Healthcare USA

As our congress once again wrestles with an attempt to create a health care system that covers Americans without excluding many and a reasonable cost. Despite it’s best attempts, Obamacare simply is falling short, particularly in means of costs, but as many Republicans are discovering, meeting the presidents objectives is not only hard, it will take a level of sacrifice that our medical community is simply not willing to bear.

As shown by a PBS survey a few years back ( ) the US is much higher than many, many countries that are able to provide comparable care for their citizens. The problem is very simple. So many lobbying groups for the industry give vast amounts to congress on both sides of the aisle in order to keep their numbers, and ultimately their profits up, up, up.

There are many explanations for “why”. While the main one is the aforementioned reason issues like Medicare & the Veterans Administration being allowed to negotiate with drug makers for more reasonable prices. Consolidation of facilities offering specialized services like CT & MRI scans as well as smaller surgical centers could drastically cut costs along with similar consolidations. And frankly, at a time when most hospitals operated at a non-profit, costs were much more reasonable; not to eliminate the lucrative practices, but to offer services to lower middle class and lower class patients that needed the services without all the frills.

Frankly, I for one would not like to see government health care, but we are fast approaching a time when this may be our only option. The industry has proven again and again they are unable to regulate themselves and the same goes for those selling medical insurance. And, of course is being exacerbated by a growing older population that requires more health care than our grandparents required or expected.

There are a few steps that could help. Making Medicare available at age 50 and giving Medicare vast authority to negotiate prices and services is possible. Requiring every doctor, as a condition of their medical license to see and treat up to 50% of all medicate patients with very stiff penalties for any that refuse. Government funding of the education of doctors and specialists to include picking up all education costs in direct exchange for a doctor owing the government “x” number of years of service with the opportunity to extend their training for added years. Much stiffer penalties for any providers of medicine, medical practice, services, etc. that refuse to honor their obligation up to and include the authority to strip them of their licenses and certifications if they violate the rules.

The idea that the medical community can police themselves was disproven years and years ago and needs to be strongly regulated by independent boards with the authority to punish those that break the rules. Of course there must be exceptions, but these should be few, far between, and require serious and verifiable evidence and not just a bunch of “opinions” by fellow doctors that expect to be shown the same kind of rubber stamp approvals.

All of this works, but only when we get back to more stringent regulations that require each person to practice good behavior in keeping up their own health with heavy doses of exercise, good eating habits, etc. And this leads to stronger requirements on foods, ingredients, etc. that go a long way toward eliminating obesity and other food related illnesses.

Like any machine, our country is only as strong as it’s weakest links and good health is one of the maximums to keeping the country strong. If the president wants to make American great again, get down to the basics and let’s solve them one at a time.