“Greedy Doctors”

You can tell Bill Richardson is no longer running for President (and that he is a lame-duck governor). After all, who in their right mind that is running for office would attack an entire interest group for no good reason. I’m referring to Richardson’s comments that doctors are “greedy.” Richardson said of doctors, “They’re greedy. They shouldn’t be so greedy. They should be part of the plan,” in reference to his “Health Solutions New Mexico” plan.
Doctors oppose Richardson’s plan in large part due to its reliance on price controls which would force doctors to take whatever payment is being offered by the government or insurance companies. This doesn’t seem “greedy” to me, rather given doctors’ experiences with Medicare and Medicaid, the prices of which are both determined by the federal government, doctors have a lot to worry about if they become even more beholden to the government for their daily bread.
Doctors spend a long time in medical school at great personal and financial cost to themselves. Most doctors I know are “greedy” only in the sense that they want to be fairly compensated for their work. In reality, Richardson is the greedy one because he wants to take credit for offering health care to more people with doctors, insurance companies, and businesses footing the bill. That’s greedy.