{"id":9649,"date":"2014-04-09T16:53:22","date_gmt":"2014-04-09T16:53:22","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2014-04-09T16:53:22","modified_gmt":"2014-04-09T16:53:22","slug":"doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor\u2019s Wife: Hospitals Make the Money"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Listen<\/a><\/p>\n

RUSH: Let me grab Susan here, in Flemington, Delaware, as we start on the phones. Great that you called. Welcome.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Hey, Rush. I just wanted to comment about the New York Times article that came out today, that you can put your doctor\u2019s name in and see how much he makes per procedure. My husband\u2019s an orthopedic surgeon. I work in his office.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. You just stole some my thunder. That was gonna be the next phase in the show, but go ahead. That\u2019s my next story. She\u2019s right.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Oh, I\u2019m sorry.<\/p>\n

RUSH: The New York Times has a place you can plug in your doctor and find out how he\u2019s ripping you off or how much money he makes per procedure. I\u2019m telling you, we called it that this was the next step.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, go ahead.<\/p>\n

CALLER: My husband —<\/p>\n

RUSH: She thinks she\u2019s the host of the show. Go ahead.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Oh, no.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Go ahead.<\/line><\/p>\n

CALLER: My husband, for a total hip replacement for a Medicare patient, is reimbursed $1,250. Some of the fees that he\u2019s reimbursed for is set under a dollar — under a dollar. I mean, if people think we\u2019re making huge profits, they\u2019re wrong. You know, the dirty little secret is, the hospitals are making the huge profits. A total hip costs the hospital $8,000, just the hardware to put in, and the charge to the patient is $32,000. There\u2019s your markup.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Wait a second. And the doctor, you said, gets what?<\/p>\n

CALLER: $1200. That\u2019s for a history and physical, the day of the surgery, three days in the hospital visits, and follow-up for three months.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Now, what did you say, that you do the books for the doctor\u2019s office?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Is your husband a doctor, or did I hear you incorrectly?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes, my husband\u2019s a doctor, and from our heyday 10 or 15 years ago, our income is down by two-thirds.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Wow.<\/p>\n

CALLER: They\u2019ve already cut us. The doctors already aren\u2019t making it<\/a>. I mean, I have a son who just is finished medical school, and I don\u2019t know how you deal with it, and Obamacare never did deal with it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Susan? Susan, I\u2019m trying to help here. <\/p>\n

CALLER: Okay.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Seriously, now. You\u2019ve got to be careful how you explain this to people. Because of what Obama and the Democrats have done, you\u2019re not gonna find sympathy. You\u2019re gonna find people who think, “It\u2019s about time you find out what it\u2019s like because you\u2019ve gotten rich treating the sick! It\u2019s about time you experience the pain all of us are suffering out here.”<\/p>\n

They\u2019re not gonna be sympathetic to you. Well, some people. People in your socioeconomic group can understand it. But average, ordinary people are not gonna have any sympathy for you. That\u2019s one of the many unfortunate realities of the success Obama has had in propagating this culture war of his.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah, but I would say that this link to the New York Times and how much your doctor makes money, I think it could put a dent in it. It shows that we\u2019re not ripping people off. In fact, honestly, I don\u2019t know how long we can continue to work at these wages. It\u2019s not worth it.<\/p>\n

RUSH: You\u2019re talking about Medicare, Medicaid reimbursement?<\/line><\/p>\n

CALLER: Yes.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Well, what if you went private? What if you punted all of that and just said no more Medicare patients?<\/p>\n

CALLER: Yeah, the government makes it very difficult for you to leave Medicare. <\/p>\n

RUSH: I know.<\/p>\n

CALLER: Basically you cannot see any Medicare-eligible patients for two years.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay, so fine. It\u2019s not profitable anyway, so why don\u2019t you just bump out of it?<\/p>\n

CALLER: No. That would be fine, but Medicare people still would want to see us, and receive a balanced bill, but we\u2019re not allowed to do that for two years.<\/p>\n

RUSH: I know. So you have to tell \u2019em that Obamacare rules don\u2019t permit you to treat them anymore.<\/p>\n

