OBAMA MUST HATE DOCTORS

AP:

A senior administration official says billions of dollars to raise fees for doctors treating Medicare patients are not covered by President Barack Obama's pledge to pay for health care legislation.

Budget Director Peter Orszag said Tuesday that's because the administration always assumed the money would be spent to prevent a cut of more than 20 percent in doctor fees.

I THINK IT'S NOT INCLUDED BECAUSE THEY WILL EITHER KEEP FEES AS IS OR CUT THEM.

OBAMA/PELOSI ALSO WANT TO RAISE INCOME TAX RATES ON THE WEALTHIEST - MOST OF WHOM ARE DOCTORS AND HEALTH PROFESSIONALS. HOT AIR:

The House version of ObamaCare plans to levy a surtax on individuals earning the highest incomes in America to defray the costs of “reform”.

Who would those people be?

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has data from May 2008 available on its site on mean incomes of all professions in the US, fortunately downloadable in spreadsheet form. After entertainers and athletes, which professions earn the highest mean annual salaries — and will likely have to contribute most to the surtax? Here are the top 15:

1. Surgeons
2. Anesthesiologists
3. Orthodontists
4. Obstetricians and gynecologists
5. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons
6. Internists, general
7. Prosthodontists
8. Physicians and surgeons, all other
9. Family and general practitioners
10. Chief executives
11. Dentists, general
12. Psychiatrists
13. Pediatricians, general
14. Dentists, all other specialists
15. Podiatrists

SO, APPARENTLY OBAMA WOULD LOWER THEIR INCOMES BY 20% AND TAX THEM ANOTHER 5%!

(IF THEY DON'T SPEND ANOTHER $240 BILLION, THEN THERE'S A CUT. WSJ:

SGR is a formula that Congress created in 1997 as a form of fiscal triage, mandating automatic cuts in physician payments if entitlement spending rises too steeply. Next year, they’re scheduled to drop by 21.5%.)

BOTTOM-LINE: OBAMA MUST HATE DOCTORS.