While I agree with you 100%, it's too late--now that they've got their finger in it, they're not pulling them back out.
One thing that gets lost in all of this is it isn't just physicians affected by this--on the hospital side, it's also the phlebotomist that draws blood, the nurse taking care of the patient on the floor, even the housekeepers that keep the place clean and the maintenance folks who keep it running. They get paid out of this pool of money.
On the clinic side, more than half of what we get paid goes to our nursing and reception staff, and to supplies used, which we cannot bill separately for on medicare patients--it's bundled into the fee, rent, electricity, etc.
