Scheiner, 71, was Obama's doctor from 1987 until he entered the White House; he vouched for the then-candidate's "excellent health" in a letter last year. He's still an enthusiastic Obama supporter, but he worries about whether the health care legislation currently making its way through Congress will actually do any good, particularly for doctors like himself who practice general medicine. "I'm not sure he really understands what we face in primary care," Scheiner says.

Scheiner takes a few other shots too. Looking at Obama's team of health advisors, Scheiner doesn't see anyone who's actually in the trenches. "I have a suspicion they pick people from the top echelon of medicine, people who write about it but haven't been struggling in it," he says.

Scheiner, like most others in his profession, thinks that it should be harder to sue doctors and that awards should be capped. He says that he and other doctors must order too many tests and imaging studies just to avoid being sued.

Before selling his practice, he watched his income decline over the years to what he calculated to be $22 a7+n hour ($2,100 every two weeks after withholding for taxes, health insurance and malpractice insurance.)...Scheiner thinks that any health reform should involve paying primary-care doctors better so they don't have to rush through appointments to make ends meet.

(I see. Pain for thee, but not for me. You, sir, are a hypocrite. - Roland)

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