To All the A**holes who are Insulting the Flying Ebola Nurse: Shut Your F***ing Faces.

[Stonepounder]

46. But, but, but .... we gotta make a profit!

US Healthcare is going down the tubes because of its profit-driven approach to medicine. When I was a child, our family doctor (now known as your 'primary care physician') worked out of a two doctor office - he, Dr. Bob and his father, Dr. Link. When I was sick, they made house calls. Now we have to drive 10 miles to visit our PCP, who for anything more than a flu shot, a cold, or a case of hives is pretty much useless. For anything more, we have to self-refer to a specialist. For a visit to our PCP, our co-pay is $35 and for a specialist it is $50. (Note, this is on a 'good' Medicare Advantage program).

Forty years ago my wife worked in a Senior Clerk position for a large insurance company and made $12.00/hr. Today my daughter works as a Physician's Assistant, able to draw blood, take vitals, do a history, deal with insurance companies, authorize refills of most prescriptions, dress wounds, etc. She makes the munificent wage of $15.00/hr. Try raising three kids as a single mother on $15.00/hr. (And before any trolls want to snipe at her for being a single mom, she's a widow not a 'easy woman').

Professional salaries of doctors, nurses, aids, PA's etc are either going down or stagnating. Doctors now work for medical 'companies' and have goals for how many patients they see. Normal appointments are typically scheduled for 15 minutes of 'face time' with the doctor and usually its more like 5-10 minutes.

The family doctor of my childhood knew us, knew our family, and knew our medical histories. The PCP of today is lucky if he can glance at our medical records before he walks into see us.

And still Congress cuts funding for the CDC, hospitals cut staff, doctors work more hours for the same pay, patient care suffers, and insurance companies rake in billions. Oh, and some insurance CEO's mastermind schemes to rip off the government by billing Medicare and Medicaid for tests and procedures never done, and then get themselves elected Governor.

And we wonder why things like Ebola happen here.