Arizona doctor says Obamacare will force him to close shop
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While it may be years before most Americans feel the impact of President Obama’s health-care bill, a few patients in Scottsdale, Ariz., got a small taste of life under Obamacare last week when they arrived at their Dermatologist’s office only to see a sign with the following taped to the front door:
“If you voted for Obamacare, be aware these doors will close before it goes into effect.” The note is signed Joseph M. Scherzer M.D. and includes the following addendum: “****Unless Congress or the Courts repeal the BILL.”
Scherzer, who attended Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, has been a practicing Dermatologist in Scottsdale, Ariz., since 1976. Reached yesterday at his office, Dr. Scherzer, 63, said he plans to stop practicing before 2014 when the bill’s full impact will be felt because he refuses to deal with the headache of increased government involvement in health care.
“I’m absolutely serious [about stopping practicing] and it’s not just because I’ll be nearing 65,” Scherzer said. “The stress is what would push me out the door. From what I’ve gathered hearing from my friends and peers, most physicians I’ve heard from feel the same way.”
Scherzer said the bill’s emphasis on punitive measures for physicians not following government-prescribed treatment methods under Medicare would increase his anxiety level to the point he would no longer be able to practice medicine. The maximum fine was previously $10,000; under the bill it will now be capped at $50,000. Scherzer said the fine system makes seeing a Medicare patients a difficult and stressful exercise.
“Doctors have actually committed suicide over these things. There’s no insurance to cover it,” Scherzer said, calling the fine system “tremendously complicated and Frankensteinian.” “It’s absolutely impossible to be certain you’ve complied. I feel like when I see a Medicare patient I have the Sword of Damocles hanging over my head.”
Scherzer said he hasn’t been fined but he was audited by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services several years ago and spent months awaiting their findings. CMS never contacted him with the results of the audit, but he later found out that he had not been fined.
“There was just no contact whatsoever,” he said.
He also takes issue with the Democrats’ argument that much of the waste in the health-care system is driven by a profit motive on the part of physicians.
“The point of socialized medicine is to allow the government to budget the percentage of GDP spent on medical care. They don’t want to admit they are rationing care, so they say doctors are ordering too many tests to make money,” Scherzer said, adding that while there are always a few bad apples, the vast majority of physicians are ethical and do not knowingly order unnecessary tests.
While he identifies as conservative, Scherzer said he has avoided politics for the past decade and that he blames the current poor state of the medical industry on both Democrats and Republicans. However, he plans on ending his political hiatus this week: He’ll be attending his first Tea Party in New York City on Thursday night.
“It’s interesting how every time someone has concerns or opposed the bill you hear the Democratic party call the individual or group liars. It’s almost the mantra,” Scherzer said. “They’re providing disincentives to care that are making the practice of medicine repugnant.”
If you know any other physicians considering retirement due to the pending changes to the health-care system, please have them e-mail Gautham or follow him on Twitter
(15 votes, average: 4.73 out of 5)
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So he’ll retire in two years and collect social security and take advantage of medicare. Oh and probably have more money in retirement funds that most of us could ever dream of. And he wants us to feel badly for him —why? Retire doc. You lost your desire to help your fellow man long ago.
Kris, you summed this up perfectly, thank you.
My Doctor has made comments about the limitations they have to treat their patients under this plan. He commented that he will not be treating me, it will be our government. He has been rendered down to a nurse practitioner and the 10 yrs it took him to become a Dr. will be overshadowed by Doctors sitting on Obama’s over site panel. sshhhhhhh we are not supposed to call this the “Death Panel”. This is a slap in the face for Doctors. They will not be trusted to proved treatment and care without permission from Obama..talk about a control freak!
Call it whatever you want, it is NOT a “death panel.” There are no panels, period.
Your doc doesn’t know what he’s talking about, or he’s intentionally lying to you. Private insurance companies running HMO’s dictate to doctors that they can’t even MENTION medical procedures which the HMO doesn’t want to pay for — even if they are the best alternative.
The new legislation doesn’t stop this kind of abuse, but it certainly doesn’t expand it, and Obama has nothing to do with it. It’s been going on since the creation of HMO’s back in the early 1980s.
