Peter Orszag, You Ignorant Slut

Peter Orszag's editorial in The New York Times today perfectly illustrates the ignorance of the government when it comes to America's health care industry and how dangerous it is these people are deciding how, when, and to what capacity we doctors are to treat our patients. Mr. Orszag's self incrimination of his inexperience with how medicine operates in this country starts in the very first paragraph.  He likens doctors not wanting to work weekends with drug stores that are open only five days a week. He goes on to say,

And then there are the economics of a $750 billion-a-year industry letting its capacity sit idle a quarter or more of the time. If hospitals were in constant use, costs would fall as expensive assets like operating rooms and imaging equipment were used more fully.

So the director of the White House OMB thinks hospitals are essentially closed for the entire weekend, with no work getting done. He obviously has never stepped foot into a hospital, and particularly the emergency room or the ICU on a weekend.  If he did he would know what a fallacious lie that is. Hospitals are fully staffed on weekends to handle patient care. Just because there are fewer people physically in the building doesn't mean staff is not available. That's why people take call. 

Anybody who has worked with or been married to doctors know how hard they work, to the point of self exhaustion and personal detriment. I would compare the hours worked by doctors to your average government employee, who shut down their work stations promptly at 4:58 PM.  And don't forget all the time Congress and the POTUS take off for their multiple vacations each year. So Mr. Orszag, before you spout off on how much more efficient healthcare can be if we all just work seven days a week, why not improve the efficiency of your own employees and have them work 24/7? Wouldn't it be so convenient for us taxpayers if we can make it to the DMV or other government offices on weekends rather having them sit dark and empty for at least quarter or more of the time?