For today, I'm still not done about healthcare reform. So that's what this post will be about.
I was watching President Obama's town hall meeting at Colorado today, and one thing he said really stuck with me:
"I don't want government meddling in your healthcare, but the point is I don't want insurance bureaucrats meddling in your healthcare either."
I think that's something that many people have overlooked in this debate. Today in the United States, doctors are not making healthcare decisions for you. They make medical recommendations that are approved or denied by insurance companies. There are only two big players in healthcare today - insurance and pharmaceutical companies. I am not making that statement out of some study I read or some article that was online. My mother is a nurse and has worked on every aspect of healthcare you can think of, and that statement came out of her mouth. And I see it in my own life. I have my own health issues and when I ask my doctor if something is covered by insurance, he/she has to look at my insurance and their own records before they can answer me. And if it's not covered, which some things are not, I have to actually think about what I want to do.
For example, I got my wisdom teeth taken out six years ago, and my insurance didn't cover anesthesia.
These are the people making medical decisions for us.
So for the people who say that reform will make politicians involved in your healthcare, all I have to say is this... politicians, unlike insurance or pharmaceutical companies, do not stand to make any direct profit from your living or dying or any other medical issue. They may be swayed one way or another, usually by insurance or pharmaceuticals or other corporate interests, but they are elected officials, and if they willingly or unwillingly impose medical sentences, they won't get elected again.
We can look at our politicians and say, if you do such and such we won't elect you again and you will lose your job. When was the last time you could say that to an insurance company, where you could say, if you don't cover this procedure we will just leave you?
The answer is... we can't. Insurance and pharmaceuticals have held us hostage. Is the lack of reform really the solution?
2 comments:
Yay for former brides who have moved on from weddings and are talking about other stuff on their blogs!
I totally agree with this post. I think it's some sort of American mythology that the family doctor is the one in charge, not unlike the notion of the family farm when in reality it's all about factory farming and factory health care.
@N - exactly, it's right up there with false nostalgia over the "good old days." I really feel that the US really took a wrong turn as soon as people's health became a for-profit business. I don't know when that was, but certainly not in my lifetime.
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