Um, so Dr. Joseph M. Scherzer will close his office and retire and become elegible for socialized Medicare because he will be 65.
Typical Teabagger.
You mom loves teabaggers.
really diggin’ this reply. Its like jelly of the month club. the gift that keeps on giving.
Hah! now that’s funny…Maybe him and his mom are closet teabaggers.
Wait, I’m confused….
Isn’t ‘teabagging’ a homosexual practice performed in the privacy of one’s home? Yet isn’t the term being used as a perjorative here? But aren’t the Tea Partiers supposed to be the racist bigot homophobes? But aren’t you the one saying a homosexual practice is bad?
You people are hard to figure out!
No it isn’t. Flips is obviously a homophobe, but Sipi-Cup isn’t going to call him out on it because he needs to look the other way because they have the same politics. You won’t see BMF on here attacking Flips idiocy because they share the hate of the same people (and the same love of mocking homosexuals and women).
It’s like a nice little Liberal monkey-pile where all the haters can pretend that it’s ok to be bigots as long as they agree on the big issues. Just makes you feel warm all over, doesn’t it?
Way to not see the big picture, dumb a s s . Stop being so anti-everything and actually think about the point of the article. Just because the doctor has a opposing point of view, you libtrolls on here go all personal attack on him.
We’re going to miss his live-saving acne cream. How will we survive?
I guess you’ve never heard of melanoma.
I don’t think anyone that stupid has heard a word over three syllables that he’s understood.
des: He understands and believes in one 4 syllable word…socialism…
elyria, I hope you never get psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis. Wow! Ignorance IS bliss.
I have no words:…. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRgB2eeHZEw
…there are none.
Actually I do have something to say…. I will send it to the room through mental telepathy… get ready..
did you get that message?
This doctor is just a sign of things to come. Sit back, relax and no matter what, stay healthy. Once this O(A)bomination goes into full affect the American people will be begging to be seen by a nurse or a veterinarian for that matter.
Where were all of these doctors crying out with objections to this new law? They were busy actually caring for their patients, staying true to their Hippocratic Oath unlike the bureaucrats in DC.
The American people, the fools they are, heard Pelosi say we must pass the Bill to find out what’s in it. Vote them out or sleep in the bed you helped make.
You people laugh all you want everything will end up hunky-dory…pull out the archives. When Waxman calls out all of those CEOs in front of his committee for being Obamacare BASHERS and exaggerators, you’ll see there’s nothing to hide! LOL!
UPDATE: It’s been called off. Wonder why? Excuse me while I go change my britches.
You doc haters are ignorant of so many things least of all their ages. Can you imagine any other profession where the gov. tells you how to do your job that you have many years of learning and innovating on? Do any of you ignorant doc haters realize that there will be NO new procedures coming from them in the future? How would you like to be a mechanic and be told that no matter the make of car you had to charge the same to fix it? After all of their med school and internship they are being told that they will become salaried employees and their salary will be determined by the politicians in DC. I would get out too.
Their profits are dependent on two factors – income and expenses. Even if their income is now entirely set by medicaid like programs (which it isn’t), they still have the ability to adjust their expenses and their expense to income ratio. Basis business.
These guys are complaining that their government hand-out is changing, not that it exists.
Mind you not all docs are like this and some are adjusting to meet changes in the economy and market conditions – but a dermatologist complaining that he is concerned that he might get busted for Medicare fraud shouldn’t be the poster child for why you oppose health care. See thefamilymd’s comments below for some reasonable arguments (which I may disagree with, but at least they make sense).
Interesting that so many people “dislike” the basic capitalistic system. As a business owner, I embrace it and work with it everyday – why do you think that doctors should be treated any different?
“Their profits are dependent on two factors – income and expenses. Even if their income is now entirely set by medicaid like programs (which it isn’t), they still have the ability to adjust their expenses and their expense to income ratio”
Awesome, so the “do well” by this government’s accounting (which they’ll have to report, and may be penalized for) if they treat you cheaply, with the less costly and less effective treatment… or just give you pain pills and let you go.
And they’ll “do poorly” (and be penalized as well as economically worse off) if they actually treat patients.
