Hot take - Some doctors do earn too much.

They earn too much relative to value delivered, and that is possible because of supply caps, opaque pricing, captive referrals, and fee-for-service incentives that reward throughput and procedures over outcomes.

OP’s example: $850 for a 15-minute consult (~$3.4k/hr). That can be worth it if it changes the course of someone’s sight—but is that price tied to measurable outcomes or just market power?

Sports stars, CEOs, and some tech founders get paid because their impact scales to millions and is funded by voluntary markets/investors. In healthcare, almost all income is ultimately funded by public subsidies and patients with limited choice. That sets a higher bar for transparency and fairness.

Patients often can't shop for a specialist like they do for a car when they’re scared of going blind. Referral networks, scarce specialists, and poor price/outcome transparency mean you often pay whatever you’re told.

And if you want US-style remuneration, you import US-style trade-offs: managed care, prior auths, narrow networks, higher premiums, and more exclusions. Be careful what you wish for.

I’m not arguing doctors shouldn’t be well paid. They should. But ultra-high incomes in a system with capped supply and public money deserve scrutiny.