So What Will Federalized Healthcare Do To Hair Restoration?

[Speegs]

New taxes afoot since it will be deemed a vanity procedure? Will it be covered? What will it do to the cost of the procedure, all indications are it will make it more costly.

 

Discuss.

[hairthere]

I don't see why it would have any effect on HTs. It is an elective procedure.

[petergibbons]

It will do nothing. Unless you're combining tanning with the procedure. By the way, health care has not and will not be federalized. It's still run by public companies and largely regulated by states.

[Blake Bloxham]

As a current medical student ... I can say, with certainty, that this is a very, very controversial issue at the moment.

 

Technically, it has no direct influence on HT surgery. However, there could be some secondary, unforeseen consequences.

 

First, if the bill does revamp the economy like it's slated (health services is 1/6th of the US economy), it could technically pump up the HT industry. People spend money on elective procedures in good times, not bad. Although HT surgeries are quite affordable (when compared to other cosmetic procedures), it's still not something most seek out in economic hardships.

 

Second, the bill does put a tax on individuals with a combined income of 250k (I believe). People with higher incomes are probably more likely to undergo procedures like HT surgeries. With higher taxes, people may be less likely to spend income on these procedures. Furthermore, an insurance mandate will cost money, and this, potentially, could take people away from spending money on other things, like HT procedures.

 

Altogether ... these ideas are very disconnected from the number of patients seeking HT procedures, and are probably just conjecture on my part. All in all ... the bill really doesn't affect HT procedures. At one point in time there was a 10% tax on cosmetic procedures being thrown around, then a 5%, then it disappeared and ended up being pushed onto tanning salons???

[Dr. Alan Feller]

The price of ALL goods and services will go up.

 

The quality of healthcare will go down. The availability of some types of healthcare will disappear.

 

Physicians will start to refuse patients on national healthcare coverage because they can't make a living. Hospitals will shut down.

 

In response the gov't will invent punishments for doctors and ultimately take away their medical licenses and/or jail them for being "greedy".

 

Ultimately our brightest and best will not even look into medicine as a possbile career and the American medical system as we know it will collapse.

 

Ironically, HT clinics will be among the last to go because it represents a service people "want" rather than "need".

 

Dr. Feller

[Dr. William Lindsey]

I agree. Already its counter-economic to do the hardest and most complicated of surgeries.

 

As many readers know, my daughter had a brain tumor removed last May 4, in a 12 hour operation by a fantastic neurosurgeon. Initially Julia had difficulty talking and couldn't walk. Last weekend she got top scores at our regional piano recital and just yesterday her long term prognosis was put above 90% cure.

 

But the neurosurgeon, for all of his preop and postop care (during the 3 month global period) billed 15,000.00 and was actually paid by the insurance company around 3000.00. And for that 3k, he took my daughter's brain apart, removed a tumor, and put her back together so that she can ride a bike, and be a normal kid; certainly saving her life.

 

By contrast, the same amount of physician income can be achieved with 2 bottles of botox and 5 or 6 patients, with virtually no risk and in about an hour.

 

Something is wrong when the smartest are financially dis-encouraged from going in to the most challenging aspects of medicine.

 

This disparity will only worsen with time, even without the current health care bill. Altruism only goes so far with folks, there has to be a financial reward with any challenging endeavor in order to attract significant numbers of the most talented young people. This not only applies to medicine but teaching, and police work and many other professions.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[lorenzo]

Dr. Lindsey congradulations on the recovery of your daughter I am happy to hear that.

 

I agree

 

Have you ever disagreed with Dr. Feller?

[why oh why]

congratulations on the piano recital Dr Lindsey. that's awesome!

 

As a musician, i hope she sticks with it. Piano, especially, is great therapy when the player is let to do it on his/her own terms.

[SERIOUS]

At the eve of a change, the most conservatives always fear for their comfort and for what they have, and become chronic pessimists, often out of insecurity and fear.

 

But that's not how we made revolutions, that's not how we "improved" humanity.

