I don't want to get political here. However, my experiences as a physician have shaped my opinion on this topic.
There are too many uninsured and underinsured in this country. They do not get the care they need for preventing diseases, and they present when it is too late, when their condition is out of control and the cost to treat it is far higher than what it would have cost to prevent the disease in the first place.
The rumors and scare tactics are absurd. One of my patients told me today that he, as an otherwise healthy elderly man in his 80's, with health care reform may not be treated for his hypertension, but instead would get "death counselling". Simply untrue.
The current health care system will bankrupt our country. There needs to be change. The melodrama and scare tactics need to stop and there needs to be intelligent discussion on this topic.
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5 comments:
Excellent comments. I also work in health care and our ER is always full of people who have no insurance but we still take care of them and just eat the cost. The scare tactics out there make me think sometimes that humanity isn't much evolved from the dark ages, we just have fancier toys today then we did then.
Otherwise I love your blog and I check for it regularly. You may inspire me yet to take up triathalons. Thanks, Ursula
I agree we need to get everyone covered. In the end, if we can get everyone the basic healthcare they need from the start, hopefully we can save money by preventing expensive medical problems, with the side benefit of people being healthier--it's a win-win. It frustrates me, as well, how politics has distorted this whole thing. I just wish ALL of the politicians could put aside what's best for each of them and truly look at what's best for the people of this country. Unfortunately, I'm not an optimist when it comes to the ability of policians to do the right thing for the right reasons.
I just want to be able to pay the reasonable amount of bills I have and have fun taking GOOD care of patients instead of feeling like a mouse on one of those wheels all the time at work.
Now, I should probably be even more like a mouse on one of those wheels on a treadmill or elliptical at the Y, but that's a whole other issue... On my way there in an hour...
I completely agree and I am shocked by the lies that are being told and believed.
It's absurd to me that some of the fools against it do not have insurance. They need to go wait 48 hours in the ED and see how it feels.
Btw, I love your blog and will be seeing you for the first time on Friday as a new patient.
I feel pretty lucky to have universal healthcare here in Canada. I think it is something we take for granted and are only reminded how lucky we truly are when we hear of cases where people cannot afford critical medical procedures (hats off to Michael Moore). Good to hear some MD's advocating for a political shift.
I'm afraid that the proposed legislation is as bad as people are saying. Read the House bill for yourself. As well, read some detailed analyses of it:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/07172009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/os_broken_promises_179667.htm
http://www.classicalideals.com/HR3200.htm
Furthermore, I'd count Obama as no friend of physicians. He believes that you are willing to butcher your patients to increase your profits. The other month, he accused pediatricians of doing unnecessary tonsillectomies. Just yesterday, he said that doctors often choose to not care well for diabetics because they can make more money amputating legs. I heard these words from his own mouth.
Nothing so far proposed by the Congressional leadership or President will make anything better.
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