The Boom is Over: Seattle’s Doctors Face Public Backlash Over 'Trust' Pricing
As the city settles into metropolitan growth, a newspaper investigation into exorbitant medical fees sparks outrage among patients and division among physicians.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The publication in yesterday's Star of the facts revealing the inside workings of the "doctor trust" in this city caused a genuine sensation and excited much comment. Some of the medical men expressed great indignation at what they were pleased to term the audacity of this paper in printing such an article, and especially in giving to the public a copy of their private schedules of fees.
Other physicians, however, commended the Star for its courage in the matter, and said frankly that they believed the present high schedule should be modified. As for the public, there was but one opinion expressed, and that was against the "doctor's trust" and in favor of a reduction of charges for medical service to the level of physicians' charges in other cities. There were very few citizens, in fact, who read the Star's article without experiencing some unpleasant twinge of recollection regarding the excessive doctor bills which they had been called upon to pay.
In taking up the question and exploiting the doings of the doctors, the Star is animated by no feeling of animosity towards the medical fraternity, but simply by a desire to have the new conditions existing in Seattle recognized by the doctors. The boom days have passed away, and with them the excuse for asking two prices for any service, or for anything. This city has settled down to a basis of substantial growth upon metropolitan lines, and has eschewed the former idea of insisted prices. There is no reason why the doctors should not recognize this fact and readjust their scale of prices to accord with present conditions.
This 1903 editorial captures a moment when Seattle’s rapid 'boom' economy began to normalize, leading to consumer pushback against inflated costs in essential services. It mirrors modern debates over healthcare affordability and the perception of 'surprise billing' or price gouging by service providers in a rapidly gentrifying city.
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