Survey Confirms Growing Demand for Primary Care Physicians -- AAFP News Now -- American Academy of Family Physicians

Survey Confirms Growing Demand for Primary Care Physicians -- AAFP News Now -- American Academy of Family Physicians:

"The average salary or income-guarantee offers made to family physicians increased from $145,000 in 2005-06 to $161,000 in 2006-07, a gain of 11 percent; however, average offers made to FPs who also practice obstetrics remained relatively flat, increasing from $158,000 in 2005-06 to only $159,000 in 2006-07. "

It's good to see some move towards better compemsation for PCP's. If reimbursement weren't so heavily skewed towards procedures, we'd get more appropriate distrubution among specialties.

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House Republicans plan their own health plan - The Crypt's Blog - Politico.com

House Republicans plan their own health plan - The Crypt's Blog - Politico.com:

"Under fierce attack by Democrats over the children’s health insurance plan, House Minority Leader John A. Boehner said Sunday Republicans will unveil their own health care plan over the next few months. “Republicans are working on a plan that will provide access to all Americans to high quality health insurance, make sure that we increase the quality of insurance that we have in American, and we want to foster a sprit of innovation,” said Boehner on “Fox News Sunday.” “This is a plan we’ll see over the next coming months where we put the patients in charge of their health care.”"

Wow. Another step to the tipping point?

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The Doc's In, but It'll Be a While (Business Week)

The Doc's In, but It'll Be a While:

"The Doc's In, but It'll Be a While Despite spending lots more per capita on health care, the U.S. is often as bad or worse than other industrialized nations in wait times "

h/t to Marc Brown

It is from June '07, but it was new to me...

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Sadly, No! » Malkin vs. Malkin

Sadly, No! » Malkin vs. Malkin

Too funny! (Or is it too sad?)

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Capitol Feud: A 12-Year-Old Is the Fodder - New York Times

Capitol Feud: A 12-Year-Old Is the Fodder - New York Times:

"An aide to Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican leader, expressed relief that his office had not issued a press release criticizing the Frosts.

But Michelle Malkin, one of the bloggers who have strongly criticized the Frosts, insisted Republicans should hold their ground and not pull punches.

“The bottom line here is that this family has considerable assets,” Ms. Malkin wrote in an e-mail message."

I realize this is somewhat off-topic for a single-payer blog, but here goes anyway.

Since when does Michele Malkin think that having considerable assets means one should not try to take the government for all one can, be that corporate welfare, no-bid contracts, capital gains tax cuts, killing the estate tax for the mega-wealthy, etc.?

I expect I won't be the first one to say, without embarrasment, that it really frosts me how they are treating the Frosts. My God, if we went after every person St. Ronald of Reagan threw at us to "put a human face" on a situation, we'd still be at it 20 years later! Not to mention the Snowflake babies and their families ("any abortionists in the family, ma'am? anybody with Parkinsons?")!

But I would like to know when someone is going to have the Edward R. Murrow moment or the Joseph Welch moment.

"Have you left no sense of decency?" When George W. Bush said after 9/11 that you were either with us or against us, I had presumed he meant with America and the liberal democracies in the world or not. No, as it turned out, he meant that you were either with the far right wing of the American Republican Party, the neocons, the fundamentalists, the constitutional "originalists," the unitary executive-ists, the authoritarians, the xenophobes, the selfish, the unilateralists, the imperialists, and the military industrial complex. If you were not one of that "us," you were unpatriotic, anti-american, ungodly. You deserved to be labeled with Newt Gingrich's dirty words from his infamous GOPAC memo.

Cheers (or, Good night and good luck)

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Medicare Audits Show Problems in Private Plans - New York Times

Medicare Audits Show Problems in Private Plans - New York Times:

"The audits document widespread violations of patients’ rights and consumer protection standards. Some violations could directly affect the health of patients — for example, by delaying access to urgently needed medications. "

"I'm shocked, shocked," says Captain Renault...

Update: I've trackbacked (or is it trackedback?) to firedoglake post on this, so that if you need lots more examples of why we need single payer, you can click on the various topics I have set up on the right to get data when you are in a fracas...

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Harold Meyerson - Return of the Goldwater GOP - washingtonpost.com

Harold Meyerson - Return of the Goldwater GOP - washingtonpost.com:

"Today's Republicans seem determined to re-create that magical Goldwater self-marginalization. Opposing the provision of health care to children because it conflicts with one's faith in an economic future (capitalism insures everyone) that capitalism itself does not really share (or it would insure everyone) is the same kind of theological nuttiness that led to the Goldwater debacle. In the name of attacking socialism, what Republicans are really doing is affronting the empiricism and the pragmatism, not to mention the decency, of the American people. At, one need hardly add, their own risk. "

A nice piece that covers nicely the ideology leading to opposition to SCHIP, let alone Medicare-for-All.

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