🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <333@unbc.edu>, 
	lyndon@unbc.edu (Lyndon Nerenberg) writes:

> 
> I wonder, though, what their losses will be (if any) when they lose their
> "customer base" to others who don't direct bill?

   I suppose that depends on how many of their customers would switch to
another physician in order to save some inconvenience ( and as long as
the direct billed rates are equivalent to medical plan rates direct billing
shouldn't be more than an inconvenience in MOST cases ). Personally I'd
prefer to stay with someone I trust and who knows my medical history than
shop around for the "bargain of the week". 

>                                                      Not an issue in Nanaimo
> from what I understand. It could be in Prince George - only 60% or so of
> the local doctors have opted out.

   By my estimation "only" about 35% of the doctors in Nanaimo have opted
out, so I'm not sure what your point here is.

> Presumably everyone has a credit card. What a joke.

  Whether or not everyone has a credit card is irrelevant. The point is that
apparently a number of people feel free to make up medical numbers, or quote
numbers that have expired, secure in the knowledge that they will be long gone
before the fraud is discovered.

  Note I'm not defending direct billing as such, just giving you the
doctor's perspective on it as I understand it. The government chose to
unilaterally limit the amount a doctor can bill the system, the doctors are
working around this by having the client bill the medical system instead. 
With direct billing there will be more pressure on the client to accept
financial responsibility. The client [voter] can then put pressure on the
government to accept responsibility. It's a shoddy move but it's a reaction
to an even shoddier one by the government. 

 Personally I think medical insurance should be free and automatic for all
BC residents ( eliminating the question of whether this person has signed
up for insurance or not ) and I think the government should negotiate
fairly with the doctors rather than arbitrarily setting caps on payments.
If the government needs to limit costs they should do so by negotiating the
types of services they will pay for and/or the amount of service any single
client is entitled to ( ie tell me up front how much and what kind of
service I'm entitled to under the plan, don't make it a crap shoot on
whether I get service from a given practitioner depending on how many
clients he's already seen this year ) 

> 
> --lyndon
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Malcolm Dunnett    Malaspina College         Email: dunnett@mala.bc.ca
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