Thursday, October 29, 2009


Everywhere I go the traffic is horrible. Everyone is in a hurry and there are thousands of cars on the road. I have finally figured out where everyone is going. They obviously aren’t going to work because everyone is unemployed.

This week we have been in Dallas accompanying my daughter to some doctor’s appointments. I know now that everyone is rushing to a medical appointment of some type. The parking lots and garages of every hospital and clinic are packed. At our local hospital there is always a sea of cars in the parking lot. It’s that way at every medical facility and it’s going to get worse. When national health insurance is available to everyone then the entire population will be at the doctors office every day. The problem is that there will not be enough doctors. It’s hard to get a doctor to accept Medicare patients now and with the government plan it will be worse. Very few doctors will accept government plan patients.

The people who are packing the doctors office now will greatly increase and every doctor will be in overload. The remainder of the people who are driving around on the road are either going to the shopping malls or to a sporting event. This bunch of folks will be joining those already waiting to see the doctor. Going to the doctor is more fun than the Super Bowl or shopping.

Healthcare is the one field that is pretty much depression and recession proof. These folks are always busy. They may be paid less in the future but they always have a job. It’s great for everyone involved, not just the doctors. Many of the non-physician CEOs and other support functions for healthcare make a lot more that the poor doc or others actually seeing the patient. Many CEOs make well over a million a year and are almost in the league with bankers and other Wall Street gangsters. The more you are involved in direct patient care, the less money you make in the healthcare business.

It’s a long way from my old country doc who made house calls. He couldn’t do much but he made you fell a lot better and at least he took the time to communicate with his patients.

Government healthcare is definitely coming so I suggest increasing the number of parking places at the medical facilities and widening the roads. There is going to be even more traffic. From the porch I can hear the steady hum of traffic on I35 which is more than a mile away. Soon that will be a roar. My hope is that it might frighten the deer away.

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