A Kentucky doctor is closing his medical practice thanks to the burdensome rules and regulations associated with Obamacare.
“A Kentucky M.D. named Stephen Kiteck is shutting down his medical practice and citing Obamacare as the reason,” Brietbart reports today. “Dr. Kiteck published an ad in the local paper saying his office will close Dec. 31, 2013 because of Obamacare. He invites his patients to drop by prior to that date to pick their charts.”
They said it wouldn’t happen…..wrong again. pic.twitter.com/kKMCvm1Clo
— Dara Bailey (@darab_ic) December 9, 2013
Dr. Kiteck’s office confirmed that he is indeed closing his practice and that he did publish the notice in the paper. Asked if he would agree to an interview, his receptionist indicated that he’d received many calls from the media but was not prepared to make any additional statement at this time.
There have been surveys which suggested a significant number of doctors might quit or retire early as a result of the new health law. A 2013 Deloitte Survey of U.S. Physicians found that 62 percent of doctors expected some of their colleagues to retire early.
Dr. Kiteck is a 64 year old board certified family physician with a good rating for patient satisfaction on healthgrades.com.
LifeNews reported frequently during the Obamacare debate that, once adopted, the law would lead doctors to close their medical practices.
Dr. Donald Thompson, a member of the Christian Medical Association, said in 2009 that Obamacare would only exacerbate the shortage of doctors the nation is experiencing.
“The Obama administration and lawmakers report being alarmed at the shortage of physicians and other health care professionals,” Thompson says.
“Discussions seem to ignore the connection between health care costs, access to care and quality of care. It is very difficult, if not impossible; to simultaneously improve quality, improve access and lower costs,” he explains.
“Access to care can be improved by increasing the numbers of physicians (at increased cost), removing administrative and financial barriers (leading to increased costs) and by improving efficiencies at the point of care (could be cost neutral),” Thompson told LifeNews.com in an email.
“The worst step to take would be to drive health care workers out of their current practices of clinical medicine,” Thompson says.
