Practicing physicians like orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Nirschl, who have watched politicians and health policy for decades, are experiencing first-hand the effects of Obamacare — something Nirschl calls “absolutely insanity.”
“It is in fact socialized medicine, and the other issue is, of course, this is a huge transference of productive wealth,” the Washington, D.C.-area doctor said.
He opposes the law for two primary reasons: 1) Americans are losing the insurance they had before, and 2) doctors must comply with a morass of paperwork requirements that adds no value to the doctor-patient relationship.
“The patient is stuck two ways,” Nirschl said. “Number one, the doctor is forced to do things which have no value to them, and they’re buying or forced to buy insurance, which has no value to them. I mean, this is absolutely insanity.”
Nirschl has written a compelling piece that compares the purchase of health insurance under Obamacare to the purchase of a fastfood hamburger.
Suppose a customer orders a $3 quarter-pounder.
“The clerk says, ‘Well, you’re in luck because the government has just said that you can buy it for $2.50,'” Nirschl said. “‘But, 15 percent of the population basically can’t afford the $2.50, so we need you to contribute ‘the mandatory voluntary contribution’ of $1.00.'”
“‘It’s really popular with the 15 percent group, and so we don’t have as many. So we’re losing money, so we’ve had to decrease the value to an eighth-pounder, from a quarter-pounder, and by the way, you can only have two even though you wanted four, and you can pick it up in three or four days,'” he said.
His analogy, he thinks, can help more people understand what is happening in health policy.
Nirschl was trained at the Mayo Clinic, served in the Navy, taught at Georgetown and has served in a variety of leadership posts for professional medical associations. He has treated prominent sports figures, politicians and others in the Washington area.
In this exclusive interview, he discusses the real consequences of Obamacare for the practice of medicine, what doctors are talking about and the dangerous erosion of the Hippocratic Oath — doing what is in the best interest of the patient has now transformed into serving the best interest of government public policy.
Watch Part 1:
Watch Part 2:
In a previous segment of the interview, he discussed the real $1 trillion problem with Obamacare that has yet to emerge.
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