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47 points bookofjoe | 2 comments | | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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amluto ◴[] No.42172284[source]
> Recently, her hospital’s dermatology program received more than 600 applications for four residency slots.

Perhaps if supply of dermatologists was not so strongly limited, prices and wait times would improve.

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wyldfire ◴[] No.42172320[source]
I doubt that limit is an artificial one. Hospitals don't need 600 dermatologists on staff. I think this is yet another factor of capitalism: selfish interests of individual corporations being in tension with the people's interests of having affordable healthcare. Other developed countries seem to have said "yeah, we recognize that nationalizing healthcare will result in insurance companies and hospitals making less money. But that's what has to happen for the people to be able to get the care they need."

Every time it comes up in the US, nationalized healthcare is demonized in some media. But it just feels like a facade perpetrated by the hospitals and insurance companies (and now private equity) who stand to lose the most. If it's good enough for veterans and retirees, why can't it be good enough for the rest of us? Maybe it's because when the government pays the bill, they don't just roll over and accept $EXORBITANT_FEE after $EXORBITANT_FEE - they negotiate and get some reasonable value.

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eppp ◴[] No.42172330[source]
They dont need 600 dermatologists on staff. They need residency slots. These people aren't asking to work for the hospital permanently, they just have to check the residency box that is artificially limited by gatekeepers.
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ninetyninenine ◴[] No.42172358[source]
It is a bit of a logistical issue shoving 600 dermatology interns into a hospital.

Make it a law that all doctor offices need one or two residency slots. That should alleviate the problem in time due to compounding growth.

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1. alistairSH ◴[] No.42172397{3}[source]
Residencies are funded via Medicare. If you want more doctors, you need to convince Congress to fund those spots. Or, convince the industry to fund the slots itself, without the reliance on Uncle Sam's largess.
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2. woooooo ◴[] No.42172489[source]
On Medicare's time horizon, losing money funding those residencies for 10-20 years actually could be a great deal if it bends the cost curve.