If we reframe this issue then perhaps the powers that be should also schedule car prices (or any such important good) so that every person that can or can’t afford a car can go to a dealer and still walk away with one.

It really baffles me that people (or the insurance industry) use this “morality” veil as the reason why doctors shouldn’t expect appropriate compensation for their services.

And if that be the case, then equalize the playing field…don’t make us go to school 10+ years so that upon entering practice one can watch some insurance company dude laugh all the way to the bank with money that he didn’t work for.
I say 4 years to become a doctor if that’s the case (4 years total).

a duck is duck, man! and if they have the right to treat it as a “good” why can’t doctors?

I would like to ask why, in today’s world where “two consenting adults” can have any variety of relationships, why then can two consenting adults not establish a medical one? If a physician delivers excellent care, and a person pays for that care, why is that somehow cheating others? I’d like to challenge those who believe this to be true to devote their entire future careers to academic medicine, because to do otherwise is hypocritical–as any sort of private practice health care is “medicine for money.” And they will be very unlikely to care for a large indigent population in private practice.

Jared’s point is spot-on regarding a physician’s ability to behave philanthropically at any such time as he desires to do so. And, upon further reflection of my own life, I am far more inclined to do when when I see a need for it, as opposed to be forced to do so by a single party pay system (which is only arguably philanthropic anyway).

And if I choose to do a retainer service, doesn’t that also mean that I probably have the right or privilege to produce a number of “scholarships” for the retainer to patients as I choose?

And, if I am a shrewd businessperson as well, wouldn’t I be able to then spread this out over the course of each visit such that I actually don’t have to ask for a retainer up front? Where does the injustice occur in those tweakings?

It sounds like my 7 year-old niece’s complaints about trying a new food because “It’s weird.” We know that the current social experiment is failing spectacularly. So, when does the presence of mind to appreciate those brave enough to try something different come to bear?

What???? I almost choked when I read that. The whole motivation for a single-payer system is social equity, fairness, and, yes, “justice.” Granted, it’s an uphill battle to get there (and the proposals set forth thus far are fraught with problems), but as an ideal, a single-payer system is the fairest way to provide necessary medical care to all who need it.

Unless by “justice” you mean “high compensation to doctors.” Judging by the rest of your post, I would not be surprised if this was your implication.