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As we enter the final two months of this election cycle, health care reform is starting to get the attention it deserves. My next four blogs will discuss "Healing the Health Care System." I have been invited to be part of Senator Barack Obama's health care advisory team (though with two good presidential candidates, I would be honored to council both). I do NOT speak for his campaign though, and the ideas and proposals in these columns are my personal opinions. This blog will supply the opportunity to debate these issues, so we can develop new ideas to present to our elected officials as health care reform moves along. I will note that I am impressed with those leading Senator Obama's team. I am especially impressed that he picked people who are not on the pharmaceutical or health insurance payroll. Rather, these people seek to be and are highly effective patient advocates—and I have great respect for what their actions have shown them to be.
Healing the Health Care System—Part 1
One of the things that drew me to medicine was the importance of combining both the art and the science of medicine. In the approximately three decades since then, most physicians have lost faith in their own ability to diagnose by listening to and examining the patient, and they've seen the average time allotted them per patient visit drop to around 4-7 minutes. Many have also forgotten about "bedside manner" and the ability of words to both harm and heal (to tell someone their condition is hopeless is both a lie and in the olden days was called "putting a curse on someone"). We now think we are relying on science (called "evidence based medicine"), ignoring that science itself is telling us that it has been hijacked by drug company money and is no longer reliable.
More and more research shows that studies paid for by drug companies (which nowadays are most drug studies) are simply not reliable. Yet, this is what most of medicine is now based on. The cost? Having one of the most expensive health care systems in the world, over 200,000 US deaths from medications yearly, and one of the least effective health care systems on the planet.
Understanding what drives medical information (and misinformation) can help you make informed decisions—and could save your life. There is a time for prescription medication and a time for natural therapies. This is an important area. So over the next four blog posts, we will include a special series that will help you understand our health care system, how to use it—and how to fix it. For the full discussion on part 1 of this series, read Healing the Health Care System—Part 1.
In addition, having looked at both candidates health care platforms, I find myself being impressed with Senator Obama's plan but find Senator McCain's to be a bit thin on details. Also, though he is well meaning, I think that some of his plans will take us in the wrong direction.
I would start by noting MY opinion on 2 health care issues:
1. It is critical for people to have the right to have access to safe and effective natural remedies, and to practitioners who apply these science backed therapies. I am not recommending that these natural treatments be covered by whatever payer system we have though (unless the insurers choose to because they find a treatment to be safer, more effective and much less expensive—as many natural options are). I am simply proposing that drug companies and the current medical establishment not be able to use their financial and political clout to eliminate all competition.
2. It is important that, with the exception of highly effective preventive tests and treatments, patients be responsible for a percentage of their health bills (without deductibles). This can be offset by a yearly credit, with any unused credit being added to the person's retirement fund or carried forward. This would apply a needed check on health care costs, as people would have a motivation to discuss whether a treatment is worth the cost with their physician. If this does not occur, we can be sure to have de facto rationing as occurs currently in other country's systems.
Each week, I will also compare and contrast the two presidential candidates approach to solving different health care problems. For starters though, I invite you to read an excellent article that was published in The Wall Street Journal, Why Obama's Health Plan Is Better.
