Note that the US government is doing nothing to change this. It's almost illegal for doctors to "prescribe" mental solutions over physical. Everyone wants a quick fix but the solution starts in the brain.
If you don't want the $50 savings then save the .125% of your salary and don't do it. Simple. Don't act like you don't have a choice.
A good doctor, especially when treating chronic patients, forms an essential part of the social structure necessary to treat a disease. In most cases handing out recipes for pills is (or should be) only a minor part. Many chronic diseases are exacerbated (or caused solely) by stress, unhealthy eating habits, lack of activity, depression, social isolation, unhealthy working environments, etc. Why treat the symptoms when you can treat the causes? Armed with this knowledge, an intelligent doctor treats using medicine and spurs habitual changes.
Another thing. You mention doctors are not intelligent and basically a human rolodex of knowledge. As an outsider, I've seen the complexity of our current understanding of the immune-system. Immunology alone has nothing to do with rote memorization. Compare it with diagnosing an extremely complex self-repairing, self-diagnosing, self-reproducing group of information systems. We have no complete manual. Performing proper tests is expensive and not 100% reliable. Although each information system within the group is similar, they are different in slight, unpredictable, undocumented ways. Oh, and each year, around 10 important books are published on new findings about these information systems. You only have time to read 5.
You might want to revisit this opinion.
But does it take wits? The medical researcher probably. The person who figures out the dosage, maybe. But the person who through rote learning knows of the top of their heads the proper dose? Meh.
The people on this forum probably average 130 IQ. Not everyone here could do a medical degree. But most are probably smarter than their doctors.
I disagree. I believe pretty much anyone has the ability to fill the role of a web developer if they take the time on their own to learn the skills. Not many people have the intelligence, focus and competence it takes to be in medicine.
In my experience? It's a drain, and a good way to encourage me not to go see the doctor. Because it's every time I go to the doctor for literally my entire life. I have never not gotten a 10 minute lecture, including when I was on a varsity swim team.
Beyond that, it's a lecture that comes even when it's not the problem. In the not so recent past, we discussed my weight for 15 minutes...and the active pertussis infection I had for 5. If you have a chronic condition, you're almost certainly going to have your doctor tie it to your weight.
And here's the thing - fat people know we're fat.