 

I gladly welcome this new revolution in healthcare, and "completely trust" this surprising ability human beings always had through its short history, which is to adapt to new realities, improve it when possible, and move on.

 

That's called evolution...

 

As for the impact on the Hair Transplant industry, nothing much will change... trust me.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Thanks for the comments regarding Julia.

 

Lorenzo, Dr. Feller and I do disagree regarding staples versus sutures. I'll do either, but I push sutures.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[HTInitiate]

I agree with Dr. Lindsey. I recently fractured my leg, and was taken to a hospital (ER). I was billed approx. 5500$ for x-rays, ambulance, crutches and ~5 minutes with a nurse practitioner at the ER hospital. My insurance chipped in and paid them approx 500 $ for the whole thing, as per the negotiated rate. I was wondering what if I did not have the insurance ? It seemed like Highway Robbery for what they did. I was only there for two hours, and apart from X-Rays they simply bandaged my leg and asked me to see an orthopedist for further evaluation. If I would have opted to go to an urgent care clinic, I could have probably got the entire thing done for less than 500 $. No wonder Medical Costs are so expensive, bcos most folks going to these hospitals simply cannot pay for lack of insurance and we have to pay for them.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

Another example HTInitiate...

 

I routinely do facial surgery at an accredited surgerycenter. Lets use noses for an example. If you were to have me do a quick 45 minute septoplasty (straighten the bone that divides your nose into 2 halves on the inside), insurance would pay me around 850.00 and the surgerycenter around 4500.00 and the anesthesiologist around 700.00.

 

If you had me do a 1.5 hour nose job for cosmetic reasons alone, you'd pay me 5700.00 and the surgery center (for now twice the time needed) would be you only 650.00 and you'd pay the anesthesiologist around 500.00.

 

The "winner" in insurance reimbursement often is the beaurocrats of the insurance company which take 20% of money paid in to administer the plans; and the facilities. It would seem that if the facility can actually make a profit at 650.00 for an hour and a half worth of time and supplies, that insurance could be billed similarly and drop health care costs significantly. Rather, it seems like the past 20 years has been a rush to get all of the eggs from the golden goose...

 

I am not saying that docs haven't been a part of this as well. Way back when I was an ENT resident(working for far less than minimum wage), we'd do 10 sinus surgeries a day on monday and friday. Because of "allowed unbundling" of procedures, reimbursement for 45 minutes of operating could reach 20k!!! Nowadays docs are paid 1k for it, still not too bad. But again, back then, many docs would find any reason to do sinus surgery as it paid so well.

 

If, like with cosmetic procedures, patients had to pay with their own money for cases like this, I suspect the price would have been significantly less; yet still profitable. And I suspect a greater percentage of surgeries done would have been genuinely indicated.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[1966kph]

dr lindsey excellent news regarding your daughter i know being a parent myself i would lay down my life for my kids health,i sincerely hope she leads a long and healthy life.as regarding health care in the uk we have a national heath service payed for by the way of taxs on all workers but as with everything there is always a profit to be made and all suppliers of drugs, equipment and consultents charge a fortune for their wares,but i do honestly think that the pricipal of free health care for ALL is the way to go,if for example you or a family member desperately needed a life saveing procedure the worry of being able to pay for it could and probably would make you ill,once again doctor lindsey good luck and health to yourself and your family.

[cavyguy]

The reform bill has zero to do with hair restoration. The reform bill won't mean new lines of people out front of the HT doctor's office clamoring to get in and get a HT. This means prices won't go up. If they do go up it's for other reasons than the reform bill (reasons like office overhead increasing, reduction in benefits for performed services, etc). If physicians are getting ripped off by insurance companies ($15,000 bill reduced to $3000 payment) that amounts to more evidence that insurance companies shouldn't be between patients and doctors. After all, tell me what service an insurance company actually provides? There must be a better way but so far we in the U.S. haven't implemented it.

[petergibbons]

If you look at the history of the US, for the last 90 years it has been a history of both increasing regulation and increasing prosperity.