CALLER: That\u2019s right. That\u2019s right. And we\u2019re doing that. I mean, we\u2019re cut down from two offices to one. We\u2019ve cut our staff.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah. Okay, folks, I just want to caution you. Class envy being what it is, a lot of people are gonna be glad. You know how Obama and the Democrats have always wanted their voters to feel good when others experience pain. That\u2019s how they promulgate tax increases for the rich. <\/p>\n

All these people that are not rich are supposed to be happier when others get tax increases. It doesn\u2019t help their lives. It doesn\u2019t improve their lifestyle at all. But they\u2019re supposed to say, “Yeah! Yeah!” because Obama and the Democrats are getting even with \u2019em. I just want to warn you: The health care industry is nothing to monkey with<\/a>. When you need treatment, you want it from the best that you can get, and those people are at risk right now. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Our last caller said something fascinating, and I think it\u2019s true of most hospitals; of course, not all. Actually two interesting things here. She said that the doctor in a hip replacement gets 1200 bucks, and that the actual hip replacement mechanism costs eight grand and the hospital charges $32,000 for it. So obviously the hospital would be the primary profiteer in that arrangement. <\/p>\n

Now, the hospitals were all-in for Obamacare from the get go. In fact, folks, so were the doctors, at least enough doctors to make it look like that. Remember all those Rose Garden press conferences, all those people in white coats that were standing behind Obama? Now we found out some of them weren\u2019t doctors. They were out of central casting and the Regime had to send some people out to get some white lab coats for \u2019em.<\/p>\n

But nevertheless when this was all brand-new… Think back here. I\u2019m reliving the frustration, \u2019cause here are these people that are behind this. “Do they not know?” I\u2019m asking myself. “Do they not know they are the targets? Do these doctors lining up behind Obama in the Rose Garden helping him create a picture of support for whatever Obama is saying about how he\u2019s going to save, rescue, transform, improve health care, know?”<\/line><\/p>\n

There were the doctors standing right behind him, a bunch of them in white coats. I remember asking myself, “Do these people not realize that they are the targets?” Now, again, some of them weren\u2019t doctors. They were just made to look like it. The Regime phonied some of \u2019em up. But there were some doctors that got on board. I am… (big sigh) I guess it\u2019s “haunted.” <\/p>\n

I\u2019m reliving some of the genuine anger and frustration I felt back then, people not understanding what they were in for here. It\u2019s like the insurance companies signed on, they were all in, like crony socialism. The doctors made it look like support. There were enough to make it look like they were all-in, and then the hospitals came along, and then AARP. I\u2019m looking all this and saying, “Sellout here. Sellout there.<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s got a bunch of people selling out the country for what they thought was going to be personal gain,” and I understand the allure. The president calls either you or your association, and you\u2019ve got a chance to go to the Rose Garden. You\u2019ve got a chance. The president wants to fix your business, and you want to be in close to power. It\u2019s gonna help you! I understand the lure of it all. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s why I say that a massive education in ideology would go a long way. It wouldn\u2019t be enough by itself. It would go a long way to stopping some of this. It would help people understand how they\u2019re being used as pawns by people who are disingenuous. But you have to know the people are disingenuous and dishonest themselves or you\u2019re gonna get tricked.<\/line><\/p>\n

I just remember the doctors, enough of them, creating enough photo-ops to make it look like they were all-in on this. They didn\u2019t even whimper. They stood behind him in their white coats, and they organized and supported Obamacare. Now look at it. Now Obama wants them to essentially be government employees. This hospital profit business? There\u2019s no denying that aspect, as our previous caller said. <\/p>\n

