2014年4月25日 星期五

中外皆然

The Opinion Pages|LETTER

Medicare and Eye Doctors




中外一樣的問題,這次是美國的眼科醫師被類似保險單位或是台灣醫改會指出,在占美國880,000位醫師中的一小部份眼科醫師,申請了總醫療總費用77 billion元中,1/4的總額,這當然又是一件「項莊舞劍意在沛公」的事,不是要再降眼科給付不然就是點數之類的,台灣的健保局也是會做一樣的事。

"A tiny fraction of the 880,000 doctors and other health care providers who take Medicare accounted for nearly a quarter of the roughly $77 billion paid out to them under the federal program, receiving millions of dollars each in some cases in a single year, according to the most detailed data ever released in Medicare’s nearly 50-year history."




Marilyn Tavenner, chief of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which will make the data publicly available.CreditJ. Scott Applewhite/Associated Press


然而,眼科會坐以待斃嗎?當然不,也是公開反駁:

To the Editor:

“Sliver of Medicare Doctors Get Big Share of Payouts” (front page, April 9), about release of Medicare data, implies that some American doctors have grown rich on Medicare billings. In the case of ophthalmology, nothing could be further from the truth.

第一是說,這cataract手術的給付,在這25年來,降了70%,其他的檢查給付,也是下降。

Cataract surgery在美國每年約1.8 million 人開刀,占了眼科醫師65%的病人比例,

研究顯示,沒有其他的方式,能像cataract surgery一樣,能大幅改善患者的生活品質。

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後記:沒錯,就像這一次的太陽花學運一樣,「現在不站出來 之後站不出來」,對於外界對腎臟醫療界不正確的指控,我們一定要立即給予更正與澄清,就像前陣子的報紙上腎移植一文,對透析的強烈誤解。經由腎臟醫學會和台灣基層透析協會的對外說明,以正視聽,讓腎臟科醫師們拍手叫好,也算是出了一口悶氣。

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