Doctors in America are harboring an embarrassing secret: Many of them are going broke.

[eyeofnewt]

29. broke doctors

I've worked in health care for almost 30 years. I've worked in high volume, high quality facilities to small rural hospitals with low volume. I haven't found that doctors are "hurting". Yes, I've seen a few struggle financially, for different reasons. I don't blame the amount of debt they graduate with, the Medicare reimbursement cuts, nor the insurance industry. Failing physicians and practices existed before these issues were ever issues. Rural areas have long had trouble attracting doctors, as well as other professionals.
I'm not saying they are all rich and living the good life. However, most are. Most feel it is deserved given the amount of time and money they have spent on their education. Wouldn't the debt be relative to the income they will realize?
Idolizing doctors has taken a down turn in the last 25 years or so. No longer do health care co-workers and the general patient population take their advice blindly. Rather, they have been taught to question, to research, and to arm themselves with knowledge.
I well remember the scare of increasing medical malpractice insurance driving doctors to move to states where tort reform had already been enacted. This was floated about in order to coerce legislators to enact tort reform. Some even said they would be forced to give up their practices. I always wondered what they would do to make the type of income they enjoyed as physicians. Ha! Recent articles have pointed out that med mal insurance costs have gone down in the last four years in states with and without tort reform. I also wondered how the people who support tort reform would feel if their mother, brother, child, etc. were harmed by gross malpractice and their settlement after legal fees would not provide care for the harmed person for long. Not a fan of "Obamacare"? Then maybe your insurance company will find a reason to drop your injured family member from coverage, or you might lose your job due to providing care. Then what? Medicaid? Probably (thanks to the government).
Broke doctors, lack of access to care, long hours (really? compared to the nurse who is with the patient 8,12, 16 hrs at a stretch? or compared to a worker performing two jobs to make ends meet?), large student loans - these issues aren't new with healthcare reform nor changes in reimbursement. As for states with tort reform on the books...did it make a difference?
Sorry for the rambling. I lost my blind respect for whole professions years ago. Bankers, doctors, lawyers. Sounds negative, but to me realistic. There are some good doctors out there; money is secondary to patient care, but I think I'll save my sympathy for the truly hurting.