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The issues raised by the anecdote cited are quite complex. The doctor in question was a primary care physician, and PCPs are an endangered species. PCPs earn less than half the income of specialists, work as much or more, and have more bureaucratic hassles. Burnout is rampant. About half of our PCPs (150,000) plan to retire or cut back on their practices in the next three years. None of this justifies a $100 charge for a 1 minute throat evaluation or dumping a patient for challenging the bill.

The first chapter of a preliminary draft of my book, Physician Managed Care-Universal Coverage Now with Free Market Health Care Reform, addresses the crisis in primary care: http://doctormanagedcare.com/DMC/PMC.pdf