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Steve Myers
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Sat Jun 30, 2007 1:17 pm |
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FlintWorker67
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| That guys doesn't know jack! |
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City of Flint Employee Who is pissed off and tired of the decline of our City! |
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Sat Jun 30, 2007 4:05 pm |
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Steve Myers
Site Admin
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Sat Jun 30, 2007 7:05 pm |
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thehc
F L I N T O I D
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Mon Jul 09, 2007 2:31 pm |
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johnnyquest
F L I N T O I D
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I saw "SICKO" in Chicago last week and I felt that while it was one sided it made some interesting points. One was that even though we live in a democracy, we refuse to vote. Two, even though we have freedom of speech, we refuse to speak. Three, the indebtedness of the common man makes him afraid of change jobs for lack of health care coverage. And lastly, the fear perpetuated by our government involvement in terror hunting, keeps us from moving forward in ways that would help the common citizen (ie. money wasted).
Is there a place for insurance in health care? Is the clearing house effect
of private insurance worth the overhead? Can new methods, technologies, drugs, and treatments be discovered without a profit motive? Is the tax benefit given to large corporations worth the forty million who have no insurance?
I read an article recently in the Wall Street Journal about some doctors who are leaving the system and forming clinics on a pay for service basis (cash only). These doctors were sacrificing income, but getting far more enjoyment from practicing medicine (Capitalism). This tells me that the citizen and the practitioner have an opportunity to find common ground to the exclusion of the preditors in the insurance industry (The Collective). Money saved from the middle man goes to one or the other, usually benefitting both. Money going to the "collective" serves special interests (rich CEO's). For those who are very sick that is not an answer.
And what about the proliferation of cheap clinics in Walmart stores manned by nurse practitioners who can dispense medicine quickly and cheaply? The barriers to entry in the medical profession artificially keeps the supply of health workers low. The AMA is a defacto union and as such will most likely price itself out of business. Soon Microsoft (or others) will be setting up testing stations in malls where numerous common tests will be performed for a small fee. A physical diagnosis will spit out of a computer that will actually be more accurate that most performed by humans. With the proliferation of robotic surgery many surgeons will become technicians as well. These things are as inevitable as the importation of Chinese autos.
The price of malpractice insurance is being driven by awards far beyond what is necessary. The Congress can legislate tort reform and take this onerous load off the physicians back. I do not think "SICKO" addressed that issue, and it certainly adds to the cost of care.
It may cost billions to develop new medicines. Today this search is being driven almost solely by a profit motive. Hence we have "viagra" but not cures for Huntington's. The profit motive does drive greatness. This area may be a place for more government research. Alas, there has to be a government.
The health statistics cited in "SICKO" certainly lay bare any claims that our health system is a good one. The film is a call for democracy (yes, the same thing we call for in Iraq) to do it's job. The insurance industry is collectivism. Collectivism is Communisn with a different name. Many complain that universal health care is Socialism. We have a Socialist system now, where the many provide for the few, with very costly overhead. With the coming elections let up hope that the common man will at last be heard, thanks to one uncommon common man, Micheal Moore. For while we may not agree with his solutions, he has brought some attention to the problems. Capitalism will solve these problems if we help our country work on them. |
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Mon Jul 09, 2007 4:19 pm |
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thehc
F L I N T O I D
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Hey Johnnyquest,
You make some excellent points as well as ask some interesting questions. I share your opinion that while I may not agree with everything Michael Moore has done in the past, I give him kudos for bringing this issue to light. Now if we can only get the populace to be as interested in fixing our heath care system as they are in Paris Hilton's life. The hard part in fixing our system is going to be how to phase it in without creating chaos. Heath and Education (Dept. of Labor lists them together) is the single biggest supplier of jobs in the U.S.. If we were to start a Single-Payer plan on par with what Canada has within a year it would do much more damage to the economy than the collapse of manufacturing has done. I've beat my head against the wall trying to find a plan that could work and the best I could find was one proposed by Ben Stein. I outline it for you at my website thehippieconservative.you-know-what, the piece is called "Tax the Rich". It's not perfect, but it is a start. The examples you listed make for interesting thoughts on how the future will look. We have to be careful that we don't destroy what's best about our system as we fix what isn't working. Did you feel I was fair in my assessment of "Sicko"? You seem intelligent and I would be interested in what you thought. |
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http://thehippieconservative.com |
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Mon Jul 09, 2007 5:03 pm |
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