I was passed an email that was basically trashing Hillary and Hillary’s proposed health care plan in particular. Frankly, I have not studied or read enough about her plan to really comment on it. And normally, I just let emails like this pass, but for some reason I felt compelled to respond to that one. Below is my response:
I’ve been thinking about this a little. One the issues with any health care plan is triage. Basically, there are limited medical resources to go around no matter what the system. So the question becomes how do we distribute those limited resources and who makes that decision.
Route 1:
This method would be by finances, which is basically in effect today. If you got the money, you got the care. Obviously this favors the wealthy over the poor and increasing the middle class
Route 2:
Another method, also in effect today, is the insurance companies get to decide what level of care and what services you will get unless you are willing to try to go Route 1. My personal problem with this is that I have a strong belief that health care should not be driven by profit motives. And yes I understand that humans are driven by the chance to better themselves financially, but all too often, IMHO, this profit motive mutates to greed. Look at the obscene prices the pharmaceutical companies are getting away with now days
Route 3:
Would be allowing government to triage medical care. Having worked for 2 state governments, and dealt with the Federal government both professionally and as a citizen, I am aware of the problems there. All too often it becomes bureaucratic and it gets locked into unbendable rules.
Route 4:
I don’t know, but there has got to be a better answer than allowing health care to be fully available to wealthy, rationed or non existent to the working poor, triaged by greedy insurance companies to the middle class, and triaged to the non-working poor and elderly by bureaucrats
All I know is that the system today is broken, and needs fixing. God bless anyone trying to make a difference in this area that will get it away from greedy corporations.
I agree with the above comments. I have noticed with my recent diagnosis of diabetes that we do not really have a health care program as much as a sick care program. My company would only pay 50% of the education classes that the Doctor recommended, but they will pay 80% of medical expenses.
Stats show a correlation between the number of issues related to the disease and education. Seems to make sense to me that education would be preferable to paying for meds and other problems for the rest of the persons life.
Anything you subsidize, you will have more of…
Of course they would rather treat you with drugs, because more than likely you will be on them the rest of your life. Win, win situation for the doctor and the drug companies. Rather than educate you on excersise, diet and restraint.