Posted on 10/17/2004 2:17:55 PM PDT by Jim Wilson 1
There is no getting around it in my opinion. The Republican position on health care is a weak one. I recommend that the president steer clear of making statements on the issue and seriously consider pulling his ads on it. Although an alternative to a government run health care system (as envisioned by the Democrats) would be desirable, just letting the current situation fester with virtually no government regulation is getting us nowhere fast. In her study of the health care industry, Hillary Clinton refused to address the issue of doctor greed, probably because many liberal doctors are among her most ardent supporters and friends. She placed all the blame for rising health care costs on hospitals, drug companies, and the insurance industry. President Bush, in contrast, has singled out trial lawyers and fraudulent malpractice suits as his personal whipping boy. Neither of these views, I believe, is honestly addressing the basic problem we are facing.
Doctors should not be in it for the money. They should be drawn from idealistic stock who want to help people, just as was envisioned by Hippocrates. It has gotten so bad these days that catastrophic health issues are no longer the major concern. You can't even have a minor procedure done without having to go back two or three times, paying through the nose for each visit until the doctor has made enough off of you to finally fix the problem. These guys have gotten to be no better than your average cynical auto mechanic who is out to nail your butt anytime you face the misfortune of a broken down vehicle that you are unable or unwilling to fix yourself. True, today's doctors simply reflect the state of our society, in general, where in the name of the unregulated free market, anything goes. As such, I've never been a big fan of businessmen or business interests for this very reason. The cost of living keeps going up and up largely because of this attitude that you should try to get the most for your goods or services regardless of what is truly a fair price. No doubt there are dozens of people on this forum who will argue the position that the marketplace alone should be allowed to determine the price of things, but this is precisely how we got into the fix we are in with regard to the skyrocketing cost of health care, and health care must be seen as more important, too important a commodity to be dealt with in the same manner as most everything else.
The American Medical Association limits the number of new doctors that are graduated each year and controls the mindset of those who are admitted to medical schools. Trust me, idealists who want to help their fellow man are discouraged in favor of those with comfortably bourgeois attitudes. In a society where money equals power, it was decided long ago that the more money the medical industry brings into its coffers, the better for all concerned. Who pays for this "pragmatic perspective?" Why, the American consumer, that's who. I think the health care industry absolutely MUST BE SEEN as a critical industry where government regulation of pricing, at the very least, is demanded. Dishonest doctors who are manipulating their patients for material gain rather than curing them as quickly as possible for the lowest possible price should be fined or have their licenses pulled. There is no need to sue everyone in sight for malpractice. Just get rid of the bad apples to begin with by taking the profit out of the game.
;-D
Dr.Free Market, he didn't say that you are personally greedy or corrupt. He just said that there are greedy and/or corrupt doctors in the system and that they are part of the problem. I think the posting oversimplifies, but makes a valid point.
The quality of health care in America is excellent, but the cost is excessive. I think that the problem with access to health care is multifacited. Greedy insurence companies are so obsessed with profits, they try to intimidate doctors into not fulfilling their responsibiilities. Unethical trial lawyers are so consumed with shaking down excessive fees and publicity, they drive up the cost of insurance and practicing medicine to the point where dedicated doctors have to close shop. The food processing industry so loads foods with chemicals and preservatives that no one gets the nutritional value from food that previous generations did, making more people unhealthy and requiring medical care of some sort.
Every one of these factors feeds off of each other, and the public is paying the price.
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