Do you support high consultation fees of doctors?!


Question:

Do you support high consultation fees of doctors?

I don't understand why doctors charge (in India) so much for treating the patients. There might be some exceptions but in general I notice their consulation fees to be much more than what it should be. Consider what effort they spend to become a doctor and compare that with what others who are behind their occupation like scientists who develope effective medicines, new diagnostic tools etc, what those people do and what they earn. In any case I think the only reason they can charge anything is that they know that sick people will be forced to consult them and they take this opportunity. What do you think on this issue?
Also I think that a possible remedy would be that the government should take care of sick people and all the doctors should be employed under the government and no private practice should be allowed. Will that not be better?

Additional Details

3 days ago
Probably I failed to explain the main question I have, that is, why should the consultation fees of doctors be arbitrary? When a doctor treats me and I give him the fees, I am buying the treatment advise from him. He may be a competent or incompetent doctor, his prescription may or may not be correct but why will I have to pay a fee which is arbitrary? When I earn fellowship by doing research, my fellowship is fixed by the government. I can not claim any arbitrary fellowship for what I do no matter how good results I get. So my question is why the amount of fees for the doctors in any society be arbitrary?
Regarding the answers: some wrote docs in other countries charge more or other professionals do the same etc, those are not arguments but excuses. My question then applies to those also. (I notice when some doctors treat patients at govt hospital, they do that with much less care than when they treat patients as private practitioners. This shows their true attitude.)


Answers:

As far as I know, the fees of private medical practitioners in other countries are no less than they are in India. Private treatment is pretty expensive in the West. But I agree that for a country like India whose average population don't have a huge disposable surplus income, the costs of private medical treatment is quite steep.
The reason is none other than why any other professional or businessman asks for a high price for his services or goods. It is the lure of the lucre, the overwhelming desire to grow rich quickly. The fact that patients with serious ailments are forced to consult doctors for cure helps the doctors even more.
I don't agree that the services of a doctor to society is in any way inferior to the services offered by others e.g. scientists. Treating ailing humans is one of the most valuable services.
Government can not absorb all the doctors in government hospitals. For that it would have to build hospitals one after the other and still find doctors who can't find a job there. You probably have some idea of the terrible experiences that patients and their families undergo in the numerous government hospitals. It is not on account of lack of doctors, but due to the insincere attitude of the doctors there and lack of infrastructure. Major private health care facilities offer quality medical treatment even though at a higher cost. It would be a huge burden on the government to keep so many hospitals running if the government decided to employ all doctors. Besides banning private practice will impinge on a person's fundamental right.
The government can try to persuade private medical practitioners to keep their fees within realistic limits so that quality health care becomes affordable to the majority. The health insurance industry can play a vital role by offering policies which are comprehensive but cost less. That would not only benefit the health insurance sector, but the health care sector too. And the common people will benefit immensely.




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