NY doctors and noncompete clauses, health insurance, hospitals
Health care has radically changed in the past decade and hospital systems now call the shots, a reader writes. Credit: iStock
Noncompete parts not right for doctors
The State Legislature presented Gov. Kathy Hochul with a meaningful bill to ban noncompete clauses in employee contracts [“Noncompete bill vetoed by Hochul,” News, Dec. 24-25]. It had no income caps and applied to all employers including not-for-profits.
As a senior physician, I have seen the trend from small private practices to today’s tendency for physicians to work for large health care systems as well as huge, privately funded mega groups.
Noncompete clauses traditionally excluded working within a few miles from the former practice to what is now a ban on working with any competitor within a certain mileage, thus excluding huge geographic and often multistate areas.
The clauses are often nonnegotiable. Physicians essentially become indentured servants and need to relocate great distances. Patients are greatly inconvenienced and lose continuity of care.
I cannot comment on such clauses in other industries except that lawyers have always been excluded from these restrictions.
I agree that patient-client solicitations are not appropriate when a professional leaves a practice or firm. However, noncompete clauses for clinicians are inappropriate in today’s climate. Clinically active physicians hold no “trade secrets.”
— Dr. Michael Ziegelbaum, Jericho
Hospital systems hike medical costs
Two readers took umbrage with health insurance companies for being profitable and dominating the health care industry [“Yes, health care costs are high — here’s why,” Letters, Dec. 12]. The industry, though, is now dominated by hospital systems.
Just 20 years ago, we had well over 20 independent hospitals throughout our region.
Now, Long Island is dominated by a handful of giant systems, which run all aspects of health care, including but not limited to testing centers, blood labs, doctor offices, surgical centers, rehab, etc., and it’s the same thing around the country.
Health care has radically changed in the past decade. Today, it’s the hospital systems that call the shots.
— Doug Heimowitz, Jericho
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