Time for Doctors to Strike? (TheDailyBeast.com)

[MrsK]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...to-strike.html

So, this editorial was posted on The Daily Beast yesterday. "The Health-Care System Is So Broken, It’s Time for Doctors to Strike". Thoughts? Is the system so badly broken that a strike is the only way out? Would it be ethical for doctors to strike? Would it be effective?

[Sheherezade]

I think that doctors tried to strike over HMO plans in Florida when I was a kid (the 80s) and I remember my dad talking about it. He's a doctor. I think --- vaguely recall -- that the strike was legally opposed by the state and there was talk about whether doctors could legally unionize.

I think it would be considered unethical by many, regardless. Sadly, doctors are bound morally by the Hippocratic oath. It doesn't take in to account things like income and job conditions.

[Ladybug]

They would be villainized. But, wow, I love that image they created for this article.

[ladymoreta]

I think "strike" isn't a great description for what they're talking about, but I love when doctors find creative ways to circumvent insurance companies. I know they're a necessary evil, but I just can't think of them as anything but the bad guy. Those clinics sound like great places to go for health care!

[MAPPLEBUM]

Great article. The idea of a strike sounds like a great, simple solution but no matter how many docs you could get to strike there will be more to say "hey, he's not working, come get service from me!" Also not sure how feasible the direct care approach could be for many specialties / communities. Our community has two really big name hospitals that cover a large part of the state. Unfortunately one lone wolf doctor doesn't seem to have as much credibility as a large hospital group or practice?

[SuzySunshine]

I think a lot of these ideas are great but most don't apply to my DH - there is no way an NSG could be direct care, or monthly subscription and not take insurance - the overhead is to great for the kind of equipment they need and the malpractice is to high. This is where I have issues with these subscription type docs, or pay them instead of having insurance type - what happens when you get a brain tumor and need to see a specialist, who is going to pay him? I've never seen an article that addressed that type of thing...

As far as striking, my DH would never do that - his obligation is to his patients, that is one reason he likes being employed, he practices medicine and leaves the rest of the bullshit to the hospital. Yes his contract will be up for renewal in a year (unless the 4th year extension gets put into writing soon) but he and I talk regularly and are keeping specific notes on things that we have in our back pocket for that renewal.

[WolfpackWife]

Sometimes when I read stuff like this, or things on KevinMD's blog, I am so, so incredibly scared that my husband - whom I really cherish - chose this profession. Monetary or job availability issues aside, the mental and emotional toll described by physicians in some cases is terrifying. The comments on this article linked to an article on KevinMD's blog about physician suicide and...wow.

Unrelated to the article at hand but still, my two cents.

[MrsC]

I think they're confusing going on strike with striking out on their own. For physicians to strike, they would have to be unionized so their jobs are protected, which I'm all for. A union for physicians may prevent them from getting screwed by everyone in this business.
Although, the ideas presented in this article kind of go against everything a union stands for. DH can't just go and set up his own expensive care unit so it automatically excludes him. FWIW, a strike by physicians is not really a strike, it's a go slow and for it to even be considered, there has to be a precise goal in mind.

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[ladymoreta]

I agree, Cheri. DH would never be able to do something like that either. I guess I understood it as a clinic setup for family practice and maybe pediatricians. People would still need insurance for more catastrophic illnesses or injuries, but this would cover services provided only by the doctor at that clinic.