High doctors’ salaries and climbing fees may be the major reasons that health care costs are so much steeper in the United States than in other developed countries, a new study concludes.
Columbia University researchers compared payments to primary care doctors and orthopedic surgeons from six developed countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom — and the United States. After scrutinizing the data, they found that both groups of US physicians were making much more money than their foreign counterparts.
In part that’s because procedures like hip replacements cost so much more in the US, said the study’s lead author Miriam J. Laugesen, an assistant professor of health policy and management at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. In part it’s because physicians are just paid better here, she added.
On average, primary care physicians in the United States received $186,582 in pretax income a year, compared with $95,585 in France and $92,844 in Australia. When it came to orthopedic surgeons, there was a similar disparity, with US surgeons taking in an average of $442,450 a year, compared with $154,380 in France, $208,634 in Canada and $324,138 in the UK.
I don’t disagree that US doctors salaries may be high but how much of their income goes to malpractice insurance. I know my uncle quit delivering babies on his own mostly due to the exorbitant malpractice insurance expense.
US Physicians also come out of medical school in 6 figure debt. Not so of any of the other countries
the salary ends up a wash when you look at cost of education, malpractice etc
Don’t know where you get your info from - but it is pretty easy to run into 6 figures in Canada - big problem with the high debt load pushing graduates away from family practice for more lucrative specialists.
Agreed though that malpractice insurance for US docs is pretty rough though.
I don’t disagree that US doctors salaries may be high but how much of their income goes to malpractice insurance. I know my uncle quit delivering babies on his own mostly due to the exorbitant malpractice insurance expense.
Exactly…although I didn’t read the article. If you’re making 200K a year and 175K of that is malpractice costs you’re far better off making 100K doing the same thing in a country that malpractice costs are only 50K.
Many, if not all, “Socialized medicine” countries have boards that deal with not only “Best practice” medicine but also deal with malpractice issue keeping that cost down as well.
No, the reason why HC costs are so high is because the govt is the largest customer and they control the whole game. Doctors don’t just get to charge what they want or better don’t get reimbursed what they think they deserve - Medicare sets pricing and all private insurance work from there. And then the 2nd biggest reason is patients suck and put more thought into buying a new cell phone than consuming healthcare.
I’m cool with high doctor salaries. For the length of education, amount of debt, and practical slave labor done during a couple of years of residency, it really doesn’t seem like a whole hell of a lot.
If anyone thinks they can point to one thing to say why medical costs are so high, they’re kidding themselves. It’s a complicated problem with many issues. Just to name a few:
Medicaid/care underpay and others have to cover the loss.
Malpractice
People with insurance overusing
Paying for illegals that can’t/don’t pay
etc
etc
etc
US Physicians also come out of medical school in 6 figure debt. Not so of any of the other countries
the salary ends up a wash when you look at cost of education, malpractice etc
You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts (emphasis added):
The study, being published Thursday in the journal Health Affairs, found that the incomes of primary care doctors and orthopedic surgeons were substantially higher in the United States than in other countries. Moreover, it said, the difference results mainly from higher fees, not from higher costs of the doctors’ medical practice, a larger number or volume of services or higher medical school tuition.
No, the reason why HC costs are so high is because the govt is the largest customer and they control the whole game. Doctors don’t just get to charge what they want or better don’t get reimbursed what they think they deserve - Medicare sets pricing and all private insurance work from there. And then the 2nd biggest reason is patients suck and put more thought into buying a new cell phone than consuming healthcare.
Except that it isn’t the reason.
“A similar trend was seen in specific procedures. Hip replacements, for instance, cost almost twice as much in the US as they do in foreign countries: When a private insurer paid, the US cost was $3,996. That’s compared to $1,943 in Australia and $2,160 in the UK, for example. The disparity wasn’t as sharp when there was a public payor, but the US still led the pack with an average payment of $1,634 vs. $652 in Canada, $1,046 in Australia and $1,181 in the UK.”
I don’t disagree that US doctors salaries may be high but how much of their income goes to malpractice insurance. I know my uncle quit delivering babies on his own mostly due to the exorbitant malpractice insurance expense.
Exactly…although I didn’t read the article. If you’re making 200K a year and 175K of that is malpractice costs you’re far better off making 100K doing the same thing in a country that malpractice costs are only 50K.
Many, if not all, “Socialized medicine” countries have boards that deal with not only “Best practice” medicine but also deal with malpractice issue keeping that cost down as well.
~Matt
And it may be driven by malpractice insurance PREMIUMS it is not being driven by malpractice lawsuits. So still not the damn lawyers.
“But for all the worry over higher medical expenses, legal costs do not seem to be at the root of the recent increase in malpractice insurance premiums. Government and industry data show only a modest rise in malpractice claims over the last decade. And last year, the trend in payments for malpractice claims against doctors and other medical professionals turned sharply downward, falling 8.9 percent, to a nationwide total of $4.6 billion, according to data compiled by the Health and Human Services Department.”
Instead, it is f’ing Wall Street.
"Lawsuits against doctors are just one of several factors that have driven up the cost of malpractice insurance, specialists say. Lately, the more important factors appear to be the declining investment earnings of insurance companies and the changing nature of competition in the industry.
The recent spike in premiums - which is now showing signs of steadying - says more about the insurance business than it does about the judicial system. "
OB malpractice insurance is notoriously high among the specialties, perhaps the highest (IIRC, neuro is up there as well). And it varies widely by state. An internal medicine specialist in Minnesota may pay less than $5k/yr, while an OB in Florida may pay well over $150k.
Get ready for it to be worse, as Obamacare gets implemented, more doctors will choose to retire than would otherwise. The supply, curriculum, etc for physicians is largely controlled by the AMA. So you have the worst of all worlds, with the govt mucking up the pricing models and a union controlling the supply of workers...but hey the AMA, for some reason, supported Obamacare.
edit to add that I worked with a guy whose son was an OB/Gyn for several years in FL, but left to become a GP because of malpractice ins costs.
I don’t disagree that US doctors salaries may be high but how much of their income goes to malpractice insurance. I know my uncle quit delivering babies on his own mostly due to the exorbitant malpractice insurance expense.
If a Doctor is paying for malpractice insurance after calculating income, the accountant better be paying malpractice insurance.
