Healthcare Policy, Social Justice and Thugs

The American Thinker ^ | July 23, 2009 | John Dale Dunn MD JD

[Scanian]

Policy Makers say the only way to achieve social justice is to deliver an equal and adequate amount of health care, directed by a well motivated government central plan. No more crude private system, flawed, uneven, and unfair.

I have a day job as a physician. A great job, a wonderful job, better because I do it in the emergency department at a very big army base, so I can thank soldiers and retired soldiers for their service. I also get to teach, and emergency medicine is a great niche for a physician suited to it.

I did my internship at Harlem Hospital in New York, then was a solo general practitioner in a little Nebraska town, followed by a great variety of practice situations in places big and little. I was a student when Medicare started, knew Medicaid in its early years as a ghetto practitioner, ran an HMO in 1980 and 81 as CEO and Medical Director in the early days of managed care, after I finished law school.

My theory or hope (actually, my illusion) was that managed care would reward an effort to provide efficient and effective care. I am an optimistic person, and managed care taught me about pricing and markets for resources -- the basics of economics and insurance. HMO of Baton Rouge went bankrupt in spite of my efforts to make good on my idea that managed care and managing health care costs would be economically viable. No way we could have succeeded without an effective vice president of rationing.

I will admit that since the bankruptcy of HMO of Baton Rouge, I have no interest in being a "manager" and insurance executive, but, like all physicians, my life is being a doctor, like my dad (a general practitioner), my brother (

[raybbr]

This is good.

[Carley]

Dr. Dunn, please thank the troops for us too.

[Vaduz]

Directed by a well motivated government central plan.That’s where the the fear factor starts.

[Perseverando]

Excellent, thoughtful article from a doctor who has been in the trenches for more than 30 years.

[Scanian]

Glad you liked the post.

[neverdem]

Thanks for the ping, even if I missed it.

I agree completely. Catastrophic insurance is the way to go. Everything else is out of pocket.

Thank FDR and his boys and gals for third party insurance for routine medical care. Employers could not increase wages during WWII, so to reward employees or hire new ones the employers started giving benefits in the form of health insurance that were tax deductible for the employers.

You probably know that. It’s more for those who don’t. The rats cause one problem after another.

[GnuHere]

Thx - excellent!