Jon Rappoport

Jul 11, 2025

∙ Paid

 

I recently stumbled across a fact that blew my mind.

I knew there was a problem. But this big??

Here’s what everybody knows already: a medical patient sees more than one doctor. Naturally. His doc refers him to another doc.

The last time I saw an MD, a number of years ago, I got a queasy feeling. There he was, talking to me, and I thought, “He’s going to send me to another dude for tests, and when the tests come back, I might have to see a third dude…”

Screw that. I never went back to the doc.

I’m allergic to complications. If I have to wrestle with a package of food, to open it, I take out a big knife and slice it in half. If somebody tries to sell me on a phone that does more than make and take calls, I change the subject to football.

But THIS? The size of THIS problem?

The stats I’m going to lay on you are from 20 years ago. By now, they must be much worse.

Buckle up.

MDedge1: “Medicare beneficiaries with heart failure see an average of 16–23 different physicians annually, depending upon the severity of their heart failure.”

“In 2005, patients with heart failure accounted for 37% of all Medicare spending and nearly 50% of all inpatient costs…”

“The overall Medicare population, more than 34 million strong, saw an average of 7.9 different physicians in 2005. In contrast, Medicare beneficiaries with mild heart failure saw an average of 15.9 physicians that year. Those with moderate heart failure saw an average of 18.6 different physicians, while the more than 537,000 patients with severe heart failure saw an average of 23.”

How many psychiatrists did they see to cope with the problem of seeing all those doctors?

Are you kidding?