Re:U.S. Life Expectancy Drops for Third Year in a Row (2018)
by Ididntdothis on Wednesday July 03, 2019 @01:13PM
(#20346326)
"It varies heavily by region and specialty, but the average (not top - average) physician in a city like New York or San Francisco actually has a lower take-home pay than a mid-level FAANG engineer in either city.
"
That's a pretty high bar though.
Re:U.S. Life Expectancy Drops for Third Year in a Row (2018)
by chimeracoder on Wednesday July 03, 2019 @01:21PM
(#20346389)
> That's a pretty high bar though.
Depends on what your reference point is. I think most people on HN would be surprised to learn that their doctor likely makes less take-home pay than the second-lowest level of engineer - L4, "SWE III" - at Google.
This is true.
> The key issue is medical cartel with AMA at the core,
The AMA has basically zero power over any of the issues you describe.
> AMA lobbies hard to restrict supply of physicians as well as narrow scope of practice for everybody else.
No, the number of physicians is limited by the number of residency programs, which is determined by how much funding there is. Residency programs are not self-sustaining, so they're funded by Medicare.
> As a result you have people having to go through a gatekeeping 500k-a-year dermatologist
Most physicians take home a lot less than you'd think. The gross salary is misleading, because physicians also have high licensing, insurance, equipment, and continuing education costs. The gross pay does not take these expenses into account, and furthermore, these expenses are typically not tax-deductible for most physicians.
It varies heavily by region and specialty, but the average (not top - average) physician in a city like New York or San Francisco actually has a lower take-home pay than a mid-level FAANG engineer[0] in either city.
[0] e.g. an L4 engineer at Google.