Why we must Occupy Healthcare

I would caution you on the use of the World Health Organization numbers.  All things being equal they are not.  France for example doesn’t count a birth as a live birth unless the baby lives past 7 days and is born after 32 weeks.  Here in the US live births are any baby that takes a breath.  That does seem to make a significant difference in the numbers, and why a baby born before 32 weeks at least has a chance here.  

Additionally, the WHO does not take into account the number of deaths related to car accidents or violent deaths as part of their numbers.  Remove these issues and the US mortality rate looks much closer to the top of the list.  

That being said, I do not disagree that the system does not function as well as it should.  We are spending more than should compared to the rest of the world.  But how much of their health is subsidized by us.  We as taxpayers subsidize the development of drugs, especially orphan, who went sent out to other countries are only allowed to charge up to a certain rate.  Here there is no limit.  So now only are we taxed for the drugs on the development, we are then expected to pay a higher amount on the back end.

Additionally, much of these costs have been steadily increasing due to careless abandonment in ordering tests and procedures.  Heck, until recently American consumers had no thought nor care as to what their procedures cost, their insurance paid for it providing that they paid their copay.

The PPACA did nothing to address the problems with access or affordability. Instead it increased the bureacracy and the red tape in a system that is more high regulated than most others in this country,  And as for those other countries health care systems, most are going broke and unable to further sustain themselves without massive cuts.  That is why breast cancer is rarely treated in Great Britain.  

The collusion of both the insurance companies and the government have led to the increase in prices without the quality to balance.  That is why I doubt that the government will have the answers to the health care crises looming in our future

thank you for a well articulated clarion call. we need to be very clear and educate the public (and perhaps the nabobs and politicos of washington) that “obamacare” is health insurance reform, not redefinition of healthcare delivery. reimbursement predicated on a specific service rendered must be supplanted by reimbursement based on maintaining health of population served. the microeconomic problems of moral paradox, unequal knowledge of costs/pricing (information asymmetry) and principal agent issues must be overcome.

Food for thought. Is it fair to applaud politicians and give them special privileges in life because they accomplish the feat of increasing the number of people who have health “INSURANCE” or “COVERAGE” but make things worse overall? What if their actions result in FEWER people having actual access to genuine care and services? In other words, can you conceive of a scenario where 99.9% of Americans have some card or piece of paper that identifies them as “having coverage”, but then when it comes time to make an appointment, they get put on a waiting list? Think about it.

If you mix religion and politics, you get politics. If you mix science and politics, you get politics. See where I’m going with this? There are always things that need fixing in any endeavor. Look at MediCare and MedicAid; there are billions being wasted from fraud and abuse. Isn’t it something like $70 Billlion USD per year. Comprehensive programs and measures too often end up being giant compromises that we can’t get rid of or change for the better. As far as the statistics cited here, keep in mind, we have an obesity problem, a gang violence problem, a narcotics problem, wounded vets returning from war, etcetera, all of which impact the national health status. If the proposal is to legislate this system into a medical Nirvana, I don’t think that is going to bring about anything worthwhile, but will just create another Czardom that will be nearly impossible to correct.

As a healthcare provider in the oncology field, you’ll get no pushback in your message to “Occupy Healthcare”, but your reasoning why is much different than what I experience every day in the trenches of one of the nations busiest cancer centers.  I see 100′s of patients a year that flee failed healthcare systems around the world to come here to get the high quality treatment they both desire and need.  WHO reports can formulate their ratings on whatever metric they feel is indicative of “quality” or “effective”, but my patients provide a more telling story of socialist health care systems that lack both quality and availability. 

Unfortunately, the statistics don’t lie on mortality rates, but my guess is that the US system does a much more effective job dealing with a society that has increasingly become sedentary in nature and finds itself gorging on high calorie, low nutrient diets resulting in obesity and other complications.  Some poorer nations fortunately or unfortunately, however you look at it, are forced to make their livelihoods through physical labors and have less availability to fast processed foods. 

My “Occupy Healthcare” message is focused more on addressing the real issue with healthcare: skyrocketing costs.  The recent “Oblablah Healthcare” so called reform included many unknown components, most of which do nothing to decrease costs, but actually create more bureaucracy and higher costs.  There are essentially two major components driving cost increases for my business: uncontrolled litigation and non-US citizens draining our resources.  We spend 2X expense on diagnostic imaging for patients as a result of litigation fears and governmental requirements.  In addition, we deal with a significant illegal immigrant population that pay zero and drive the cost of care up for those with insurance.  And if you really think insurance is a requirement to get care, think again.  The % of patients without insurance that we treat increaes every year, many (who are actually US citizens) have the means to obtain insurance, but choose not to.  Guess why? The cost is too high! 

We agree that change is needed on the US healthcare front, but don’t let the WHO develop our roadmap on how to get there.  Look around and ask those of us fighting the battle every day.   We (as well as you) know what needs to be done, we just need non-Washington based bureaucrats with hidden agendas to step aside and allow the change to occur that will address the real issue: cost. 

Occupy Healthcare? Why not? If anyone should begin to Occupy Healthcare, it should be the likes of a Wal-Mart. It’s a very sad commentary when the existing health care establishment can’t figured out a way to make primary care affordable and accessible to average consumers. Why should we be surprised if someone outside the traditional health care system, someone like a Wal-Mart, comes in and does it for them. In recent years, we saw many big box pharmacies introduce $4 generic drug programs in a very successful way. That move alone shook the traditional foundations of Big Pharma. How did they do it? It’s because Wal-Mart has the clout to name their own prices for any products, including prescription drugs, that they buy for their stores. Their $4 generic program became the consumers dream and the health care establishments nightmare! However, it seems like Wal-Mart might have a much bigger appetite. Not only do they want to dictate prescription drug prices, they want to take over the entire primary health care market. Oh, by the way, I assume they will be welcoming Medicare patients. Unlike the whining private practice primary care docs that are constantly complaining that Medicare doesn’t pay enough. Guess what doc? Wal-Mart is going to solve your senior citizen problem! My guess, Wal-Mart also has a solution for your entire primary care practice! Your patient base is about to vote with their feet!