Medicare Fees

As I continue to read of the impending alteration of Medicare reimbursement to physicians, I get more and more angry (Part A, Nov. 21). If any other profession was as bizarrely regulated as is medicine, the resultant uproar would be deafening. I certainly can understand the government’s interest in protecting the poor and disabled in society, but it seems intent on legislating with a bulldozer to affect the billing of all my patients. Of course the private insurers, who are the real crooks, will quickly follow suit.

If it were legislated that I take care of patients who are below a certain income/asset standard for insurance only, that would be fine--I already do that as often as possible. However, the government has no business insuring an older wealthy industrialist or then telling me I cannot charge him what I would charge a younger person.

Many would perhaps ask if doctors do not already make too much money, and for them to complain is merely indicative of their greed. I don’t know how to judge how much is too much, but if you compare what a physician earns relative to a good attorney or CEO, especially when you consider the 24-hour calls and years of schooling, I think medical care in the United States is a bargain.

Of course, I may be getting worked up over nothing--if Congress implements the current recommendations with its usual alacrity, I may be retired prior to its taking effect. And those guys want a raise!

JAMES DITCHIK, M.D.

Sherman Oaks