 

I don't believe that health care spending has a privileged frame of reference in that it will result in the collapse of our system. The reason we have prosperity in this country is not for fiscal mechanical issues, but rather because we are built on principles of self-determination, detachment from tyranny, and a clear dose of rationality.

 

If you believe ideologues from the far left, you are convinced that George W. Bush is the anti-christ, Obama is the savior, corporations are evil, and we should get rid of capitalism.

 

If you believe ideologues from the far right, you are convinced that Barack Obama is a foreign-born marauder bent on the destruction of the US, and that he will systematically dismantle all of our profitable enterprises. I won't comment on the religious implications since I believe that the religious right hijacked the conservative movement.

 

The fact is neither of these are true. The pendulum does not swing very far in either direction in this country. We do not have the problems of instability that the rest of the world has, unless you believe the ideologues.

 

I can tell you that there is no way to regulate away prosperity and freedom.

 

Having said that, I agree that doctors are getting the short end of the stick by insurance companies. That's a symptom of the problem.

 

Also, a moderate degree of tort reform (believe it or not I am a liberal saying this) would really help doctors lower their costs.

 

I ran out of time writing this post.

 

Time for me to go have four cups of wine.

[HTInitiate]

All Great Points. Doctors sacrifice lot of time on education and training and accrue huge educational debt as a result of it. Keeping them motivated has to be our top priority if we want good doctors to stay in US. Unfortunately, this healthcare plan does not seem to address that.

Doctors might be expensive but it was the associated cost that seemed more excessive: e.g., Ambulance ride, ER visit etc.

[EpilepticSceptic]

I had an accident 2 years ago. I fell through a termite eaten floor that looked perfectly solid, and it was about a 12 foot fall. I was knocked temporarily unconscious, and when I came to my nose was full of blood and felt like it was broken and had maybe pushed up into my brain. I was quite dizzy and felt nautious as well. I also had a pretty nasty cut about 7 inches long on my chest from the rotten wood when I fell through.

 

So I had someone bring me straight to the ER of a local hospital. I'm a musician, so I didn't have insurance. I thought I might have brain damage, and so they did a cat scan as well as an MRI I believe. It was 1 of those machines you lie down in and go through on a conveyer belt. The tests showed there were no issues with my brain and no broken bones, fractures, or spinal damage.

 

Anyway, the thing that upsets me the most is that they did not even stitch up my obviously bad cut. And I showed it to the nurse MANY times. We're talking about basic stitches, something a family doctor could do for you. And because of this 1 inch of this scar has formed tissue that is pink and a big raised lump of ugly meat.

 

And to add insult to injury I recieved a $3500 bill in the mail 2 weeks later for the cat scan and MRI !!!! If Obama's new healthcare bill means that somebody like me will not be in the hole for $3500 just for a couple of body scans and complete lack of BASIC medical care, then I am ALL FOR IT !!!!!!!!!!!! I don't see how the new health care system could be any worse than it already was.

[Dr. William Lindsey]

PeterGibbons

 

If you are in the DC area, stop by "for a glass of wine". Although you and I may not agree on everything, your post has a lot of good sense.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

[phil mascallpen]

Originally posted by Dr. Alan Feller:

the gov't will invent punishments for doctors and ultimately take away their medical licenses and/or jail them for being "greedy".

 

 

Would you please show me the "jailing doctors for being greedy" section in the bill that was passed?

[petergibbons]

I'm still waiting for the effort to repeal death panels and jail sentences for doctors. Oh wait, that's right. None of that exists.

[hair_me_out]

Dr. Feller, it might be time to lay off the Fox News.

 

Along w/ the new regulation of the health insurance companies comes 30 million new customers (the mandate). And if they can't pay, those of us who are well off, will pay for them in the form of taxes.

 

Enough with the doomsday thetoric. We've heard enough of it from the teabaggers already.

[petergibbons]

Doc,

 

If I'm in DC for work again, I'll look you up. I used to go there quite a lot (Dulles, Tysons Corner, Ft. Meade) but that project ended.

 

Seems like my wife who is 5 months pregnant is doing all the corporate travel now!

