been perhaps accustomed to on-demand medical care w. excellence.
10. Finally, as 10,000 baby boomers go on medicare daily starting in 1/2011, the federal deficit will explode and likely top 22 TRILLION by 1/2017. And do not forget, social security, pension bailouts, and the California Bailout will be looming! OUCH!
I do not know one MD who would turn a patient away. That is not part of our “culture”. However, the current administration has a general disdain for physicians and their generally conservative values. Despite what many think in the progressive movement, physicians are small businessman who provide jobs, pay taxes, provide uncompensated care, and support their communities at many levels. The NEW doctor who is left will likely have all of the compassion of their predecessors, but wil in the final analysis be just another Government worker. And they will demand the customary benefits of ANY Government worker-time and a half over 40 hrs, paid health, dental, disability insurance. 6 weeks paid vacation plus CME. and of course retirement w. COLA!!(cost-of-living ) adjustment. I am glad that I was able to practice medicine at a time when the doctor-patient relationship really had a value. This will not be the case in a single-payor Federal system as the design does not allow that type of special relationship. Please share w. me your thoughts but please base any criticism on sound facts not emotion. Bless you all.
Dr. SAL MOSCATELLO
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Sweet post.
Your predictions are the only outcome that can come from a socialists program. The politicians played the envy card for many years and far to many peole bought in.
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