One of the worst things about government trying to do too much is that it often does not consider the unintended effects of its rules and regulations.
Here is just one example.
By 2015, under federal rules, physicians have to adopt certain computerized record-keeping practices. Those who do so will get some extra money from the government. Those who do not will get lower government reimbursement for the care they provide patients through Medicaid and Medicare.
There is just one problem that Washington did not consider when it was putting those record-keeping rules together: Many physicians might not want to invest the significant time and expense that transferring records to computers will require.
This is how The Orlando Sentinel reported on the serious problems that the regulations may cause:
“Some experts fear older primary care physicians, already in short supply in the U.S., will close their practices rather than buy expensive software and train their staffs in new technology. Twenty percent to 30 percent of primary care doctors are now considering early retirement because of the guidelines, estimates John Littell, a family-practice physician in Kissimmee, Fla., and president of the Osceola County Medical Society.”
That could lead to a crisis in access to medical care because there are already too few primary-care physicians in many parts of the country. That shortage would get even worse if ObamaCare adds tens of millions of people to government-run care.
Can our nation afford to be adding rules that encourage physicians to leave their practices earlier and earlier? After all, how much good will it do a person who is newly “covered” under Obama-Care if he cannot get a doctor’s appointment because there are too few doctors to go around?