Family doctors are mostly very nice people. They also usually render good medical care. However, they are not accorded high status in the medical hierarchy and in general have little power in medical schools or the research establishment. However, they are well organized politically, and have triumphed in the Obamacare wars. Approaching the concept of doctor reimbursement as a zero-sum game, their lobby convinced Pelosi and Reid that favoring family practice over specialty care would save money. This may well be true, but every time a pressure group meddles into a complex system, the reallocation of resources results in unintended consequences. Medical research may be one of the first casualties of Obamacare.

Family doctors do not do much medical research. General practice, with the need to be a jack of all trades precludes studying one topic at the depth required to be an original investigator. In addition to the five or so years required to become a specialist, doing basic medical inquiry requires additional post-residency training. It is these highly specialized, non-family doctors, who do the research and teach in the medical schools and universities.

In the power grab that was Obamacare, the family doctors did not consider, and the Congress did not understand, that the high fees paid to medical specialists are a key component to funding medical research. Although laboratories and lab workers are paid for by grants, most physician researchers receive a salary based upon their part time clinical practice and supervision of residents. Seeing patients, with the help of residents a few days a week, has previously generated enough income to pay the salaries of these academic researchers. Although the incomes were not as high as those of private practice, the system worked well enough to keep medical schools and research positions filled.

» Read more: Medical Research, and Other Collateral Damage From Obamacare