A Plan For Intelligent Health Care Reform Part 1.

Like most physicians, I’m usually a fairly busy fella. That’s one of the big reasons that this blog is typically only updated a couple times a week, rather than daily (or even more frequently), like a lot of blogs.

When I’m not in the clinic seeing patients, or trying to navigate through the massive bureaucracy associated with that, I try to read the latest professional journals to keep up with the latest research etc., so I can practice the best medicine I can.

This past weekend was one of those moments and I sat down to read the latest issue of the Journal of Family Practice. I often like to read the editorials and letters to sort of get a feel for how others in the profession are thinking.

So, what does that have to do with health care reform?

Well, the editorial in this latest Journal was of particular interest to me, and in it I think I see the makings of a plan for intelligent health care reform for the U.S.

This is of course a big topic right now with huge special interests all preparing to go to war with one another. Most of the debate centers around people on one side demanding universal government controlled health-care and folks on the other side saying this will be a disaster and basically trying to maintain the current status quo.

Personally, I think both sides are full of it. They are both right and they are both wrong. This is a complex issue that won’t be solved with simple politically expedient answers, no matter how good they might sound in a debate or a Michael Moore movie.

I think unfortunately, that our politicians across the political spectrum, from far left to far right, are massively corrupt and in the pockets of the special interests. The US health care system is big. Damn big! There is massive money and power involved here and all of these groups want to be in control of it for personal gain.

Unfortunately, it’s you and me, the regular folks, who are getting caught in the middle of this war.

Democrats, Republicans…..pppptthhhhhh!!! I say a pox on both your houses!

They are all making promises and using all sorts of deceptive claims using manipulated and misleading statistics etc., in order to try and sway the voters into giving them control.

It makes me sick.

I think going to a single payer universal coverage system run by our government would be an absolute disaster.

I also think maintaining our current system without any change is an equally disastrous course.

Is there a better way? Can we find a system that actually makes sense?

I say “Yes, we absolutely can!” In fact, we don’t even need to look all that far. A system is already in place, which in my opinion is massively better than what we currently have and is massively better than any of the proposals I’ve seen put forth by the parasites…Oops, I mean politicians.

I’ve personally practiced within this system in my professional life, so I am quite familiar with it’s pros and cons. Folks, I’m telling you from personal experience, it’s better than what we’ve got and better than what the politicians are offering us!

It’s better health care than what the government is currently delivering in the VA and Military systems, and is better than what the government is currently delivering with Medicare and Medicaid. It’s much more responsive to patient needs. There is massively less infringment on choice for the individual. It is massively more efficient, less bureaucratic, and as a result, a hell of a lot more affordable!

Now, this system I speak of is not perfect. It has some very definite flaws that would absolutely need to be addressed before it would be at all acceptable for widespread adoption for the U.S. population.

I’m not a health-care economist or expert on this stuff, but in my mind I have some rough ideas for how these problems can indeed be addressed, to make this a workable solution for our nation’s current health care crisis. Unlike what we are being offered by the politicians, the plan I envision would actually make things better than they currently are, rather than worse.

“Okay okay, enough preamble Dr. Sam! Get to the point and tell us about this system.”

Fine, I hear you. This is not something that can be addressed in a pithy sound bite or two however. It is indeed a big complex issue with a lot of problems to be solved. I’ve already been told that my blog posts (including this one) tend to run too long, so rather than address this whole subject in a single post, I will spread it out over several posts.

Now as I already mentioned, I don’t update this blog every day. So rather than coming back here daily to check for the next installment and being bitterly disappointed, I suggest you might want to subscribe to this blog using your favorite reader program.

I personally use the Google Reader which is a free service that keeps me updated whenever there is a new post on the blogs I like to follow. There is a subscription button in the right hand column of my website to make this easier for you.

I’ll end this post now with a link to that editorial I mentioned above. As mentioned, my next post will be the email I sent in response.

For now, here’s the link to the editorial titled What if it’s cancer?

Please read the editorial and let yourself ruminate on it a bit before reading my next installment.

Subsequent posts will reveal my thoughts on how we could formulate a plan to make this health care system work for all of us, and of course your feedback and input in the comments section will be much appreciated.

Like I said, I’m not an expert on health-care policy or an economist or anything of the sort. I don’t have all the answers. I don’t think any one person does.

Making meaningful, effective, and intelligent changes will require input and teamwork from all of us. Please participate and give your thoughts and ideas on the matter. Let’s put our heads together and come up with a plan for intelligent health care reform!

Till next time…

Cheers!

(To save you the trouble of scrolling back up, here’s that link again What if it’s cancer? )