Here is an obscure story of environmental whack-a-mole that maybe only Noah could fully appreciate.
Way down south, as in somewhere between Australia and Antarctica south, is the remote Macquarie Island. You might not have seen it in your eco-travel brochures – to the extent there is overlap between readers of this blog and eco-travelers – because one early visitor to the island described it as ‘the most wretched place that can be conceived.’
Cruise ships arrive every Wednesday!
No one even discovered the place until the early 1800s and then all they found were some rare birds hopping around the huge population of fur seals sprawled out all over the desolate outcropping.
Well, at that time, seals meant oil, and oil meant money, and money meant hunters.
So, the ships started to arrive (maybe it was Carnival Cruise Lines? maybe they docked on Wednesdays?), but they brought more than hunters.
Rats stowed away on the ships. Lots.
No one liked the rats, so someone got the brilliant idea to bring some cats to eat the rats.
Plus, there were now a lot of hunters and, in a strange plot twist, shipwrecked sailors. Instead of just rescuing the sailors (seems like that would have been a good option), rabbits were imported as a food supply.
The feral cats, in particular, were ruthlessly efficient and had eliminated virtually all the birds. Conservationists were sad about that and worked to eradicate the cats.
But with the cats gone, the rabbits did what rabbits do – breed and eat and poop – and in the process ate almost half the vegetation on the island.
Now, there is an ongoing multi-million-dollar campaign to get rid of the rabbits.
You almost have to laugh at one unintended consequence after another, but then you remember this is an ecological meltdown.
I tell you that story, only in part because of my well-documented disdain for the rabbits destroying my yard (I am getting help with my issue), but more to make this point…
At the start of 2021, nearly 70% of physicians worked for a large institution (health system, big corporation, private equity-backed company). There are a lot of motivations for physicians to make this move, but in large part many throw in the towel on owning their own practice simply because the finances don’t work anymore.
Last week we discussed the Medicare cut coming to physician reimbursement in 2023, a move ostensibly intended to reign in healthcare costs. But it will drive more physicians to give up the fight and take the employment deal from some big entity.
Besides my rabbit issue, another thing we’ve discussed here frequently is the undeniable fact that the cost for physician services goes up, not down, when they leave independent practice, particularly if they do so by becoming health system employees.
This will lower healthcare costs how?
There are too many rats…ship in some cats!
There are too many cats…ship in some wolves!
There are too many wolves…ship in some hunters!
The hunters are hungry…ship in some rabbits!