Re: Raleigh CF bike recall

On Aug 13, 8:11 pm, Tim McNamara <tim...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
In article <rubrum-24C26F.15505013082...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Michael Press <rub...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

In article <timmcn-EFB937.09171613082...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Tim McNamara <tim...@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

There aren't any unions for doctors or lawyers, AFAIK. I vaguely
recall that it may actually be illegal for doctors to unionize.
The American Medical Association fills some of the role of a union
but does not do collective bargaining.

They set the rates and buy congress-critters.

They don't actually set the rates, if by that you mean the cost of
health care services. There are two countervailing forces: the setting
of a "cash price" for services which is done by beancounters, and the
setting of the maximum price insurance companies will pay which is set
by other beancounters. Doctors have the choice of accepting the
reimbursement rate as set by the insurance company or declining to be a
provider. If you don't have health care, you pay the full cash rate
which can be twice as high as what insurance companies pay (or you
default on the bill and everybody else picks up the tab sooner or
later).

The AMA certainly does spend a lot of money lobbying Congress(es) at the
federal and state level. The AMA acts like a guild rather than a union.

Dear Tim,

A rather powerful guild:

http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0025-7079(196410%2F12)2%3A4%3C244%3ATAMAAT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-D

Cheers,

Carl Fogel

.

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