Doctor Fees Major Factor in Health Costs, Study Says

According to the New York Times, doctors in the United States are paid higher fees than in many other countries in the world. This is one of the major factors as to why the overall cost of health care is high in our country. Studies by Columbia University professors are showing that American primary care physicians are paid more than physicians in Australia, Canada, France, Germany and the United Kingdom. Due to our country’s overwhelmingly high spending costs in medicine, sacrifices are going to be made. For example, cost-cutting proposals are in effect. Medicare, the insurance program for elderly citizens in America will reduce their fees by 29.5 percent on January 1, 2012. Also, Medicaid has been frozen in many states are reduced.

In class today we discussed that the idea to become a doctor is based on money. Around the world people are choosing to become doctors because their motivation is large paychecks. The study found that in the United States, primary care doctors earn 42 percent as much as orthopedic surgeons. However, many other countries, including Canada, France and Germany, primary care doctors earn roughly 60 percent as much as orthopedic surgeons.

This skewed income distribution worries me. I believe that there should be an egalitarian system set in place in all countries. Moreover, having an equal political, economic, social and civil rights society, healthcare will not be taken advantage of. In my opinion, I feel that this is a globally social problem. If medical students overseas seek out a position in the United States because of higher paychecks, their country looses the benefit of that person’s skills for their own people.