Rand Paul Exaggerated Medical Board Certification

Rand Paul Exaggerated Medical Board Certification
Buck Banks | Jun. 14, 2010


U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul claims he is a “board certified” ophthalmologist, and he is, kind of, but then, he owns the board called the National Board of Ophthalmology. Paul incorporated the NBO in 1999 and serves as president. His wife is vice president.

According to the Louisville, Ky., Courier-Journal, Paul’s board is not nationally recognized:

But that entity is not recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, which works with the American Medical Association to approve such specialty boards.

Lori Boukas, a spokeswoman for the American Board of Medical Specialties, said her organization considers certifications to be valid only if they are done by the 24 groups that have its approval and that of the AMA.

Boukas of the American Board of Medical Specialties said its 24 member groups, including the widely recognized American Board of Ophthalmology, have stricter standards for board certification than the other groups.

The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure does not verify doctors’ specialty training and instead directs people to the American Board of Medical Specialties to determine if a doctor is board-certified.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology recognizes board certification only by the American Board of Ophthalmology.

Shortly before the May 18 primary, Paul told the Courier-Journal that he was certified by both boards.

According to records with the Kentucky Secretary of State, the organization [NBO] was first incorporated in Kentucky in 1999. On records in that office, Paul is listed as “owner/president” on some forms and “president” on others.

Asked what requirements the National Board of Ophthalmology has for recertifying doctors, Paul’s wife, Kelley, who is listed on forms as the group’s vice president, said: “I’m not involved in that. I’m not officially talking about that today.”

When the newspaper tried to interview Paul over the weekend, he wouldn’t comment. Asked when he would talk, Paul said: “Uh, you know, never … What does this have to do with our election?”

As they always say in the courtroom dramas, It goes to credibility.

Paul is just the latest in a line of current candidates for Senate who seem incapable of telling the truth about their experience or qualifications. Mark Kirk, Richard Blumenthal and Darryl Issa have all been caught exaggerating their mostly nonexistent military records.

Paul, on the other hand, is exaggerating a medical certification, something that says he has passed a test and is competent to treat people with eye conditions.

As a not-very-far-in-the-closet Libertarian, Paul favors personal choice and freedom from government regulation. So, rather than submit to some stupid national board certification, he made up his own board and crowned himself and his wife the executive officers. Sweet, no?

But he also has spouted his Libertarian views about how the market should regulate itself. For instance, the government shouldn’t prohibit smoking in a restaurant; that’s the purview of the owner, and if people don’t like it, they can take their custom elsewhere. Same with segregation — if you own a store and don’t want black folks shopping there, it’s perfectly within your rights to turn them away. If white people think that’s a bad thing, they can take their trade elsewhere.

Likewise, when his patients find out that Dr. Rand Paul has eschewed submitting to national board certification and instead certified himself, they might prefer to go to an ophthalmologist who has actually passed a test to become board certified.

And maybe his supporters will prefer to vote for someone who, in time-honored tradition, at least waits until they get elected to start lying.

 

Ahhh yes, a senator who actually undermines big government instead of endorsing it. Now THAT is what I call- Change you can believe in!!! LOL!!!

 

Yet he supports the 2nd biggest social government program because he receives half his income from it

 

I think he supports it as an alternative to obamacare... BTW do you know for certain that he receives half his income from it? As in, do you have a factual reference for it? I'm not saying it's not true, I'd actually be interested to see it...

 

So, you are saying he's been paid about 32k per year from medicaid since 06, which means he has only made 64-65k per year??? Is that your claim? Seems kind of low for an eye surgeon...

"Paul, the Republican nominee, has been paid $130,461 in Medicaid funds since 2006, about one-third of the sum that he billed the program, according to the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, which administers that program. "

 

Rand Paul, tea party favorite and scourge of socialism, gets half his business from Medicare and opposes any cut in Medicare funding that might interrupt the flow of public money to his bank account:

But on Thursday evening, the ophthalmologist from Bowling Green said there was one thing he would not cut: Medicare physician payments.

In fact, Paul -- who says 50% of his patients are on Medicare -- wants to end cuts to physician payments under a program now in place called the sustained growth rate, or SGR. "Physicians should be allowed to make a comfortable living," he told a gathering of neighbors in the back yard of Chris and Linda Wakild, just behind the 10th hole of a golf course.

I happen to agree that the SGR rules need to be scrapped. If we're going to have a Medicare program, the worst thing we can do is underfund it and cut reimbursement rates and therefore limit the number of doctors who accept it. And Medicaid is in even worse shape in terms of reimbursement rates.

But this is certainly inconsistent with his stance on government-paid health care. Medicare is a single payer system that provides medical care for most of America's senior citizens. That's far more socialized a system than what was just passed as health care reform, yet Rand Paul not only benefits from it but opposes any cuts in the flow of tax dollars into his bank account. How convenient for him.

 

Please address this information, from the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services. According to you, if half his income is from Medicare, then he only makes 64-65k per year. Is that so? Please clarify. Your post didn't address this.

 

The point is he is a fucking hypocrite running against big government while accepting pay from one of the biggest government programs

 

Maybe,he isn't board certified and they tend to make less then board certified doctors

 

So you allegation is that Paul, an eye surgeon, makes 64-65k per year....