Health Care - Get It Done

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

Doc--as always, a great post.

But can you ever see a day when health care is actually limited for those who, as you say, abrocate their personal responsibility to maintain their health? Or would you just limit their insurance coverage?

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

This is what the discussion should be about in Washington. Presumably, society should provide care to all who cannot care for themselves: infants, children, adolescents until he age of majority, those with physical and psychiatric disabilities. For the rest of the population, should there be a basic personal participation that is required to "earn" health care?

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

As a doctor, would you willing/able to deny treatment to a 450 lb smoker?

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

Michael Savage has said that the reason universal health care works in other countries, but won't work here is because other countries don't have as large a problem with illegal immigration as we do. He thinks state police officers should be in every emergency room to check citizenship and turn away non-citizens.
Personally, I think the immigration problem is nowhere near as big as he says it is, but I guess I could be wrong.

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

Good luck selling that to the "get the government off my back!!" tea baggers (a nice percentage of whom are also 63-year-old, 240-pound, 3-pack a day smokers).

Pay no attention to Michael Savage. If it were up to him, immigrants would be lined up in the street and shot, and everything he says can be assumed factually to be 99% bullshit.

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

Bull. Instead of a great post, I would characterize it more as a typical post by a member of the health care profession (I assume by his handle, at least) who is concerned about his gravy train being negatively affected by reform. Our greed-driven health care system isn't just screwing over those who abrocate personal responsiblity, it is screwing over millions who tried to take care of themselves until they got sick anyways with less than adequate insurance. Because, eventually, everyone gets sick regardless of what they do.
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And the idea that our system encourages people to take responsibility for maintaining their health is belied by the facts. Our system has resulted in one of the most obese, out of shape and junk-food addicted societies on earth. Meanwhile, the countries that have the most comprehensively universal health care systems that provide no limits to the unhealthy and out of shape--like Norway, France, Japan, etc.--have population that are far less obese, healthier and longer-living than ours.

A nice argument, until you actually start looking at the evidence.

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

Doc agree and it should start with The Commander and Chief who is still smoking and blew a 217 on his cholesterol check this week.

A healthy lifestyle has to be part of any health care reform discussion. Individuals need to have a financial stake in their care otherwise we are just leaving the "keys in the car".
To me this includes advocating for their care and not accepting unnecessary tests ordered by their physicians to churn the system.

Doc could you put a general percentage on how much illness is due to unhealthy lifestyle- diet, drugs, smoking, ect? Is it 50%?

Perhaps we need to start ostracizing those that pull into a McDonalds parking lot as much as we ostracize those that drive gas guzzling SUV's.

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

Yet the trust in government isn't exactly through the roof.

Latest case in point...

In my state, last week, we had a stimulus rebate on appliances, a "cash for clunkers". Between $100 and $500. People had to go to a government-based website and print off the voucher to take to an appliance store. The state had trumpeted the fact that it was ready and wouldn't run out of money anytime soon.

Oops. Website went down because of the volume. Phone lines were down because of the volume.

Finally, after four hours, people got through. Eight hours after the program started, the money was all gone and people are cranky.

Now the attitude is, "the government couldn't even put out $250 vouchers for dishwashers in an efficient manner. Now our federal government wants to control 1/6 of the national economy?"

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

I'd doubt it, but there are a lot of republicans who voted for Obama because they thought wanted a clean start from the Bush administration and they weren't satisfied with what McCain had to say.

A lot of democrats voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 because they weren't satisfied with the other choice either.

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

We live in a country of ffreedoms and rights,any of which can be taken away because of behavior deemed inappropriate. Educating and providing a solid base of health care to the next generation is the key to health reform and cutting costs 30 and 40 years from now.

If all children were given proper access to medical and dental services, if they were provided a decent diet and nutrition and if they weren't exposed to second hand smoke, drugs and violence, then it is likely that the cost of disease management in their later years would decline. Front loaded investment in the health of the population is not an easy sell, since the benefits will not be seen in the political life of any of those elected today.

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done

But we wouldn't be able to see results from that next week, or next month, or next year. And there would be no answer to the people who would inevitably scream about how it wasn't working.

It's a perfectly good idea, but it won't work in a country that either cannot or will not look beyond the tip of its own nose.

 

Re: Health Care - Get It Done