Obamas most despicable act to date.

[mrstickball]

ManusJustus said:

Healtchare is part of a much bigger problem in America. Americans want to make a lot of money and buy a lot of things with it. Doctors make several hundreds of thousands of dollars a year (compare that to what they make in France, Britian, Sweden, etc.), CEOs make tens of millions while they run their businesses into the ground, heck even some types of nurses make over a hundred thousand dollars a year.

And nobody wants to take a pay cut and stop buying a bunch of things they dont need, especially if others dont have to do the same. You cant ask a doctor and health workers to take a 50% pay cut to make healthcare more affordable while we let bank CEOs continue to make much more than they are worth.

I doubt America will be able to fix this problem anytime soon, its more of a cultural and social problem than an economic one now.

You don't need to force pay cuts on doctors. There are other ways to do it.

Like I stated in my example, the reason doctors get paid too much is that they are overworked and in short supply. Because of that, those who are available get paid far too hansomely. Its the law of supply and demand.

Sadly to say, there are government and union regulations in place that prevent a better flow of doctors and nurses into the fields.

http://education-portal.com/requirements_to_become_a_doctor.html

Such a website advises to become a doctor in the US, it requires 8 years of schooling + 3-8 years of residency to become a full fledged doctor. So if it takes up to 16 years....How many people are going to complete those requirements?

If you didn't know, the United States has the most stringent requirements to become a doctor.  Comparatively, you can become a doctor in 5 years in India (4 years of college + 1 year of residency). Of course, most are considered 2nd and 3rd world countries which may put a damper on what one assumes could be a good doctoral candidate.

Are there any countries that have great healthcare systems and have low requirements? Yes. Japan. Japanese doctors require only 6 years of college. Japan also spends 8% of its GDP on healthcare and has the 2nd highest life expectancy of any nation on Earth....Despite having some of the lowest standards for doctors.

Europe is far easier than America, too, as they require 2 years less of education, plus internship time. I'd love to hear what MrBubbles has to say about this discussion, because AFAIK he is a Sweedish doctor.

At any rate, when you look at that data, you realize that America has standards that are causing problems. You can become a doctor in India or China, and move to America and hold equal credentials, despite spending 1/3rd the time on becoming a doctor. Does that sound very competitive for American doctors? That is probably the reason that Americans complain that there are too many doctors that they can't understand.

With that in mind, it may be time to lower the requirements to become a doctor in the US. If we had more doctors (and we are no where near the top in terms of doctors per capita, despite having a modern healtcare system) they would compete for jobs, and they would demand less money. Until that happens, we will either suffer due to costs, quality, or both.