Subject

[Guest guest]

Docs:

The healthcare climate is also be affecting the M.D.s.

Lyndon McGill, D.C.

EvolvHealth Wellness Advisory Council Member

Salem, Oregon

www.SalemSpineClinic.com

www.EvolvingDaily.com

Next Generation of U.S. Doctors Sees Gloomy Future

By Yukhananov

WASHINGTON (Reuters) Apr 11 - A majority of young doctors feel

pessimistic about the future of the U.S. healthcare system, with

the new healthcare law cited as the main reason, according to a

survey released to Reuters on Wednesday.

Nearly half of the 500 doctors surveyed think the Affordable Care

Act, President Barack Obama's signature domestic policy

achievement, will have a negative effect on their practices,

compared with 23% who think it will be positive.

Of the 57% of young doctors who are pessimistic, 34% cite the new

healthcare law or regulations as the reason for pessimism. Other

reasons include declining reimbursement for doctors and a decrease

in incomes.

Twenty-one percent of the doctors, who were all under the age of

40, said they were neutral about the future of U.S. healthcare,

while 22% were optimistic. The reasons for optimism included

better patient care and that the United States was moving in the

right direction with its healthcare system.

The survey was commissioned by The Physicians Foundation, a

non-profit organization that promotes the work of practicing

doctors through grants, research and policy impact studies.

It was founded in 2003 as part of a settlement in an

anti-racketeering lawsuit brought by physicians and medical

societies against health insurers. The insurers agreed to provide

seed money to start the organization.

The survey may add fuel to opponents of the healthcare law, who

denounce it as an unwarranted government intrusion. Republican

presidential candidates have promised to repeal the law if one of

them wins the White House in the November election.

The Supreme Court is also weighing whether Congress overstepped

its authority to regulate commerce in approving the law, which

mandates that all Americans buy health insurance or pay a fine.

Lou Goodman, president of the Foundation, said the medical

profession is still attractive and people are applying in record

numbers to medical schools.

"But what we're seeing is that once they get out, it's not what

they expected," he said. "Young doctors are finding upheaval and

transition in the way the healthcare system is structured right

now ... And when our doctors are dissatisfied, we've got a problem

with the system."

Goodman said some doctors are worried about the Affordable Care

Act and other healthcare changes because they will bring economic

considerations into the decisions that doctors make.

One physician quoted in the survey said: "The changes that are

being made are not made with the patient in mind, but with the

'bottom line' economically in mind. Not once is the patient

mentioned in all these changes."

The doctors were randomly selected in December 2011 from an

online database by Medical Marketing Research, which conducted the

survey online. Half of physicians were in primary care, 175 were

specialists in offices and 75 were specialists in hospitals.

Reuters Health Information © 2012