Real Healthcare Reform Requires Changing Our Attitudes
The
Affordable Care Act is not healthcare reform. It is a law requiring everybody
to have health insurance, but it does not change in any way the way healthcare
is delivered or address the causes of prohibitively expensive health insurance.
True reform of our nation’s health industry requires a change in the way we
view healthcare.
Americans
have come to expect too much from the healthcare system. Doctors routinely
prescribe medication that is not necessary because of the influence of
pharmaceutical companies. Medical professionals order unnecessary diagnostic
tests, sometimes extremely invasive procedures, to humor patients or to avoid
any possibility of a malpractice lawsuit for failing to diagnose a condition
even if there is only an infinitesimal probability the condition exists.
Lawyers send clients to physicians that recommend physical therapy, diagnostic
tests, and even surgery to inflate damages to pursue an insurance claim. Doctors acquiesce when patients request
expensive diagnostic tests, medications or therapy. And the general public
expects a standard of care that is beyond basic – extreme measures to keep
people alive at the expense of quality of life.
To
cure the ills of the system, it would be necessary to go back to basics.
Physicians also need to regulate themselves better. From my own experience I’ve
found that good doctors will decline to criticize bad doctors. A former
physician recommended that I undergo three invasive diagnostic tests for what
are commonly known premenopausal symptoms as well as a follow up Pap test. The
doctor I saw for a 2nd opinion said in reading the results of the
initial test, advised me there was no need for the follow up Pap as there was a
100% chance I did NOT have cervical cancer. Additionally, I was advised that I
did not need any of the recommended tests.
I cannot believe this is unusual practice.
Furthermore,
I have worked in casualty insurance claims for 30 years and have seen routine
abuses of the healthcare system as leverage to increase special damages to
elevate the value of a liability claim. People treat for injuries they don’t
have. They treat for extended periods of time beyond what is medically
reasonable. They have procedures that are unnecessary.
And
while this will no doubt be an unpopular view, it is my opinion that health
insurance should not have to pay for fertility treatments and should not be
responsible to pay for the extreme measures that are taken to preserve the
lives of extremely premature babies. The costs involved total millions and most
of these premature infants have multiple lifelong health problems. We, the
general public, should not have to subsidize these costs. Infant mortality has
been a fact of life since the dawn of man and only the fittest should survive –
those that do not require extreme measures. It takes away resources from those
who can enjoy a quality of life if they have access to limited resources.
Finally,
Congress should enact legislation that prevents patients from suing for medical
malpractice unless there is clear and convincing evidence of gross negligence –
not ordinary negligence. Recall that just 150 years ago most casualties of the
American Civil War died from infection and not the initial injury from battle.
Before the discovery of Penicillin people would die from infection after being
pricked by the thorn of a rose. Today we expect too much. Doctors are human.
Expectations are too high. Physicians and hospitals should not be guarantors of
recovery. Reasonable care should be the acceptable standard. And, if you choose
to use fertility drugs and give birth to 7 children and 3 die – look in the
mirror - don’t blame your doctor.
We are really grateful for your blog post. You will find a lot of approaches after visiting your post. Great work. Natural Health Care Products USA
ReplyDeleteprix chirurgie esthetique
ReplyDeleteSe refaire la poitrine en Tunisie
ReplyDeletePrix augmentation mammaire Tunisie
Lipofilling seins Tunisie prix
Reconstruction mammaire Tunisie prix
Séjour médical Tunisie
Avis chirurgie mammaire Tunisie
bypass gastrique prix
ReplyDeleteChirurgie silhouette prix
ReplyDeleteI am profoundly dazzled with you itemizing everything. Data is rich and information around there is bountiful. Much obliged to you for sharing astonishing news like our own. health care pricing Miami
ReplyDeletelifting visage Tunisie
ReplyDeletelipofilling fesses Tunisie
ReplyDeleteAugmentation mammaire Tunisie
lifting seins Tunisie
Abdominoplastie Tunisie
liposuccion Tunisie
greffe cheveux Tunisie
lifting visage Tunisie
Bypass Tunisie
sleeve Tunisie
Ballon gastrique Tunisie
Clinique esthetique
ReplyDeleteLipofilling fessier Tunisie
Chirurgie esthétique Tunisie
Chirurgien esthétique Tunisie
Rhinoplastie Tunisie
Liposuccion Tunisie
BBL Tunisie
Abdominoplastie Tunisie
Liposuccion ventre Tunisie
Liposuccion complète Tunisie