Now a report says that 83% of all doctors have considered leaving their practice because of ObamaCare. This jibes with what I've heard from doctors I know, every one of whom is wondering what their future holds under ObamaCare, and whether that future will be in U.S. medicine. Some are considering leaving the country, to practice where they can make more money. Others are considering changing careers. None – not one – believes that they have a viable career as a doctor being paid under ObamaCare.
This flight of doctors to higher-paying careers is actually not new – it began years ago with Medicare and Medicaid, two government programs that pay fixed (and very low) fees to doctors. That flight, though, was to private medicine: an increasing number of doctors, over the years, refuse to take Medicare/Medicaid patients for the simple reason that they don't pay enough. Under ObamaCare, however, that choice is removed – and now to make more money, they have to make a more drastic career change.
I would like to live out my years in a country where I at least have the choice to obtain the services of a great doctor, even if I have to pay for that choice myself. If our great doctors tend to switch to another career, or move to another country, that's going to get a lot harder. It's going to make options like traveling to India, Estonia, or Brazil for medical care look a lot better. Some countries are already thinking about encouraging “medical tourism” like this as a major policy effort, most especially Israel, China, and India. To them, ObamaCare is an enormous opportunity. Good for them! But not so good for us...
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