&gt; what if doctors just stop... negotiating with public insurers? is there some legislation I don&#x27;t know about that prevents that?<p>Doctors aren&#x27;t negotiating at all with public insurers. Medicare doesn&#x27;t negotiate, for any meaningful definition of &#x27;negotiate&#x27;. They set the rates they are willing to pay, and you can either accept it or.... accept it. As a provider, it&#x27;s very, very difficult to refuse to treat Medicare&#x2F;Medicaid patients in practice, for all sorts of legal reasons.<p>(Also, it&#x27;s usually the hospital that&#x27;s in this position now, not doctors. Private practice is a dying breed; most doctors in the US are now salaried.)