Wow! The lead/cover story in this week's LONG ISLAND PRESS is entitled, "Disappearing Doctors," and outlines the healthcare crisis on Long Island, emphasizing increasing liability insurance costs and decreasing managed care reimbursements to doctors as factors actually driving doctors out of business or off of Long Island!
My only nit to pick with this article is the sad and helpless tone with which it ends. They quote one doctor suggesting people do whatever they can to stay healthy and avoid being involved with our broken healthcare system. I see our patients, however, as a doctor's most powerful advocates. No one wants to see their doctor leave or even cut back hours. We won't even discuss the mess when a doctor drops out of the "Preferred Provider" Network!
Help your doctor today, by clicking on one of the links to the right and getting involved by contacting our local legislators. The men and women who make and vote on laws to protect all of us listen to the people who vote for them! Some of our legislators have told me they didn't even realize there was a problem, because no one ever speaks up. Some will not listen to one doctor and are waiting to hear from our professional societies.
They will, however, listen to you, our patients, and THEIR constituents. They say when a constituent calls or writes to a state or federal congressman, that person represents 10,000 voters. A click on a link to the right of this page would be that powerful. Could you lend your voice to the 10,000 people who will lose their doctor if the "perfect storm" of increasing liability insurance costs and decreasing doctor reimbursements from Medicare and HMO's goes on unchecked?
Would you do that for Your Doctor?
My only nit to pick with this article is the sad and helpless tone with which it ends. They quote one doctor suggesting people do whatever they can to stay healthy and avoid being involved with our broken healthcare system. I see our patients, however, as a doctor's most powerful advocates. No one wants to see their doctor leave or even cut back hours. We won't even discuss the mess when a doctor drops out of the "Preferred Provider" Network!
Help your doctor today, by clicking on one of the links to the right and getting involved by contacting our local legislators. The men and women who make and vote on laws to protect all of us listen to the people who vote for them! Some of our legislators have told me they didn't even realize there was a problem, because no one ever speaks up. Some will not listen to one doctor and are waiting to hear from our professional societies.
They will, however, listen to you, our patients, and THEIR constituents. They say when a constituent calls or writes to a state or federal congressman, that person represents 10,000 voters. A click on a link to the right of this page would be that powerful. Could you lend your voice to the 10,000 people who will lose their doctor if the "perfect storm" of increasing liability insurance costs and decreasing doctor reimbursements from Medicare and HMO's goes on unchecked?
Would you do that for Your Doctor?
