The doctor prescribes a medication and has the patient return in 3-6 months to see how the treatment is working rather than return in one to two weeks. Thus the patient may be taking a medication that is of little benefit and not the right treatment.
The cost of medical malpractice insurance has risen because of frivolous lawsuits and awards. The physician therefore orders many, and possibly unnecessary, tests in order to protect himself. Fortunately, in some cases an organ disease is identified that may not have been able to be found by the H&P. Unfortunately, many diseases are not identified by CAT or MRI. When simple tests or an adequate H&P would. Additionally, young doctors have a large burden of loan payments incurred in medical school, which are repaid over 10 plus years of practice. Who are the uninsured? A quarter of them are eligible for Medicaid, but have not applied; One-sixth are illegal immigrants; The remainder are workingage adults, who are not impoverished, but not covered at their jobs. The coverage for this additional 47 million uninsured will result in worse care for the rest of us. There are not enough doctors and nurses to provide adequate care. Increased spending won't buy a growing number of doctors to provide the care. Presiden
t Obama's plan is for increasing family doctors to provide preventative care and triage. Unfortunately this was tried in the 1980s. To increase the number of family doctors, specialty residencies were cut in numbers of residents and programs. The result was that the family doctor made a tentative diagnosis he was unable to confirm or treat. This resulted in a huge shortage of specialists.
Obamacare is going to lead to rising costs of medical care, rationing and decreased quality of care for those who are already insured, especially the elderly, since there is no one to provide the care.
Needed solutions before any real change in medical coverage can be accomplished, include:
Increase the number of medical students by increasing the number of medical schools and lower costs to students or government repayment of training costs. Change malpractice laws to reduce frivolous lawsuits. Permit patient/physician decisions rather than patient/insurance/government relationship. Provide incentives to entice young people to enter medicine. Eliminate discounting of hospitalization and treatments charges for government, insurance companies so that the uninsured pay the same amount. Develop realistic standards of care based on end results and values rather than costs.