Monday, October 5, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
My views on Health Care Reform
MY VIEWS ON HEALTH CARE REFORM
1. We have the most expensive health care system in the world.
2. Not everyone agrees it is the best. Most in US don’t think it is. Most in other counties either.
3. Can it be done better? It does seem that there is an opportunity to provide comparable services less expensively. And many counties if not most have done that.
4. But did these countries wind up having the government come between their Drs and the care they needed? There is very little difference in the satisfaction levels of the countries spending less and the U.S.
5. Are most of the Uninsured in the US not getting the care they need? Best I can tell most ARE getting the care they need due to the generosity of individual Doctors and extensive use of the Emergency Room. However, the use of the Emergency Room for many needs is an extremely expensive solution if perhaps the only one available.
6. So how do you see the current health care reform debate? False assertions and demagoguery.
It seems to me that the US does poorly in comparison with other countries. Our current system is unnecessarily expensive. We can do better. And could have quite some time ago. We need to do better. The average person and or business stands to reclaim up to 5% of their income once we get in line with the plans of other counties. One glaring weakness in the U.S.‘s current approach is that there is no counter force to the cost of health care. For example in Canada the government decides how much is spent on health care each year. So, the government is providing the counter force. A form of competition. The U.S. has nothing like this.
And yet those who argue that the government will come between the citizen and their Doctors on individual decisions don’t seem to have a very strong argument when viewing the experience of these other countries based upon reported satisfaction levels. Of course they raise a very strong emotional argument. And perhaps that is the goal. However, is that the need of the citizens at this time. I don’t think so. It’s not what I need. And I don’t feel well served by it. I don’t think I’m asking too much of our public officials to get our country competitive with the rest of the world. If that’s what they are in the process of doing, thank you. If not, I’ll seek out and support those who will. Give the drama to someone else. Just get the job done. And let me know how and if I can help.
7. Anything else? Yes. I recommend the following sources for further information.
pewresearch.org/.../health-care-public-gives-lukewarm-rating-to-american-system
www.gallup.com/.../healthcare-system-ratings-us-great-britain-canada.aspx
en.wikipedia.org/.../Canadian_and_American_health_care_systems_compared
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf
1. We have the most expensive health care system in the world.
2. Not everyone agrees it is the best. Most in US don’t think it is. Most in other counties either.
3. Can it be done better? It does seem that there is an opportunity to provide comparable services less expensively. And many counties if not most have done that.
4. But did these countries wind up having the government come between their Drs and the care they needed? There is very little difference in the satisfaction levels of the countries spending less and the U.S.
5. Are most of the Uninsured in the US not getting the care they need? Best I can tell most ARE getting the care they need due to the generosity of individual Doctors and extensive use of the Emergency Room. However, the use of the Emergency Room for many needs is an extremely expensive solution if perhaps the only one available.
6. So how do you see the current health care reform debate? False assertions and demagoguery.
It seems to me that the US does poorly in comparison with other countries. Our current system is unnecessarily expensive. We can do better. And could have quite some time ago. We need to do better. The average person and or business stands to reclaim up to 5% of their income once we get in line with the plans of other counties. One glaring weakness in the U.S.‘s current approach is that there is no counter force to the cost of health care. For example in Canada the government decides how much is spent on health care each year. So, the government is providing the counter force. A form of competition. The U.S. has nothing like this.
And yet those who argue that the government will come between the citizen and their Doctors on individual decisions don’t seem to have a very strong argument when viewing the experience of these other countries based upon reported satisfaction levels. Of course they raise a very strong emotional argument. And perhaps that is the goal. However, is that the need of the citizens at this time. I don’t think so. It’s not what I need. And I don’t feel well served by it. I don’t think I’m asking too much of our public officials to get our country competitive with the rest of the world. If that’s what they are in the process of doing, thank you. If not, I’ll seek out and support those who will. Give the drama to someone else. Just get the job done. And let me know how and if I can help.
7. Anything else? Yes. I recommend the following sources for further information.
pewresearch.org/.../health-care-public-gives-lukewarm-rating-to-american-system
www.gallup.com/.../healthcare-system-ratings-us-great-britain-canada.aspx
en.wikipedia.org/.../Canadian_and_American_health_care_systems_compared
http://www.barackobama.com/pdf/issues/HealthCareFullPlan.pdf
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