Income Isn’t Wealth
Income Isn’t Wealth
John Goodell April 15, 2020
MY WIFE AND I recently read The Ant and the Grasshopper, from Aesop’s Fables, to our youngest daughter. If you recall, the grasshopper mocks the ant for spending all his free time amassing food. But when winter comes, the starving grasshopper begs for assistance—and the ant refuses.
Lately, I’ve been struck by the irony of this parable. As we celebrate the role of physicians in keeping us all safe from a virus, that same virus is slowly starving physicians of their salaries. How am I acutely aware of this bizarre conundrum? I’m married to a family physician.
Before you break out the world’s tiniest violin, allow me to paint a picture of what I and others are witnessing across the nation. The economics are startling, even if the personal finance lessons are a well-worn, cautionary tale.
Since this virus’s arrival on our shores, more or less all of us are now under some kind of quarantine, except essential workers. As hospitals have halted their elective procedures to free up bed space and medical equipment, their revenue has taken a massive hit.
In addition, many outpatient clinics have closed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Our once-booming economy has now ground to a halt—even for the medical field.
Those clinics that remain open have seen a dramatic decline in patients, who are presumably afraid they’ll get the virus by visiting the doctor. I went to my doctor’s office recently. It was a ghost town.
It’s usually packed with people, but there were no other patients the entire time I was there. Many offices, including my wife’s, have gone to virtual medicine via video platforms, which has helped alleviate—but not eliminate—the financial burden.
Keep in mind that these same doctors are on standby if or when hospitals become overwhelmed. They will begin seeing patients to relieve the strain on hospital staff. In fact, that exact scenario is playing out in New York right now. Other hospital systems around the country have told their physicians to be prepared to do the same.
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