REPORTER: About 10,000 patients enter the Medicare system on a daily basis. Some doctors say caring for those patients with Medicare costs much more than they can afford. And with more government regulations and the rising cost of government malpractice insurance, they say things aren’t going to get any better.
REPORTER: Yuma Surgeon Dr. Constance Uribe says federal law reforms cater to entitlements rather than focusing on quality patient care.
URIBE: Congress is filled with lawyers. So they’d be stabbing themselves in the foot if they passed federal tort reform. But here you have Texas that did pass tort reform and what’s happening? The doctors are moving to Texas. They have recruited wonderful physicians.
REPORTER: The group Docs for Patient Care opposes Obama’s patient protection and Affordable Care Act.
ON PHONE: DR. AMMON: I think that the traditional role of a physician is about to change from basically moves us from a Hippocratic Oath, patient-oriented, best-outcome model, to a veterinarian model where the owner of the patient, basically is the government--they have control over all people with the government controlled health insurance.
REPORTER: Dr. Uribe worries about the future of health care.
URIBE: It’s not going to be a matter of having the highest grades like when I went to medical school. I’m going to be elderly--I mean, I already have a Medicare card. But I’m going to be truly elderly, and there will be no one as competent as I am to take care of me. That’s my fear.