I am an internist, a primary care physician, not a politician. While most politicians seem to care more about their re-electability and power, most physicians I talk to care about their patients and about their own economic survival. My deep concerns about government health care have nothing to do with scare tactics. They have to do with my own experience as a primary care physician and as a US Citizen who sees progressive takeover of the private sector, over every area of the lives of its citizenry, at the great expense of our freedom.

      I just got back from Washington DC, where I was part of a group of over 150 physician-members of Coalition to Protect Patient Rights. I am a member of Montana’s CPPR steering committee. This organization wants to see health care access for all, but it knows that government-run health care is not the way to do it. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are near bankruptcy. The US Postal Service is already there. Freddie Mac, Fannie May and Amtrak went awry after government got involved. The Poverty Act of 1964 was a dismal failure. The US federal government has not shown itself to ever heighten quality and contain cost—the opposite occurs.

      Furthermore, one of the biggest reasons there is a primary care physician shortage is because of the federal government’s handling of low and slow Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements. Their methods for containing costs has been to force physicians to take payments lower than what it takes to run a physician’s practice. This resulted in many physicians unwillingness to see Medicare and Medicaid patients and a sky-rocketing of costs. Why would our best and brightest go to 12-16 years of grueling post high school education to be a government worker? The shortage of primary care physicians will further plummet if we get government run health care.

      Change the tax laws so individuals can get the same tax deduction as the employers for health insurance, bring transparency to cost and quality of medical care, pharmaceuticals, and medical technology, bring tort reform, let insurance companies truly compete with one another, let Medicare patients privately contract with their physicians, and you will see costs drop and efficiency rise. We have not had a truly free market in medical care, due to the intrusion of government via programs like Medicare. Let these companies compete, require transparency, and you will see efficiency and lower costs that government has never shown itself capable of doing. Put medical care in the hands of consumers (patients), and as with computers and other items, you will see a drop in price and a rise in quality due to competition.

      Don’t rush this process. Address the specific problems.

Annie Bukacek MD