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Actually in the US, when it comes to "doctor's pay" its all handled much the same whether it is government run (Medicare) or pirvate(insurance). Doctors agree to a fee for services with whomever they do business with. So Medicare reimburses for a hip surgery the same for each surgery performed by that doctor. And each insurance company agrees to a contract with practitioners for whatever services they provide and it can vary based on whether the doctor is part of a PPO, HMO, or out of network. Now when you get into large corporate hospitals and all that, it complicates things as to how much a doctor gets paid as thats getting into more business side of things with regards to investments etc... but that's generally the basics of how people get paid in healthcare. The disadvantage of a single healthcare reimburser ala socialized healthcare, is that you are stuck with whatever fees that are decided upon. So when it comes time to talk fiscal responsibility and spending controls, you can get ****ed in the ass once they turn their sights to your practice and have no competition to turn to. At least with private insurance, you know that decisions are always made on the premise of maintaining profit. I'd hate to see all of our healthcare become a political issue that can sway in the wind with elections, ala Medicare.
There's 'pay' as in = pay/reimbursement *to* the practice/hospital (etc) from patients/insurance/etc for the services/care provided.
And then there's their 'pay' - paycheck/salary.
When someone, in general, is talking about "how much Dr's are paid" - are they referring to "how much salary/weekly pay they get" Or are they referring to "how much the patient/insurance pays or reimburses for services/care provided.
Our government doesn't *pay Dr's directly* for their employment (paycheck wise).