Before most of you were born, it was possible to see a doctor, and be treated according to the standards of medical practice of the day. You did not need insurance. The doc might take a chicken or two in payment. People who had little money could still get house calls. In truth, there was little that could be done for many things, and treatment was much easier because options were limited. Because that was so, businesses began to offer health insurance to workers. It was an incentive to stay or come to a corporation and cost little. Eventually, competition for workers caused it to become commonplace. It was cheap, so why not? What this did was provide a pool of money that fueled technology. Gradually, treatments and diagnosis became better, but as they did they became more expensive. Attorneys began to get in on the act as well, and the unheard practice of sueing MDs for millions became an industry as well. Everything became better and more expensive. Now again, this did not happen all at once. MRIs became something hospitals were expected to have, at least major opportunities.
People who were paying cash a generation before for medication put out perhaps an hours wages to do so. Now it takes a weeks. In the case of some of the elderly and others with serious illness, it might take two months income to provide one months medication. Because of money, we got better medicine, but better medicine takes more money. It fuels itself.
So now we have a problem and no one will like the solution.
1) End medical progress. Accept that this is all we can afford, and leave it at that.
2) Continue as we are, and accept a two or more tiered health care system. The best techniques and medications for the wealthy and powerful. A mediocre system, basically frozen where it is now for the masses, and perhaps no health care for the destitute.
3) Government involvement. This can take the form of goverment providing health care or become the primary insurer. Either have disadvantages, but I think it will come down to this option.
Why?
Option 1- End medical progress. It could be forced I suppose, but telling people that the end of medical research is a good thing is going to be a hard sell.
Option 2- Picture this. A three tiered health care system. Lets call it Gold, Silver, and Bronze coverage, although in reality it may be more subtle. We certainly are down this path at least a bit now.
You- "My son is sick, I think he's dying".
Doc-"Sorry, but he has Condition X. Nothing we can do."
You-"But my boss has a son with the same thing. He is doing much better"
Doc-"Yes, but his treatment requires expensive therapy and medication, you do not have the resources to pay for it. He does."
You- "But wait, tens of thousands of kids have this, you mean they die if they arent from wealth?"
Doc- At this point, the doc goes into a long explanation into the "system" and that they can do something, which is ease his pain while he dies.
Now you either say OK that makes sense, or you are madder than hell. I bet it is the second.
So that leaves option three, unless someone can come up with something better and glib statements about how great we are here in america doesnt cut it.
Will govt being involved in medicine be all good? NO. It will create a huge bureaucracy running medicine for politics. I cringe at that thought. Somehow, politics would have to be kept out of what would be a political bureaucracy, and I don't know if american style govt can do that.
The alternative is that health care gets too expensive, and eventually you will lose coverage. Employeers are right now, not in the future trying to figure out how to ditch health insurance. You can bet on it. You will suddenly become a convert for "socialized medicine" when that day happens.
I mean is it really your peers sitting there? Case I was on only 2 had full time jobs and all seemed a little short or a six pack. I have no idea how they decide complex medical malpractice or patent cases. (yes I do.. emotion wins which is unfortunate and big money) One thing I think we could take from our european and Japanese friends is the idea of professional jurors..Three judges who specialize on that field decide the case. Do these things would make america business/medicine/courts a better place. IMHO.
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