Quote:
Originally Posted by Penforhire
That entitlement complaint cuts both ways. American doctors (AMA) figure they are entitled to be paid an absurd amount of money for their services. Amazing, isn't it?
|
Fees for physicians are set by government since the early 60s when Medicare was enacted. Insurance companies follow the Medicare benchmark. Except their administrative fees are triple the government. Can you imagine a private company three times LESS efficient than the government? That's impossible. Clearly their profit margins are excessive. The reimbursement of American physicians pales in contrast to the reimbursement of hospitals and pharmaceutical firms-whose rates are unregulated.
A patient showed me his EOB (Explanation of Benefits) from the hospital when he went to the ER for a heart attack, the ER physician received ~$200 for care ; the hospital got $45000(yes, forty five thousand) for the next 23 hours including cardiac stent placement. The patient went home the next day.