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Pat, We all view life based upon our individual experiences. You are obviously looking at things from the perspective of someone in the health care field who, I'm guessing, wasn't made chronically ill and disabled because the doctors you paid in full -- not only with insurance but also with your retirement savings -- couldn't decide who was responsible for diagnosing and treating the patient. Sometimes it's a bit harsh to judge someone before looking into their situation more. If you are interested, I have a blog that chronicles my many visits with doctors (http://doctorblue-blues.blogspot.com). If you read my story beginning with #1 on, you'll see that I was very vocal about my dismay at positive test results being ignored and that I spent considerable time, money and effort to be my own educated advocate to no avail -- it only pissed off the doctors more. I agree wholeheartedly that doctors should be paid for helping people heal. But all I got was tests whose results I used to get my disability--my illness was that obvious. After not being able to work for five years, I ran out of money, so their actions caused me to lose my job, my health and all my savings and assets. My grievance is not mutually exclusive. I think doctors are unconsciously acting this way based upon how they are treated by the insurance companies, but this is misdirected anger. Why take out their frustrations on the patient, particularly one who was paying higher rates in cash at the time of service. No paperwork to file here. I paid because I wanted to get well and get back to work. Sometimes, it's not the patient's fault. Read my story and perhaps you'll gain some insight on a different perspective. As a patient, I ran into a lot of angry nurses, because I agree nurses are overworked, under appreciated and should be paid more, too. The medical mistakes that I endured are unfathomable.