Dr.Sardelis pointed out some of the problems with the provision of health care as it is being administered. This is no surprise to those who seriously agree with the goal of President Obama to provide health care for all in the U.S.
Much more needs to be done to provide quality, affordable cost, and access to all.
First, we need to accept that such a goal is a moral imperative.
Unfortunately, that has not yet been accepted universally in this country. In the richest country in the world, we have not yet accepted this basic premise which has prompted so many other countries, all of which spend a much lower percentage of their riches, their gross domestic product, in the implementation of universal coverage.
To our detriment, until we understand that it would greatly benefit us all to start with that moral imperative, we cannot truly succeed.
Second to that notion, we must stop using the derogatory term that it is socialized medicine and we cannot for some reason get past that untruth.
The most successful systems are based on payment to private doctors for their services.
The most abominable feature of our system is that we have private insurers who regard this as a private profit making business which yields huge profits to investors and unbelievable salaries to executives.
Some of the best systems even have insurers paying only for medical services. These companies accept the fact that prices will be consistent. The private insurance companies pay for the care provided, compete to get a share of the market, and all pay fees that are fair for each service.
Private insurance companies can make a profit providing coverage for other needs, such as fire, auto, etc. but are not permitted to make a profit on human misery. And, surprisingly, it is a job creator.
Administrative costs are much lower because record keeping and billing, as well as patient records, are efficiently managed.
Can you believe that in other countries, everyone has a little card, like a credit card, that can be read by a machine which tells your doctor about your health, your medications, your operations and other treatments? Now that is technology! No more filling out forms every time you need care.
Insurance companies elsewhere don’t waste money on advertising, and don’t have to maintain huge staffs to deny coverage.
I highly recommend a very readable book by T.R. Reid called “The Healing of America”. to those who want to learn what other countries have done and are doing that really works!
And please accept that the U.S. can really learn something from other countries. We don’t have to continue to think that we are so “exceptional” that we do everything better than anybody else.
We could even entertain the notion that the human costs of our neglect are tremendous. Many thousands still die in this country because millions are not yet insured.
Many will spend too much of their incomes for health care. And try to imagine a country where we don’t live in anxiety about whether illnesses are discovered early on, before they get worse and more expensive to treat.
And, if there is any interest in more truthful information without emotional or political undertones, there are many sources.
Esther Confino
New Hyde Park
