CC'er

Salaries will definitely go down. Compare Physician salaries in European countries( mainly GB, France, Germany, Belgium),Australia, japan, and Canada to those in US. The US physician salaries are BY FAR the highest. The German doctors get paid a FIFTH of what their american counterparts do. I suspect the japanese get paid even less. No one can seriously claim that Physicians in those countrys are severely lacking compared to American physician.

Keep in mind those country have universal healthcare.

Now consider Japan( yes it is a first world country): A woman going into labor went to ten hospitals for delivery, only to find that the doctors are on strike due to poor pays by their version of Medicare. The result? the baby dies within the woman.

I suspect due to recent economic conditions that there is a high chance that the reform will pass. Note: Drug companies receive MUCH of their financing from the NHI ( government). My parents research for drug companies and their grants are funded almost 100% by NHI.

If so, doctors may soon have to accept medicare. As of current, many to most private practices simply discontinued Medicare due to poor pay.