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My father-in-law had a medical practice that consisted mainly of elderly sick people on Medicare. By the time he closed his practice, Medicare was paying my father-in-law $29 for an hour visit. He's internal medicine, so his patients had multiple ailments and usually took up every bit of that hour. The last year, he had to pay his nurses and office staff out of his own pocket, because that amount of money couldn't even pay his overhead. He know works as a hospitalist and does fine, but nearly 1000 patients in the Monroe area lost the best doctor in the region. So, here's the question: What incentive does anyone have to become a physician when the single payer doesn't pay enough to have your own business?

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So, here's the question: What incentive does anyone have to become a physician when the single payer doesn't pay enough to have your own business?

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I only have a basic understanding of the bill; so, what is driving up costs on healthcare? From what I can tell, a larger group of people will be insured, which would mean more people getting services. I think service providers get paid when they provide services, right?

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I only have a basic understanding of the bill; so, what is driving up costs on healthcare? From what I can tell, a larger group of people will be insured, which would mean more people getting services. I think service providers get paid when they provide services, right?

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what added cost

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A company that provides healthcare would likely receive MORE remuneration from Obamacare... so until we know more details I'll have to conclude his assertion of "more costs" is pure bunk.

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Today began the first wave of layoffs in anticipation of the massive 2013 budget cuts we're in for.

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Summary of tax increases: (ten year projection)

Increase Medicare tax rate by .9% and impose added tax of 3.8% on unearned income for high-income taxpayers: $210.2 billion
Charge an annual fee on health insurance providers: $60 billion
Impose a 40% excise tax on health insurance annual premiums in excess of $10,200 for an individual or $27,500 for a family: $32 billion
Impose an annual fee on manufacturers and importers of branded drugs: $27 billion
Impose a 2.3% excise tax on manufacturers and importers of certain medical devices:$20 billion
Raise the 7.5% Adjusted Gross Income floor on medical expenses deduction to 10%: $15.2 billion
Limit annual contributions to flexible spending arrangements in cafeteria plans to $2,500: $13 billion
All other revenue sources: $14.9 billion

Summary of spending offsets: (ten year projection)

Reduce funding for Medicare Advantage policies: $132 billion
Reduce Medicare home health care payments: $40 billion
Reduce certain Medicare hospital payments: $22 billion

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Insurers must spend 80% (for individual or small group insurers) or 85% (for large group insurers) of premium dollars on health costs and claims, leaving only 20% or 15% respectively for administrative costs and profits, subject to various waivers and exemptions. If an insurer fails to meet this requirement, there is no penalty, but a rebate must be issued to the policy holder. This policy is known as the 'Medical Loss Ratio'.[69][70][71][72]

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What you fail to realize is like Medicaid patients that I see in my state are able to get insurance at either no cost or at a reduced rate. Any sniffle, cough or headache, these patients are in the ER. No personal responsibility at all!

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First of all many of these stories are always pretty dubious. It's not like if we have single payer there just won't be any doctors.

Second, this thread seems to be on the payer side, not provider.

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Gee, I don't know... why don't you poll the millions of doctors in the rest of the world who make good livings?

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