Obama's First Economics Lesson

Mr. President is facing the first economics lesson of his presidency. According to a New York Times article Mr. President is trying to figure out what to do with shortage of doctors. He said “we are not producing enough primary care physicians”.

Education is expensive, it consumes a lot of time and the payoff is not worth the trouble. This is a very early wake up call on socializing medical care in the US.

The economics lesson? When you lower the price of something you get less of it. This is a good preview of what will happen to those little chemical compounds we call legal drugs that save millions of lives every day if you start instituting price controls to “protect” people from “evil” pharmaceutical companies.

Comments

[Gyoza Mimi:]

Perhaps the most useless, politicized and unsubstantiated article I've seen here in a while. Simple thoughts from a simple mind, out loud.

Apr 28 05:14 PM

[heed:]

I think it's funny that his justification for avoiding some sort of socialized medicine is that the free market is not producing enough doctors. Instead, you could produce incentives for people to go into medicine by paying for their tuition in exchange for a few years of work out of Med school. For example, I would not have gone to grad school if I had to pay the tuition, but I was able to get that waived and receive a small stipend. In return, I do 30-40 hours of research work on the side.


On Apr 28 05:14 PM Gyoza Mimi wrote:

> Perhaps the most useless, politicized and unsubstantiated article
> I've seen here in a while. Simple thoughts from a simple mind, out
> loud.

Apr 28 07:14 PM

[Tony Petroski:]

Right on V.K.!

Apr 28 09:48 PM

[danf:]

"I think it's funny that his justification for avoiding some sort of socialized medicine is that the free market is not producing enough doctors"

We have not had a free market medical system for 50 years. In the case of medical care, the means of production are in the hands of private parties, but the price they are paid are increasingly in the hands of the state. Sounds like national socialism to me.

Doctors avoid primary care because government pricing rules pay that category of care the least. The more specialized you are the greater the compensation you receive from the state.

Consider what it costs to take your dog to a vet - operating in a mostly free market, vs what you pay to see your doctor. In my town it's $25 to see the vet and $75 to see the doctor

Apr 28 10:23 PM

[Pax Romana:]

Neither private or socialized medicine is perfect... When I used to work for the NHS in U.K. in the late 1990s, I remember up to 50% of newly graduate Doctors leave their job after the first year as junior Doctor, there were few rewards in the socialized system. They either switch profession or go to another country where there is more oppertunity. What a waste of government and societal resources as their education is "free." The socialized medicine is a one size fits all solution... there are limitations...Quality of Life Years (a measure of effectiveness of treatment versus cost for the remaining value of your life) In summary, if you want advanced treatment, quick service, you pay out of pocket. If you are middle class, you get government service (NHS)....No Choice...

In United States, if you are poor, don't have a job, then depend on the state you are in, you "can" get good service. But if you have fair income (15k and above), no health insurance, then you are totally screwed if you have catastrophic or chronic illness...

In the US, many older physicians I talked to are leaving primary care. The average physician income have not increase in dollar amount in the last twenty years, yet figured in inflation, their real income have dropped 40%. Most physicians still will treat patient with little to no compensation, in fact its a law that you can't refuse treatment based on pay. Up to 30% of insurance claims are unpaid, which business in the world will sustain a 30% non-payment on bills??? The average US medical school graduate will incur a debt of over 150,000. Without ability to be awarded for their professionalism, productivity, who wants to be a Doctor???

So in one hand, we looked at Europe as a model of Universal Health Care Coverage, but on the otherside, we want to keep our free choice in health care??? So, what is the solution???

Apr 28 11:38 PM

[TCK:]

Education funding is the other side of the coin. By making more government funds available the cost will ultimately rise. Over the last 30 years the cost of education has dramtically outpaced inflation.

Apr 29 09:28 AM

[fireball:]

i have a personal note on this one.
my pretty half has a daughter who is exceptionally bright. she has wanted to be a docor since she was abot 10. she was in pre-med. she is a straight-a student with hardly an effort. she is a sweet, caring, young woman. at the same time she can steel herself to a gory situation in order to help.
she is also extremely competitive with a great desire for excellence. in november she saw the writing on the wall and called me. this semester she is drifting and knocking off basic prerequisites. she talked about expatriating after med school but i had to point out that it would be dfficult to find a country where she could practice unmolested by govt. she does not want to be a govt. employee (that is for losers, by her reckoning), she does not want politicions, insurers, lawyers, lifeboat philosophers or any other non-medical "experts" forcing her to give mediocre treatment or to deny treatment because of age or any other uberman reasoning. i did not know what to tell her.
i suggested finding something else that would challenge her most exceptional mind. her dream and her heart want to practice medicine. it is a loss to her and any who would have been under her care.
2 weeks ago she called to talk because apparently obamama is making subtle moves to force doctors to perform abortions against their own conscience. i was not aware of this problem. she simply said that it confirmed that her move away from medicine was the right decision. she laughed just before we hung up and said, "anyway i will be rich as compensation."
she is one of the best and brightest that we lost. it is sad to me that such a focused young woman is now drifting.
punish excellence and receive mediocrity.

Apr 29 09:34 AM

[Jimbo:]

Workers I have talked to in the UK were generally quite pleased and enthusiastic about the NHS. But these were mostly young, healthy people. If you are over 35 years of age, and have end stage kidney disease, the NHS will not provide dialysis. I guess they give you palliative medicine and watch you die.I agree with a previous responder: the rich can afford medical care on their terms. The poor get medical care regardless due to "cost shifting" in hospitals and clinics. The people who are shafted under our system are the folks in the middle income range with little, or no, insurance. I don't know what the answer is but if we get a single payer system many people will be upset when the rationing comes.

Apr 29 10:11 AM

[ironist15:]

Don't worry, Vitaly. Socialism provides the answer to the doctor shortage and all other shortages. Obama can just order people to become doctors and then order them to practice public health medicine. Of course, he may have to restrict emigration . . .

Apr 29 04:40 PM