[Brian in VA]

We're a group of about 20 surgeons and vascular surgeons. We all get a base salary which comes from income from cases, paid to take call at one facility, paid to take trauma call at another, and we own some office buildings we partially rent out. Bonuses for people who bill a lot more than others. The problem is we're collecting less for each procedure, co-pays are going up and people don't pay, and we're seeing more self-pay. The thing is, to control medical costs, the govt wants to keep lowering payments, so docs have just done more, but we're maxed out. Which is funny since my bill is about 1/1000th or so of the cost. Or maybe much less.