The future for healthcare policy
President Obama was elected with
a mandate to reform current healthcare provision in the USA. Compared with
other developed countries around the world, the current situation is not
sustainable. Because the basic model is "for profit" rather than a
drive to provide "socialized" medical care, every part of the service
costs more to run than the equivalent services in most other countries. Sadly,
more people die in the US than most other developed countries because they
cannot afford good quality medical care.
What are the
problems?
The list of problems is endless. The pharmaceutical industry has been making massive profits for its investors and does not want to stop. The same is true of all the other companies that supply medical devices and equipment. In every major hospital, there are increasing numbers of very expensive machines to look inside your body. There is little evidence that the use of these machines is always useful. The hospitals themselves are usually run for profit and the doctors enjoy a good standard of living. There is a chronic shortage of nursing staff and an increasingly large percentage are now recruited from overseas. Because of the threat of medical malpractice action, most doctors provide defensive care, authorizing tests that are medically unnecessary to make any court action less likely.
The list of problems is endless. The pharmaceutical industry has been making massive profits for its investors and does not want to stop. The same is true of all the other companies that supply medical devices and equipment. In every major hospital, there are increasing numbers of very expensive machines to look inside your body. There is little evidence that the use of these machines is always useful. The hospitals themselves are usually run for profit and the doctors enjoy a good standard of living. There is a chronic shortage of nursing staff and an increasingly large percentage are now recruited from overseas. Because of the threat of medical malpractice action, most doctors provide defensive care, authorizing tests that are medically unnecessary to make any court action less likely.
All this before you get to the
problems of finding a health insurance company that will give you a policy and
not use the small print to leave you with big bills. The premiums for private
health policies have been rocketing up and even the middle class now finds it a
strain to pay the current rates. Everyone reacts in the same way - cutting back
on the scope of the coverage and gambling they will never have to make a claim.
It should not be like this.
The now
The socialized parts of the US system, Medicare and Medicaid, work reasonably well, providing healthcare using taxpayers' funds. The current proposals to control costs and provide a safety net for the estimated 45 million uninsured people will improve the nation's health and save billions of dollars in lost production in US factories and workplaces. While you wait for reform to produce a better medical service, using a site like this gives you the best chance of finding affordable health insurance now. This is a free service giving you access to all the top healthcare insurers. Reform is a wonderful thing when it happens. Until then, you have to deal with the hard real world.
The socialized parts of the US system, Medicare and Medicaid, work reasonably well, providing healthcare using taxpayers' funds. The current proposals to control costs and provide a safety net for the estimated 45 million uninsured people will improve the nation's health and save billions of dollars in lost production in US factories and workplaces. While you wait for reform to produce a better medical service, using a site like this gives you the best chance of finding affordable health insurance now. This is a free service giving you access to all the top healthcare insurers. Reform is a wonderful thing when it happens. Until then, you have to deal with the hard real world.