 

jonathan

[phil mascallpen]

I would just like to add that even though insurance companies do not always reimburse the maximum amount, doctor's salaries are still among the highest in the USA (as they should be).

 

Here is 2007 average salaries by specialty:

 

2007 average salaries for different physicians

 

These figures do not include bonuses and increases from experience/business arrangements in private practice which can push them even higher. Of course the education is very difficult, very expensive and certain doctors such as neurosurgeons probably work 80 hours a week.

 

Now I don't make that much but I am aware that I make more than the majority of Americans and have no problem making sure my fellow citizens have health insurance.

[FinHairLoss]

This message has been edited for clarity

 

 

I love how everybody is telling the doctor he's wrong about his own trade.

 

I also love how petergibbons doesn't realize that innovation comes from incentive or what a sense of entitlement can do, or the harm that can come from bureaucracy (read bureaucracy by ludwig von mises)

 

 

 

While we are at it. I have a question and nobody seems to have asked or answered it on CNN (the almighty "objective" news source) or FOX (the evil news source of dummys who aren't smart enough to want to "progress")........

My question is how can the government make insurance companies cover preexisting conditions? I dont know much about this area. I don't understand what constitutes as a preexisiting condition nor do i know exactly what is the common situation they're trying to prevent (i can assume but any other info on this would be great) and also, I'm all for helping people. Now thats all out of the way.... how can the government force companies to cover preexisting conditions? to me it seems like they are dooming these companies to bankruptcy. Insurance as far as I know is a pooling of money between a group (large or small) of people , this is to cut down risk, when somebody in the pool gets hurt, they get money from the pool, and hopefully the odds are right and not too many people get sick/hurt and drain the pool. I dont want to have people who are already sick hop in and just take all the money out of the pool, and I dont see how an insurance company can scrape a profit or even run as a non-profit this way. Isnt it like making car insurance companies cover people who already got in an accident?Please somebody help me out with this, so confused.

 

 

 

and to phil masc...... I'm glad you want to help your fellow citizens have health insurance this is why there is a thing called private charity so that you can do that and I don't have to. It seems like a simple solution as oppose to forcing everyone to give to a charity (healthcare reform bill) not of their own choice, and allocated by bureaucrats to places I dont even know about (and probably am not wholly concerned about)

 

 

 

and to everybody.....Could you all do me a favor and look at joe bidens charitable contributions in the last four or five years? for a guy thats so charitable with my money he seems quite stingy with his own.

 

 

to labrat....I'm sorry you were hurt... im also sorry that you decided to take the path of a musician instead of choosing a more practical career path in which you could provide for yourself.... Id love to sit around strumming a guitar smoking dope, but I decided to take responsibility for my own well being and go to business school, probably work a shitty desk job I hate, it's called survival aka real life aka personal responsibility. but now that other people are paying for your healthcare (sorry to break it to you but unless docs start working for free someone has to pay for it) now that other people are paying for your healthcare you (and many others) will have even less incentive to take care of yourselves and or get a job that can pay for the things you need and want. Or should all the people who decided to go out and make sure they are financially stable pay for you?

 

 

to all hippy pacifists and CNN news lovers.......being objective doesn't automatically mean having no opinion and thinking everyone has a point and landing in the middle of every issue

 

 

 

To all doctors..... you guys worked hard to get where you are, and most likely still work hard, and you deserve every dime... I'm sorry that some people feel you should work for whatever they deem an appropriate wage.

 

 

Mad Men is one of my favorite shows because don draper was the last real american

[FinHairLoss]

to hair me out......

 

 

 

maybe you should look up what rhetoric is before you just spew the word around because you heard chris matthews and bil maher say it...

 

 

because running on a platform of nothing more than "Change" and democratic reps asking other reps(from both sides of the aisle) that disagree with a specific reform bill if they want people to die (ulta matum and a rhetorical question) is not rhetoric.....

 

 

 

"You know, they said -- they said -- they said this day would never come.

They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose."

 

-the above quote is not the beginning of an obama speech filled with innumerable tropes and schemes (what are those?)