<p>I might want to choose medicine… and was wondering that under a government payer system, would a doctor’s working hours be affected?</p>
<p>Nobody knows yet.</p>
<p>Hopefully, public option will be erased from the bill. If not, consider at least the following. More terminally ill and old will dye sooner (less patients). more uninsured will be covered (more patients), certain procedures will be rationed (less procedures allowed to administered), less people will trust docs/system (less frequent visits). However, BDM is correct, remains to be seen and might depend on specialty.</p>
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<p>It is probably not PC for a premed to say so during their medical school interview 
It is said that sometimes you can (or need to) do something but you really can not say it explicitly while you are doing it. Ambiguity is bad in many situations, but often is good in politics.</p>
<p>Well…I am not a premed, so I can say this.</p>
<p>A fundamental problem we have today is that we live too long. Old folks take away many job opportunities that should belong to the young generation. An even worse problem is that the entitlement program like Medicare was not designed to support such a huge population (baby boomers) who live such a long time, and it is politically difficult for the politicians to revise the program now, as nobody want their “entitled goodies” to be taken away. Politicians dare not be honest with their constituents, as they may not be elected if they do so.</p>
<p>As it stands now, I guess that Obama may accept some compromised solution as a better solution may not be politically possible now. I admit I am not optimistic.</p>
<p>mcat2,
I disagree. The fundamental problem is not that we live too long but that we are way too FAT. That causes most deseases and overburdens the system to the extend that it cannot handle. However, it points to personal responsibility, not government intervention, and it is outside of the topic of this thread.</p>
<p>I heard from somebody that, in Singapore, everybody needs to receive some form of military training every year, until s/he is quite old. If you are too fat, they will get you in shape before they allow you to leave your training camp that year. It is said it is quite effective I think it would not be PC here (just like charging fat passengers more for the same flight.)</p>
<p>I also notice that relatively, there are fewer fat people in Japan. I wonder whether it has something to do with the fact that the food is more expensive there than in US. People literally can not afford ordering too much food in a restaurant there. Here in US, we often hear “do you want to supersize that?” at a fastfood place, and often get enormous amount of food at a restaurant.</p>
<p>And what portion of US Singapore is sizewise? Do people from other countries are going to Singapore for health care… or perhaps they are coming here? American government will not be able to make anybody fit, it is personal responsibility as very many other aspects of our lives.</p>
<p>Singapore is basically like a city (e.g., Seattle, maybe?)</p>
<p>People from other countries do go to Singapore for health care. (the “health care tourism” phenomenon.) Recently, I heard that even Japan is trying to get its share of the healthcare tourism business; but it is an uphill battle for Japan, as countries like India, Thailand and Singapore have a greater price advantage.</p>
<p>I will not be surprised (but I hope it will not happen) that some US-trained doctors will be recruited to practice there in the future, if the private insurance company squeezes the income of doctors in US too much. In some of these countries, the doctors can have much less income and still live like a king (assuming that they are willing to live there as they and their family have to sacrifice a lot to live there permanently.)</p>
<p>I’m digressing from OP’s question, but many people have been quoted as saying that the food in the US is half as nutritious as it was before (when it used to cost over 10% of salary to buy food). It seems to me we are fat because food is cheap, but making food expensive is kind of wrong, being that the poor would be screwed. I only wish that organic options were more available. As for healthcare reform, idc as long as Obama makes med school affordable, and actually makes it possible for graduate students to get loans again.</p>
<p>I am more concerned about the international option that the insurance companies are going to adopt: import cheaper drugs from foreign countries, send patients to foreign countries.</p>