Dental Sleep Medicine Insider April 2016 | Page 14

DR. RICHARD DRAKE

A

GIVE ME LIBERTY,
OR GIVE ME DEATH!

s I sit down to write
my monthly column
for the DSM Insider, it is
March 23, 2016.
What happened on this
day last year? Where was
I? Probably working or
fishing. But what happened
on March 23, say, 241 years
ago?
I’ll give you a hint. There
was a convention in
Virginia, at St. John’s
Church...
the
United
Colonies were declaring
their independence from
the Kingdom of Great
Britain and Patrick Henry
swung the balance in
convincing the convention
to pass a resolution
delivering Virginian troops
for the Revolutionary War...
Yes! The famous “Give me
liberty or give me death”
speech.
Every day I deal with
physicians who are smart.
They graduated at the top

of their class. They are
hard workers, getting to
work early, and staying
late. They do their best to
help patients live happier,
healthier, and longer lives.

DR. RICHARD DRAKE
DS3 CO-FOUNDER

"Give me Liberty,
or Give Me..."
Grandma used to say the
money will come if you
just do the right thing for
the right reasons. She was
right. It worked that way
for quite a while.
From the early to the mid20th century, physicians
earned a solid upper
middle
class
income.

Then came the Roosevelt
administration,
wage
and price controls, and
a tremendous upsurge
in employers providing
health insurance. More
patients seeking medical
services and insurance
companies paying the
doctors whatever they
charged
meant
that
physician incomes went
up.
Next came Medicare in the
mid 60’s, and with it, the
term “rich doctor.” For a
few decades, docs charged
outrageous fees and were
paid, and their incomes
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