Health Care Reform- My humble opinion as someone who has worked in health care for over 23 years
Pres. Obama went on prime time tonight to take his case to the American people on health care reform. I waited to hear specifics about:
- What his plan is
- Who pays for it
- How it will be implemented
- What will the costs be
- Why do we need an overhaul instead of a tune-up
I did not hear any of these questions answered. I heard platitudes about all the people who are uninsured (disputable numbers), how bad our system is broken (oh really?) and how his plan (yet to be verbalized so anyone an understand it) would actually help our economy (the CBO actually says it will raise spending and deficits and is unsustainable without massive tax hikes).
Reform needs to to take place in the form of allowing people to buy their own insurance and take it with them from job to job. People being able to negotiate fees with their doctors without government interference. People being able to choose whether they are insured or not. People being able to actually access Medicaid if they need it without the hassles of red tape.
What I DID hear was how he believes doctors are greedy SOB’s who do tonsillectomies because it pays more than prescribing drugs. (I don’t believe in tonsillectomies from a philosophical stand point, that’s not the issue. The issue is he thinks doctors do things strictly for the money, not out of good conscience.) I also heard him and saw his face show signs of disgust when he mentioned record profits for insurance companies. Again, I’m no fan of insurance companies, but isn’t this supposed to be a capitalistic society? Shouldn’t for profit businesses make a profit. Doesn’t that profit go back into the economy in the form of more jobs, more equipment and building leases, etc? Lastly, I hear him say he wants thsi massive overhaul of 1/7 of our economy done by summer’s end. What’s the rush? If it’s that a big a deal, shouldn’t it be done carefully? Thoughtfully? My hunch is he knows that the more people learn about it and actually read the plan, the more they will reject it. Like other huge spending plans that were passed this year, he wants congress to seal the deal without actually reading the fine print. A petition was circulated asking all congress persons to sign a pledge to read the bill before voting and very few Democrats would agree to it. That’s very telling.
My suggestion: Let the ink dry, distribute the plan to every congress person, let them take the plan home over the summer to their constituents and allow them to read it and comment on it in town hall meetings. Then when congress reconvenes they can debate it with OUR input.
Here’s another take on health care reform.
http://luxeman.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/healthcare-reform-we-already-have-govt-health-care/
