Originally Posted by LAblondeGPhi
That is terrible, and I'm sorry that you have to go through that. I agree with you that many aspects of the healthcare system aren't working, and I'm particularly angered to hear about folks who HAVE coverage (in many cases, damn expensive coverage) and are still saddled with massive bills after a catastrophic incident.
What I would ideally like to see is a universal healthcare system that ensures a basic, free, level of coverage for all Americans, administered through a combination of private and public entities. For those who want a faster or fancier policy, they can purchase it, or have their employer provide it as part of a compensation package. And by "faster", I don't mean that you get your transplant or emergency surgery faster, I mean that you get your non-emergent doctors appointment with your preferred physician scheduled sooner. I mentioned that this law is not perfect, but I believe it is a step in the direction of universal healthcare, which would NEVER have passed if it were attempted in one fell swoop.
Many folks may be asking "what about cost?", and I think that's a very valid question. While I'm loathe to talk about life-saving technology that's "too expensive" to administer, I think there can be cost savings that we could realize through streamlined billing and files management, greater focus on early prevention and intervention of serious acute and chronic diseases, somehow reigning in the obesity epidemic, and a realistic, human approach to end-of-life and palliative care.
I heard a doctor on NPR recently say that money could be saved in many practices if doctors were allowed more time with each individual patient rather than sending them off to diagnostic tests right away. Instead, she argued, doctors are squeezed to see as many patients as possible in a day, so it's more cost-effective for them to see a patient for 5 minutes and then send them off to a multi-thousand dollar diagnostic test, rather than spend 30 minutes with the patient to narrow down the possible issues. (Those in the healthcare industry - please pipe up here; I've been fortunate to not have many of these rushed doctor visits and therefore can't vouch for this phenomenon personally).
I also recall President Clinton giving a speech a few years ago where he said that Canada spends less per capita on health care than we do in the U.S., and that their administrative costs per dollar were about half of what ours are (it was something like $0.15 to our $0.30 on the dollar spend in admin costs). This is purely remembered information, and I welcome corrections.
I think that we have a lot of public services like police, fire protection and education that are centered around the idea that our society is better served when each individual has certain protections and opportunities. To me, access to affordable, humane healthcare should be one of the primary pillars of a system that provides opportunity to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".
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