The sorrow which has no vent in tears may make other organs weep. - Henry Maudsley
This was a really great interview on "Fresh Air" that sheds a lot of light on the health care issues in America, and unfortunately also points out how complicated things really are: T.R. Reid: Looking Overseas For 'Healing Of America'
I liked when Reid pointed out that part of the reason health care cost mores in this country than in any other is because of the complexity of the system which is what leads to high administrative costs. He goes on to say how various parts of the US health care system resemble all the other major systems used in different countries. The difference is that here we use them, so one's quality of health care, choices, and how one pays and what one pays all depends on many factors which can easily change throughout life.
This is how people fall through the cracks - they happen to make too much money, be too young, and not a pregnant woman or single mother, so they can't get Medicaid, but at the same time they either have pre-existing conditions which make it impossible to get private health insurance or they simply can't afford private health insurance 'cause they are unemployed, or employed in a manner which doesn't provide affordable insurance. Not to mention the people who have health insurance but can't afford the co-pays.
The more I listened to this interview the more strongly I feel that the current bill - which might not even pass because it's so "controversial" (seriously, WTF?) - will hardly solve our problems. Not that it doesn't matter. The current bill definitely would be an improvement if it regulated health insurance companies so that they can't lock people out for having "pre-existing conditions" and the expansion of Medicaid and Medicare would help catch a lot of those people who are currently falling through the cracks.
But after listening to Reid it seems that our real problem isn't that we don't have THE one and only correct system, but rather, that we can't make up our minds on a single, streamlined system which would cover everyone. There are so many systems to choose from when we look at how other countries deal with health care, and plenty of them are less socialistic and more friendly toward private industry. We don't have to choose between a simpler, cheaper, universal health care system and remaining a champion in free enterprise as a nation.
From the transcript:
Mr. REID: Turns out we have them all right here in the United States. If you're a Native American or a veteran you live in Britain. They get government health care and government hospitals from government doctors and they never get a bill.
If you're an employed person sharing your health insurance premium with your employer, you live in Germany. That's the Bismarck model that was invented in Germany and used in many countries.
If you're a senior and you buy Medicare insurance from the government and go to private doctors, you live in Canada. That's the Canadian model. As a matter of fact, the Canadian health care system is called Medicare, and when Lyndon Johnson provided it for our seniors in 1965 he borrowed both the model and the name from Canada.
And if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who can't get health insurance, well, you live in Malawi or Madagascar or Mali or something, because if you can pay for health insurance you get it, or maybe you can line up at the free hospital sometime.
We've got them all and that's really the most important difference. All the other countries have decided that it's cheaper and fairer to provide one model so that everybody has the same access to the same care at the same price.
W need to do something, because this is just ridiculous. On a personal level, I'm incredibly grateful that I dumb-lucked into a great plan (for the time being) for myself, but I'm sick of watching people I care about suffer (go without treatment, go into health care debt, or take off work to wait in long, humiliating lines at free clinics - I have friends who do all these things) because of our complex, inefficient, and expensive system.
Reid's book has been fast-tracked to near the top of my reading list.
I liked when Reid pointed out that part of the reason health care cost mores in this country than in any other is because of the complexity of the system which is what leads to high administrative costs. He goes on to say how various parts of the US health care system resemble all the other major systems used in different countries. The difference is that here we use them, so one's quality of health care, choices, and how one pays and what one pays all depends on many factors which can easily change throughout life.
This is how people fall through the cracks - they happen to make too much money, be too young, and not a pregnant woman or single mother, so they can't get Medicaid, but at the same time they either have pre-existing conditions which make it impossible to get private health insurance or they simply can't afford private health insurance 'cause they are unemployed, or employed in a manner which doesn't provide affordable insurance. Not to mention the people who have health insurance but can't afford the co-pays.
The more I listened to this interview the more strongly I feel that the current bill - which might not even pass because it's so "controversial" (seriously, WTF?) - will hardly solve our problems. Not that it doesn't matter. The current bill definitely would be an improvement if it regulated health insurance companies so that they can't lock people out for having "pre-existing conditions" and the expansion of Medicaid and Medicare would help catch a lot of those people who are currently falling through the cracks.
But after listening to Reid it seems that our real problem isn't that we don't have THE one and only correct system, but rather, that we can't make up our minds on a single, streamlined system which would cover everyone. There are so many systems to choose from when we look at how other countries deal with health care, and plenty of them are less socialistic and more friendly toward private industry. We don't have to choose between a simpler, cheaper, universal health care system and remaining a champion in free enterprise as a nation.
From the transcript:
Mr. REID: Turns out we have them all right here in the United States. If you're a Native American or a veteran you live in Britain. They get government health care and government hospitals from government doctors and they never get a bill.
If you're an employed person sharing your health insurance premium with your employer, you live in Germany. That's the Bismarck model that was invented in Germany and used in many countries.
If you're a senior and you buy Medicare insurance from the government and go to private doctors, you live in Canada. That's the Canadian model. As a matter of fact, the Canadian health care system is called Medicare, and when Lyndon Johnson provided it for our seniors in 1965 he borrowed both the model and the name from Canada.
And if you're one of the tens of millions of Americans who can't get health insurance, well, you live in Malawi or Madagascar or Mali or something, because if you can pay for health insurance you get it, or maybe you can line up at the free hospital sometime.
We've got them all and that's really the most important difference. All the other countries have decided that it's cheaper and fairer to provide one model so that everybody has the same access to the same care at the same price.
W need to do something, because this is just ridiculous. On a personal level, I'm incredibly grateful that I dumb-lucked into a great plan (for the time being) for myself, but I'm sick of watching people I care about suffer (go without treatment, go into health care debt, or take off work to wait in long, humiliating lines at free clinics - I have friends who do all these things) because of our complex, inefficient, and expensive system.
Reid's book has been fast-tracked to near the top of my reading list.