Damn lawyers

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by CardiacCoug

It's not the practicing lawyers I blame as much as the lawyer legislators, lobbyists, and judges for this stuff. You guys protect each other and would just as soon let doctors burn.

For the federal government to require a physician to pay an interpreter $200 in order to see a patient for which the government will reimburse the physician $50 is patently ridiculous.

Cue Mike Waters (if he were still around) saying "Nobody is forcing you guys to accept Medicaid or Medicare patients." My responses:

1. Not true for emergency room patients. We see these patients regardless of insurance status for ethical and legal (EMTALA) reasons.
2. Many specialties (internal medicine subspecialites, for example) have a median patient age of almost 70, making it impossible to avoid the Medicare population.

I have devised methods around that for my clients. That side effect is an unintended consequence and the ADA should not be seen as a mechanism for full employment of death interpreters. Welcome to the world according to Obama though.