I mentioned yesterday that I went to watch cochlear implant surgery, and the doctor gave me the address. Kathryn and I went. They gave us the address about a week before. I said, “Wait a minute, this is not a hospital. This is near a mall! Whoa, what\u2019s this?” So we get there, and it\u2019s this massive — big, not as big as a hospital, obviously — surgical center. I asked around, and I found out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s amazing how the free market works. I found out that surgeries in this place are dramatically cheaper than surgeries taking place in a hospital. (interruption) “Plus,” did you say, or “and”? Plus? (interruption) Well, look, I don\u2019t want to get into that. I got people yelling, “Yeah, you tell \u2019em you get staph infection at the hospital!” I\u2019m not going there. I understand all of that. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s just the existence of these surgical centers, these hospitals… How did all this become possible? My contention is, it became possible because people (the patients) never knew what anything really cost, because the insurance company or somebody was paying for it. They never really knew. Now, some of them had insurance. For catastrophic, they knew, if their copay was something high, depending on what their deductible was and all that.<\/p>\n

But for the most part what medical care really cost, people didn\u2019t know, and now they\u2019re finding out. But enough people, enough people knew these surgical centers have popped up all over the place. You can get surgery not in a hospital, and it\u2019s remarkably, demonstrably cheaper and it\u2019s largely outpatient. But if you have to spend the night some of them you can. I\u2019m sure you know what I\u2019m talking about. <\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t help that many employees at hospitals are members of the SEIU, either, Obama\u2019s favorite union. So the fix has been in from the get-go on this. With the government and insurance companies working together to pay bills, people didn\u2019t really know what things cost. Now all of a sudden the cost of things is being learned, and there\u2019s an accompanying outrage right along with it. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

RUSH: Let me grab Susan here, in Flemington, Delaware, as we start on the phones. Great that you called. Welcome. CALLER: Hey, Rush. I just wanted to comment about the New York Times article that came out today, that you can put your doctor\u2019s name in and see how much he makes per procedure. My […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDoctor's Wife: Hospitals Make the Money - The Rush Limbaugh Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Doctor's Wife: Hospitals Make the Money - The Rush Limbaugh Show\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"RUSH: Let me grab Susan here, in Flemington, Delaware, as we start on the phones. Great that you called. Welcome. CALLER: Hey, Rush. I just wanted to comment about the New York Times article that came out today, that you can put your doctor\u2019s name in and see how much he makes per procedure. My […]\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GeorgePrayias\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"description\":\"Excellence In Broadcasting\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/\",\"name\":\"Doctor's Wife: Hospitals Make the Money - The Rush Limbaugh Show\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-04-09T16:53:22+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-04-09T16:53:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9a33276eb9dc5b6d3f8218957f30e6b4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Doctor\\u2019s Wife: Hospitals Make the Money\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9a33276eb9dc5b6d3f8218957f30e6b4\",\"name\":\"GeorgePrayias\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d290ab65e2eaca3719268528f83b85bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d290ab65e2eaca3719268528f83b85bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GeorgePrayias\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/GeorgePrayias\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Doctor's Wife: Hospitals Make the Money - The Rush Limbaugh Show","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/","twitter_card":"summary","twitter_title":"Doctor's Wife: Hospitals Make the Money - The Rush Limbaugh Show","twitter_description":"RUSH: Let me grab Susan here, in Flemington, Delaware, as we start on the phones. Great that you called. Welcome. CALLER: Hey, Rush. I just wanted to comment about the New York Times article that came out today, that you can put your doctor\u2019s name in and see how much he makes per procedure. My […]","twitter_image":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GeorgePrayias","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/","name":"The Rush Limbaugh Show","description":"Excellence In Broadcasting","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/live-rush-limbaugh.pantheonsite.io\/wp-content\/uploads\/listentoit.jpg"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/","name":"Doctor's Wife: Hospitals Make the Money - The Rush Limbaugh Show","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2014-04-09T16:53:22+00:00","dateModified":"2014-04-09T16:53:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9a33276eb9dc5b6d3f8218957f30e6b4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2014\/04\/09\/doctor_s_wife_hospitals_make_the_money\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.rushlimbaugh.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Doctor\u2019s Wife: Hospitals Make the Money"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9a33276eb9dc5b6d3f8218957f30e6b4","name":"GeorgePrayias","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d290ab65e2eaca3719268528f83b85bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d290ab65e2eaca3719268528f83b85bf?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"GeorgePrayias"},"url":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/author\/GeorgePrayias\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9649"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}