Insurers to pay doctors 30-40% less under exchange plans.

[Act_of_Reparation]

70. You aren't looking at this correctly

So, you are angry over the cost of healthcare. I get that.

But there are two things to blame here, neither of which are doctors.

1) Cost of medical school: I work in an administrative capacity at a decent state university. Here, one year of medical school is $80,000 if you live out of state. That's over $300,000 on post-grad schooling ALONE, never mind what you spent as an undergrad. As others have noted, you can't start making substantial payments until you're through with your residency. So, what's a few years' interest on $300k? It ain't cheap.

For all the risk, work, and general unpleasantness required of doctors, it makes sense that they should be well-paid for what they do. They perform an essential task, and we need to attract people to the job.

2) Low Insurance Reimbursement Rates: A doctor's visit that costs you $140 out of pocket costs me $20 in copays. I doubt my insurance carrier reimburses at the doctor's out-of-pocket price. Maybe they pay him $100. Maybe.

It only gets worse as procedures get more complicated. A surgery that would cost you $20,000 without insurance will cost an insurance carrier $4,000. Prescriptions are even worse; that RX for Nexium that costs you $200.00 out of pocket... insurance companies reimburse pharmacists less than $50.00 for that stuff.

The reimbursement rates for vaccines are so low some PCPs aren't even administering them anymore. Insurance will cover the AWP cost of the drug, but not the overhead costs of refrigeration or the labor cost of administering it.

So, if you have no insurance, and you need to go to the doctor, then yes, you're getting screwed... but not by the doctors, but by the insurance companies and the universities.

Of course, we could fix both with a single-payer system and free college educations.... but that would be socialist <_<