doctors – The Burning Platform

Doctors without Jobs Calls for Activation of Unmatched Physicians in Coronavirus Pandemic

Guest Post by Kevin Lynn

All unmatched U.S. doctors who graduated from U.S. medical schools in good standing should be given the opportunity to serve in communities throughout the country where they are most needed in this pandemic.

This month, more than 1,200 U.S. medical school seniors learned they did not match to a medical residency. In addition, an untold number of prior-year medical school graduates did not match to a residency. In fact, since 2011, each year a total of approximately 2,000 current-year grads and prior-year graduates haven’t matched.

After spending four years on an undergraduate education, those who enter medical school have gone through a highly competitive and rigorous process to get one of the limited number of seats available in U.S. medical schools. Those who commit eight years of their lives to a very specialized education have a reasonable expectation that they will be able to practice medicine. That a doctor has invested eight years of his or her life in an intellectually demanding field of study and is then shut out of the process is a tremendous violation of the social contract in America.

We call on President Donald Trump, Vice President Pence, Dr. Anthony Fauci, VP Pence’s coronavirus team, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams, the AMA, The Match, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons and the heads of U.S. medical colleges to work together to deploy those unmatched, and willing to serve. In turn for their commitment to serve for one year, we ask that they be given one-year residency equivalency.

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Statistically Doctors Are More Dangerous Than Gun Owners

WHEN THE SHEET HITS THE PLAN

Guest Post by Stilton Jarlsberg

obama, obama jokes, political, humor, cartoon, conservative, hope n' change, hope and change, stilton jarlsberg, obamacare, blue cross

Not long ago we reported on the absolutely nightmarish process of trying to get a new insurance policy through Healthcare.gov after Blue Cross Blue Shield killed our existing plan and – in a letter to the medically homeless – specifically blamed Obamacare.

But we eventually did get a crappy, overpriced HMO policy on Healthcare.gov, and on Monday our proof of insurance cards arrived. Which is when the trouble started.

The two cards (one for each of the senior Jarlsbergs) had the names of two different PCP physicians on them (in an HMO, your “PCP” is the alleged doctor who becomes the gateway to either allow or deny all other healthcare services). Despite the fact that we’d named another doctor during the application process – indeed, we were required to pick a doctor – the new physicians were complete strangers whose names indicated they “weren’t from around here,” nudge-nudge wink-wink.

A quick online search showed that both doctors had pretty dismal reputations. One of them only had office hours two days a week, and only for five hours each of those days. Good luck getting an appointment! The other doctor required a 45-minute drive and ran a combined “family practice and low-cost lasik surgery” center in a strip mall.

A panicked call to Blue Cross put us on hold for 50 minutes before ever speaking to a human. Finally, we were told that we could absolutely change our PCP doctors because the ones shown on our cards were “dummy doctors.”

Say what?!

Continue reading “WHEN THE SHEET HITS THE PLAN”

OBAMA WAS RIGHT – MY TREND IS DOWN

My University operates on a July 1 to June 30 year. Therefore, our open enrollment for benefits started this week. Since our year crosses into 2015, we tend to be the canary in the coal mine for health insurance premium increases. I just logged on to see my new rates. I was breathlessly anticipating that $2,500 per family health cost savings I was promised by Obama in 2009 when he was selling Obamacare to the gullible masses. Sadly, I was disappointed once again.

It seems my SAVINGS is actually a 12% increase in my premiums. Being the fastidious financial person who has been using Quicken as my checkbook for the last 23 years, I am able to easily go back and see the increases in my monthly insurance premiums since Obama promised me those savings. Here are my increases since 2010:

2010 – 10% increase

2011 – 8% increase

2012 – 6% increase

2013 – 20% increase (12% premium increase and new $1,000 deductible instituted)

2014 – 12% increase

These increases are not for some gold-plated plan. I have the basic Keystone HMO plan. There are two other far more expensive options. I have to stay within the HMO network, get referrals, etc.

Isn’t it ironic that since Obama and his liberal minions jammed Obamacare down our throats in 2009, my annual cost for premiums is now $2,500 higher than it was in 2009? Maybe he mixed up his signs while reading the teleprompter back in 2009. This doesn’t even take into account my co-pays going from $15 per visit to $25 per visit over this same time frame. With a family of five, the number of doctors visits per year is substantial.

Obama touts how his law “allowed” kids up to the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ insurance plans. It didn’t allow anything. It forced insurance companies to expand coverage. They expanded the coverage by raising premiums on everyone. That was the 10% increase in 2010.

We now know the risk pool of those 7.1 million people who signed up for their “free” Obamacare is skewed towards older sicker people and not the young healthy people used to model the finances of Obamacare.

The 12% increase in my premiums is going to cover the skewed risk pool. These are the facts on the ground in the real world. And the reality of Obamacare hasn’t even really hit yet. Wait until 30% of the 7.1 million fail to pay their premiums. The insurance companies will be threatened by Obama to keep quiet about the non-payment and will just pass on the cost to the paying customers like you and me.

I happen to work for the largest employer in Philadelphia, with the most clout when it comes to negotiating insurance rates. If my premiums are going up 12% to 20% per year, imagine the increases hitting employees at small businesses. You understand why small businesses are closing down or not hiring new employees. Those still in business are just doing away with insurance for their employees and letting them sign up for Obamacare.

There is no way to describe Obamacare other than as an unmitigated disaster. And he has unilaterally changed the law by delaying the really bad mandated stuff until after the 2014 mid-term elections. We wouldn’t want the Democrats to stand behind their penultimate legislative accomplishment.

I’ve just addressed the financial aspects to a an average family. HZK and AWD can expound upon the horrible impact on doctors. Millions have poured into the Medicaid system, which will eventually bankrupt the states and limit the care options to practically nothing for the poor. The quality of care will deteriorate rapidly as Obamacare reaches its zenith.

But my increase declined from 20% to 12%, so my trend is down. Well done Savior.