45% Of Doctors Consider Quitting If Health Care Overhaul Passes

It could be reasonably assumed that a great majority of those doctors who would consider quitting, serve Latino communities. Could Washington possibly force a bill that would totally undermine the medical industry in such a way as to make health care for Latinos a potential disaster? If doctors start to leave their practices in these communities Latinos could find themselves with emergency room type clinics as the only access to medical care. That would not be good!

Two of every three practicing physicians oppose the medical overhaul plan under consideration in Washington, and hundreds of thousands would think about shutting down their practices or retiring early if it were adopted, a new IBD/TIPP Poll has found.

The poll contradicts the claims of not only the White House, but also doctors’ own lobby — the powerful American Medical Association — both of which suggest the medical profession is behind the proposed overhaul.

It also calls into question whether an overhaul is even doable; 72% of the doctors polled disagree with the administration’s claim that the government can cover 47 million more people with better-quality care at lower cost.

The IBD/TIPP Poll was conducted by mail the past two weeks, with 1,376 practicing physicians chosen randomly throughout the country taking part. Responses are still coming in, and doctors’ positions on related topics — including the impact of an overhaul on senior care, medical school applications and drug development — will be covered later in this series.