Doctor tells patients he will quit if President Obama is re-elected

[chicarn, BSN, RN]

Doctors are throwing tantrums now.

[SC_RNDude]

Where is the tantrum?

What I see is two businessmen getting the word out about Obamacare will do to their business.

I suppose you think the Democrat activist knows more about the business of healthcare then the two guys who are actually running a healthcare business?

[MilliePieRN]

My personal doctor talks about this to all his patients. He makes it very clear he cannot stay in business at the rate it's going. He is very anti-Obama and uses a portion of every office visit for this purpose. (I can't say I think using precious dr/patient time to discuss these matters is a good idea, but I do see where he feels the urgency).

[Mulan]

Throwing a tantrum or sharing the facts?

I see no tantrum there.

Thanks for posting this and helping to get the facts out there!

[llg, PhD, RN]

I know lots of doctors (and other health care leaders) who plan to vote for Obama.

You can find people in ALL professions who are highly partisan in their beliefs. Some favor the Democrats ... some favor the Republicans.

[MunoRN, RN]

Given that his argument doesn't contain any actual facts, I'm leaning towards tantrum.

Clinic reimbursements are too low, no argument there, but the cause of those low payments are not Obamacare, that comes from the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) based reimbursement schedule. The SGR was made into law in the 1997 Budget Control Act brought forward by Republican John Kasich. If we repealed Obamacare today it would have absolutely no effect on SGR. He will potentially get more patients with medicare, although it's not as though he'll be overrun with them since the number of people with medicaid will increase by .05%. If these were people that had been covered by private insurance then I might see his point, but these are going to be people who by definition are poor and un-covered, not exactly cash cows prior to Obamacare anyway. If it really is that hard on his business then he can just stop taking them.

Obamacare will still exist even if Obama isn't President, which makes his claim all the more fishy. If he really wanted Obamacare repealed (and believed that it was the cause of his low payments) then he'd be telling patients that he'll need to close his clinic unless it's repealed, not if Obama is elected.

It would seem that his issue is that he doesn't like Obama given the faults with his argument, and is fear mongering his patients into believing they won't get care if they disagree with his choice for president, which is sort of disgusting.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

A few months ago my former OB/GYN sent me a pre-printed letter that, I assume, was sent to all of her current and former patients.

The letter basically stated that she would be reducing the number of services that she offers and will no longer participate in deliveries. She also wrote that she would increase the number of elective procedures that she performs, such as lady partsl rejuvenations (read: money-makers).

She also wrote that her practice is under pressure "due to government interfering with private medicine." It's glaringly clear who she plans to vote for in November.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

if your income was to be cut as much as 60% would it bother you at all?

[StephaAnn]

I know there will be nurses who lose their jobs at our hospital if it never gets repealed. They are already preparing by laying off ancillary staff (Physical therapists, phlebotomists, housekeepers). And our hospital is actually one of the more financially conservative in the area.. I would hate to see what will be happening at the others.

[artsmom, BSN, LPN]

I cared for an ESRD patient who only was continuing to receive dialysis because he needed to be alive in November to vote Obama out of office.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I know there will be nurses who lose their jobs at our hospital if it never gets repealed. They are already preparing by laying off ancillary staff (Physical therapists, phlebotomists, housekeepers). And our hospital is actually one of the more financially conservative in the area.. I would hate to see what will be happening at the others.

And I know of many health care workers who lost their jobs back in 2008 and 2009 during the Bush Administration. And I know of many more nurses who haven't been able to get jobs in recent years due to the recession caused by the Republican Administration.

Yes ... we all know people who have lost jobs and/or will lose jobs because of our current economic mess. But to blame it all on "Obamacare" is ridiculous.

[RainMom]

I frequently hear this from a doc at his early AM rounds:

"Dr. X, you're seeing Mr. Smith in 1601?"

"No, only every other pt. It's part of the new healthcare reform."

Or sometimes he says "only even numbered rooms", etc. His response varies, lol