You need a hip replacement, and it would let you walk again. But that costs too much, so have a wheelchair and some pain pills and get out of here… oh and don’t get me started on the costs of Chemo… just take a morphine drip and wait it out.
Oh, you wanted treated so you’d actually get better? Yeah, we can’t afford to do that here anymore.
You’re right, this is a great plan for health care; why didn’t we promote ignoring patients and avoiding treating people sooner?
Can you imagine the federal government setting standards for how to do your job? Yeah, every job in which a person requires a federal or interstate license, from truck driving right up to the practice of medicine… and this didn’t start with Obama. Federal oversight is something the American people have been demanding since the tainted-meat scandals of the early 1900s.
And we know this guy is not some conservative ideologue. Wonder what party affiliation he belongs to? LOL Of course this is FRONT PAGE NEWS to the Daily Caller!!!!
Yes, I’m sure he’s alone in his standing as a doctor looking to get out from under this abortion of a health care bill that the guys who passed it didn’t even read.
truth…you for one should be against this Bill! Now they NEVER will be able to fix stupid.
Sounds like he is a bad business person. He has made his business dependent on receiving funding from the government. My discussion with doctors have made it clear that most are not concerned with additional government programs, but rather the cut in reimbursement rates by those programs run by the government.
The smart doctors will recognize that the increase in people with basic medical coverage increases the volume of potential customers. Their challenge is to market to these new prospects and run their business efficiently.
This guy is just another elitist who thinks he is entitled because of his professional title.
So first, tell me you’re a doctor who has managed a practice. No, you haven’t? Well I have (and do). I’m a lot younger that that doc in the article but I’m planning to leave medicine too. Medicine is like no other business. You have the Government and Medicare issues the article and doc mention, and of course you have to worry about malpractice. Sure, see more patients (I’m already overbooked with a 6 week waiting list). I’ll just give up sleeping. Wonder how much better I’ll be at making decisions before the sheriff knocks with the lawsuit summons? Then we get paid less and less by everyone while my rent rises, my staff expects raises, etc. etc. Let’s see you manage that one Einstein, while being the perfect friendly accessible doctor you should be. I have a suggestion: print out this article and file it for 5 years. Then read it with your comment again and see if you agree. By then you or your family member won’t have a specialist they need, or will be waiting years for an appointment. And YOUR expenses (taxes and healthcare premiums) will be way higher too. Uh, sir, the “nurse” will see you now…
Like DocRich, I’m also manage a medical practice and I’m a physician. I agree with DocRich writes except I don’t have a 6 week waiting list!
llama’s argument makes little sense. He/she criticizes the physician in the article for being a “bad business person” because “he has made his business dependent of receiving funding from the government” and immediately argues that his/her discussion with doctors reveals their real problems are lower reimbursement rates by gov’t programs. Isn’t this the same thing? How many doctors can survive without at least some Medicare patients? When a patient turns 65, she doesn’t have a choice of whether or not she wants Medicare. Did you know that? She is booted to Medicare and the previous Blue Cross health insurance, for example, then becomes a secondary insurance to help cover what Medicare does not. In other words, to not accept Medicare is nearly suicidal in business as a physician. llama condradicts himself/herself.
The “smart doctors” llama speaks of also know that about half of the 30 million to be newly insured under ObamaCare will be covered by Medicaid. True, Medicaid payments will finally rise above what was in some cases a few dollars(!) to the level of Medicare payments. However, has llama ever tried to call Medicaid for a prior authorization for a medication? Has llama ever tried to see a patient with Medicaid who is ill but first must get approval from another provider that may take an hour or even days? Ever seen the enormity of a KidMed exam booklet, llama? Ever called Medicare about payment denials? Please, try that one! Then call Blue Cross/Blue Shield and compare the efficiency and level of pleasantness that is generally exponentially better than Medicare and Medicaid.
I withdrew from Medicaid over a year ago because it was a nightmare to deal with. Funny thing happened. I could then legally see Medicaid patients who were more than willing to start paying me cash for visits when they could have seen a Medicaid provider for free! Did I hoodwink them? Not at all. They chose to pay so they could see me.
