I don’t begrudge doctors for making a good living. The training is long and difficult and the responsibilities they assume are great! However, many health care economists argue that physician salaries must be examined along with prescription drug prices and the high cost of health insurance in attempting to provide affordable health care to more Americans.
The New York Times reports salaries for U.S. physicians are two to three times higher than salaries for physicians in other industrialized nations. According to surveys conducted by medical practice management groups, U.S. physicians on average have annual salaries of $200,000 to $300,000, and specialists on average have annual salaries of more than $400,000. Physicians in Europe in 2002 on average had annual salaries of $60,000 to $120,000, according to a survey conducted in 2004 by the British government.