Federal NP pay. Is this what it would look like under single payer?

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This thread is not about debating the merits or risks of single payer/socialized medicine in the US. It is about impact on pay for providers.

I was reading a thread about this topic on another site, and a poster suggested searching federal NP jobs to see what pay might look like under single payer. At Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), I noted that the pay range for NPs was around $58-$90K. MDs, by the way, started around 107K. VA starts around $80K. This is substantially lower than other NP jobs in my area—I live in a big, expensive metro area. 

For those who work in federal jobs, are these pay ranges reality, or are they adjusted up (or down) depending in the area? More generally, do people with more insight into policy and administration (read: people who know more about this than me) think that these pay figures would be likely under single payer?

 

Again, this is not about whether socialized medicine or target pay for NPs under single payer would be good or bad. I’d like to anticipate and plan since a mass reduction in income across most advanced practice positions would necessarily change lots of peoples’ lived. 

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.

Federal jobs like the ones for NP's at the VA tend to be lower than let's say my job as an employee of a state-run institution. I also see that some of the County jobs are higher than mine. Salaries across the states in federal agencies are also not the same. An NP for the VA in San Francisco will start higher than an NP for the VA in Saginaw, Michigan. The cost of living is always factored in. If you actually look, hospitals charge more for Medicare payments in high cost of living areas.

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I started with the DOD as an FNP just over 3 years ago. The listing for my job posting had a salary range of 57k-88k at the time I applied. I started out at 110k with no negotiating. Now 3 years later I am making just under 130k in the same position 

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Specializes in Psychiatric and Mental Health NP (PMHNP).

It is very clear from the VA website that health provider pay varies by location.  A cost of living differential is provided for more expensive areas.  That is public information.  Please do your research.

Government jobs generally pay a bit less.  However, they do provide excellent benefits.  And it is very hard to get fired or laid off.

In general, more risk, more pay.  Less risk, less pay.  That is the trade-off.  

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