Funny thing about freedom; even the freedom to choose your own doctor. It’s tough to give up; and people who “could not afford” insurance suddenly started paying $100 or more for an office visit. (This is not to mention the several UNINSURED patients who call my office annually for sea-sickness patches for their upcoming Caribbean cruises.)
Elitist? Most of my patients call me by my first name. And I’ve struggled to stay open and pay my enormous student loans because I was so incredibly motivated to be a rural physician when I could have chosen an easier route and made more money in a group practice in the city. In fact, I’m closing soon to join a large practice in the city because of the bureaucracy and what has now become supernova burnout. Elitist? I drive a 5 year old Civic. Elitist? I hate it when I’m introduced as “doctor.”
I think it is llama who sounds elitist. But it is not surprising. The Left–I know, I used to be a liberal–knows better than us unenlightened doctors and small business men and women in the trenches, trying to help people while keeping a business solvent. Maybe llama is young and healthy. I hope so. If so, he/she may not notice the level of care drop off but his/her older loved ones certainly will. I wish them and all of us the best.
Damn, my grammar! I couldn’t afford an elitist Ivy League school! Maybe I’d have known better then! Bah!
I applaud the fact that you took the stand of no longer taking Medicaid / government sponsored patients and yet continue to make a profit and run your business. That is my point- you adjusted and continue to serve patients and make a profit.
People like the dermatologist in the story are so dependent on the government funded medical care provided to the elderly that instead on adapting to new market conditions, they fold up and complain that the system they were use to will no longer be available to them.
When these reforms go into place doctors just like you will adjust their business models and survive. If there are less physicians for some reason (doubtful given enrollment figures), nurse practitioners and others will fill the void for day to day basis medicine. The only health care that will cease to occur is the inefficient type and perhaps a little less fraudulent billing of Medicare.
My attempted point was that the federal gov’t’s greater presence into the details of health care will only worsen the bureaucracy, even for “private” insurance. Many times, private insurers follow Medicare’s rules, eventually. Here’s but one example by the AAFP who, btw, supported the hcr law. http://ow.ly/174lwF
“If there are less physicians for some reason (doubtful given enrollment figures),”
Wow you are a freaking idiot! There was just a story in the headlines today that enrollment is already down and there will be a massive doctor shortage before Obamacare ever kicks in. Then you claim there will be more physicians? Based on what you moron?
Oh gee, now we’ll have nurses caring for us instead of doctors? Ok, my mom was an RN for her entire adult life. Can you explain to me how they’re going to get the extra training necessary to diagnose at the level of a doctor? Will they then demand more pay? Will we get a discount because we are now undergoing inferior care? Are you capable of making a single intelligent point?
So many questions, so little hope of a cogent response.
A couple of new notes about the doctor you all think is so great.
He is associated with the Association of of American Physicians and Surgeons. An organization that is frequently cited for its odd medical positions such as ties between abortion and breast cancer, opposition to child vaccinations, support of doctors charged with prescribing excessive amounts of pain killers, HIV does not cause AIDS, and a whole host of other crackpot positions. That doesn’t even cover the statement of the doctor equating government funding of health benefits to Hitler’s take over of Germany (BTW he wrote about that in the ’80s – so much for him being not politically involved).
As I’ve said before, there are plenty of legitimate arguments to be made for and against, but when reporters fail to police their stories for the sake of making pre-established point with their captive audience they elevate nutjobs like this doctor – which in turn lowers the credibility of people with legitimate concerns.
Don’t just challenge the opposition, challenge your leaders – or else you will be lumped in with the crazies.
Have a little faith in the free market. If you have a 6 week waiting list you must be pretty good at what you do.
My guess is that you are a chiro. My understanding is that they actually have classes in their training on business issues, so you should be well served.
To clarify, the above post was directed to “DocRich”
?…not to worry, we’re all one big happy family here – that statement was a “half-truth.”
Old Doc Might Retire, Takes Parting Shot.
Stop the presses!
Liberal makes stupid comment, has no response for lies he has been told by his leaders, refuses to address reality, insults Conservative….
Stop the presses!
Hey, why go to all that trouble to refute the message when it’s just so much easier to kill the messenger?