Getting away from Big Brother

Stubbs made it clear he’s taking this step because he wants to get out of the business of dealing with insurance companies and government and corporate regulation.

He said corporations are controlling health care in the U.S. and doctors have lost control of their practices.

Stubbs said 50 percent of practices in Mississippi are owned by a corporate entity, up from 36 percent in 2006.

“More and more private doctors are being taken over. They no longer run their office. They no longer have the ability to hire and fire employees. They tell the doctor when he can take a vacation,” Stubbs said. “That’s not for me. I just don’t like it. I don’t think it’s good for anybody else, either.”

He told the story of receiving a letter from an insurance company, along with an order for him to sign, which would take one of his patients off a CPAP machine, which is prescribed for sleep apnea patients. Stubbs said a microchip in the piece of medical equipment tracks how often the patient was using it, which was only 49.2 percent of the time.

“The insurance company requires the patient to use the machine 70 percent of the time, or they won’t pay for it. And they wanted me to sign an order discontinuing CPAP usage for that patient,” he said. “I’m not going to do that. What would happen if I signed a letter taking that patient off CPAP and they got behind the wheel of a car and fell asleep, had an accident and killed someone? I’ll tell you what would happen: Her smart-alecky attorney would hold that order up in court and say it’s my fault she wrecked that car. I had nothing to do with that. That’s the insurance company, and they are trying to take over and that’s wrong.”