HELTHКAЯE ЯEFORM (Part 2)

At this point we’ve seen that the drug companies are willing to do their part to make this healthcare reform a reality, but we’ve also seen that their contribution is just not going to be enough. In fact, as much as they’ve promised to help - $50 billion dollars over the next 10 years – it only comes out to about 5% of the total bill. If we’re going to get universal healthcare, if every man, woman, and child in this country is going to be insured, someone else is going to have to step up to the plate. And someone has. The medical industry has opted in for another $150 billion. Way to go, guys!

And let me be the first to point out that it is about time, too. I’ve been in the hospital on several occasions having my knees surgically repaired. And do you know what? They took advantage of the fact that I had messed up my knees lifting weights and playing football and subsequently wanted them to work again in a normal way. The medical folks charged me all sorts of money for surgeons, anesthesiologists, radiologists, various pictures, nurses, facilities… everything but the kitchen sink, I guess. Heck, they even charged me $12.00 for an aspirin. (That is to say, they charged my parents’ insurance carrier, but you get my point.) Because I expected to be healthy – or made so again – the hospital and doctors took me for a ride!

And I know I’m not the only one. My step-son has been in and out of hospitals a number of times. The ONE consistency? They charged us money. All we wanted was for them to make him healthy and happy. He deserves that. We all deserve that. Why should the medical community make bundles of cash over our right to be healthy and happy? I’m sure you’ve experienced it. Ever look at your medical bills? “$600 for defibrillation and a ride to the hospital??!!” you might shout. “All because I had a heart attack? Ridiculous!” I feel your pain, even if the medical community doesn’t. So I’m glad they’re finally being taken to task on this issue. It’s high time they start working for us and our well-being.

I haven’t really heard any specifics on how the medical community and drug manufacturers are going to contribute their $200 billion share of the healthcare reform bill. In fact, I don’t remember hearing that they’re really going to pay anything; there was just talk of foregoing some profits… which I guess is the same thing. It’s all kind of confusing and ambiguous. At any rate, I feel we all should look for ways that the medical community can cut costs and forego profits for the sake of all of us who want nothing more than good medical attention.

First of all I think the hospitals can trim some facilities costs. Let’s start with the rooms – get rid of them. Not all of them, but with the advances in surgical techniques they should get rid of most of the beds and just send more people home after surgery. And reduce the sizes of the emergency rooms. When everyone has health insurance there won’t be as many people going to the emergency room in the middle of the night with stomach cramps or tooth aches. Hospitals should eliminate meals (nobody likes them anyway). And what’s with all the “oxygen” connections in the hospitals? There’s plenty of oxygen in the air already. And to fill all of the rooms and spaces in the hospitals that will be emptied, I say we rent them out as doctors’ offices. It’s silly for doctors to be spread out all over the city: put them all in one building.

And speaking of doctors, I think this is where the medical community can do the most significant and needed trimming of all. Have you ever seen what a doctor makes per year? It’s quite a lot I can tell you. These guys are driving Porsches and luxury cars, taking exotic vacations, and living in the proverbial “mansion on the hill.” Why should they get all that money when the rest of us don’t? What makes them so special that they should get paid so much more than the rest of us? Do you know that an average doctor makes around 10 times as much as an excellent mechanic? For what? Let’s take a little look at the two similar professions with very different compensation scales.

Professional Description:

Mechanic – works with complex systems to repair, maintain, and improve performance.
Doctor - works with complex systems to repair, maintain, and improve performance.
Mechanic – makes a mistake and you have to find a ride to work.
Doctor – makes a mistake and you get a ride to the morgue.

Education:

Doctor – valedictorian in high school, 4.0 GPA, student government, and various social organizations.
Mechanic – showed up for enough classes to graduate… possibly.
Doctor – 7 to 10 years of undergraduate and medical school and completion of a doctoral thesis, all to answer his calling to be a healer.
Mechanic – called a technical institute whose commercial aired during Jerry Springer.

Professional Training:

Doctor – 2 to 6 years of residency; low pay, 36-hour shifts, 120+ hours per week.
Mechanic – 40 hours per week at the shop, beer and football at Jeb’s (alignment guy) on Saturdays.

Lifestyle:

Doctor – personal time spent reading periodicals like the Journal of the American Medical Association, and attending medical seminars all over the country.
Mechanic – personal time spent drinking beer and watching Pinks on the Speed Channel.
Doctor – depression brought on by daily life-or-death decisions results in suicide rate 2x that of the general population.
Mechanic - if the heart attack at the bowling alley is non-fatal, can expect to die of natural causes (lung cancer) around 66 years of age.

I really don’t see that big a difference here. Mechanics charge you an arm and a leg just so you don’t have to use yours. Doctors charge you an arm and a leg just to fix yours. But doctors get paid so much more. I guess we’re left to believe that the difference in pay is justified as it is merely a reflection of the differences in a lifetime of choices and sacrifices doctors have made, as well as the critical importance the work they do has in our lives. What kind of a system of economics is that??!! It sounds almost like it is based upon value. Values – how does one put values into a socialist healthcare system?