Can VoIP survive Congress?

So should emergency physicians hope that VoIP does not survive Congress so that California could better fund its emergency services? Yesterday I pointed to the California Medical Socieity's President's proposal. Today, Congress wants to preserve the subsidy for rural and low income "plain old telephone service" (POTS).

The Wednesday, July 7 hearing, "VoIP: Will the Technology Disrupt the Industry or Will Regulation Disrupt the Technology?" should open a small window on this policy making process.
It seems intuitively more reasonable for subsidy to accrue to the same business rather than across businesses. Not that telephone taxes haven't funded wars, but at least the present subsidy goes to deliver telephone services to more users, not EMS.

California Medical Association President Supports Emergency Services Ballot Initiative

The initiative would add a 3% surcharge to residential and mobile phone bills (free registration required)

Much as I'd like to see support to "help bail out" emergency departments, trauma centers and emergency doctors I don't think taxing communication services is a good approach, particularly as Vonnage Wins One suggests that we may not have plain old telephone service (POTS) to kick around for much longer as a tax base, or at least that is if we want a modern communication infrastructure; a social good at least as important to our society as emergency health care.

Mobile Lawyer arrives at the ER

I arrived at work Tuesday, May 4 for an early meeting and found this truck parked outside of my ER in physician only parking.

Our security staff chased him from the physician parking, but he spent the rest of the day camped on the corner diagonally opposite the ED. I guess it must work or they wouldn't be doing it.

So this is what has happened to two grand professions in a world where capitalism has triumphed over common sense.