🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Jul3.220923.26570@unixg.ubc.ca> buckland@ucs.ubc.ca (Tony Buckland) writes:
>In article <1992Jun30.195431.14274@mprgate.mpr.ca> mcvey@mpr.ca (Iain McVey) writes:
>>I wrote:
>>> I wonder if the Governmment has also taken the precaution of
>>> imposing a cap on cancer cell division rates, LDL and blood pressure
>>> levels, and the incidence of hip fractures in elderly patients.
>>
>>These doctor's wages are being capped, not cut. ...
>
> Anyway, my point is that the only way doctors can ultimately
> reduce their billings or stop making more billings at some point
> is to not provide some medical services.  Most medical services
> are needed by people who hurt and/or are in danger.  Without the
> services, they will get to go on hurting or to succumb to the
> threat to their lives.
> 
> We already have people waiting in pain and fear for months
> because there only so many doctors to help them, plus facilities
> limited by earlier government funding cuts.  Now they will also
> get to hear their doctors tell them, "Sorry, I've already done
> as much work as the government will allow me to do this year."


I have looked into this a little ( dug through old newspapers) and it
seems that what the BC doctors and the government are negotiating over
changes with amazing frequency.

The original idea of the cap affected only the most highly paid
specialists, as the cap was quite large.

The second idea was to put a total cap of about $1.27 billion on fees
paid to all the doctors in the province.  Now this starts to get a
little dangerous, if over billing is attacked by making every doctor
reduce his / her billing by a percentage.

In the first case, the cap would have cut off all doctors billings to
about $300 000.  As only 20 or 30 doctors actually bill MSP for that
much it seemed not a bad practice, but those 20 or 30 tend to top
specialists, both good to have around, and who have high overheads,
equipment staff and otherwise.

The second case could find the doctors in the province billing MSP for
say $5 million over the total budget cap, then having the excess cut
by percentage from each doctors claim.  This would mean that joe schmo,
MD. billing for the low of $40 000, could find his / her billing capped
to $35 000, and joe specialist billing for $400 000 capped to $350 000.

The newest news was that the shared pension plan was on the table again.

Obviously something has to be done, and this is not an easy-quick fix
solution that our previous governments were known for.

The question was quite eloquently summed up by a friend of mine:

"We only have two choices, either pay the big bucks and keep the
specialists, and one of the best programs in the country, or we cut the
budget and take what we can afford."

Perhaps we need to find other incentives than remunerary, for I do not
believe that the province can afford the high quality of medical care
to which we have grown accustomed if current wage increases keep up.

I also find it ridiculous that people have no problem paying doctors
very healthy incomes, but refuse to pay for quality nursing.

When people gripe about this NDP government, they usually do not realize
that they are actually griping about the government actually being
honest and fiscally responsible.  Not that I support or don't support
the government, but I think it important to realize, that our
'socialist' government seems to be attack fiscal matters in a most
business-like fashion.

- Iain -
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