It's not that solutions to complex problems don't exist, instead, embedded interests supporting the status quo are ubiquitous, preventing their implementation. One can see this throughout society as the present social order continues its dis-integration/degradation. One thing is certain, the present American health care system is unsustainable for two main reasons, outrageous costs and overall poor outcomes. It seems the more money spent, the worse the population's health becomes. It is only the highest profit sectors [tech and pharma] of health care that excel in the U.S.. The cure for this terminal system is for each American to take responsibility for their own health/health care. Eliminate almost all of the sick care system and build a true health care system, one that educates people on proper health habits. This would include encouraging the four practices necessary to sustain good health...proper sleep, healthy eating, regular exercise, and some method of spiritual/religious practice [prayer and/or meditation]. Knowing that there will be no government to bail out poor life habits, people will either change by adopting much healthier life habits or succumb to their own poor choices. The benefits to society will be many-fold with a more robust and productive population. Subsidizing poor health habits only benefits the few while it significantly devalues our entire society. Just as we cannot afford to buy every citizen a new luxury SUV, we can no longer afford to buy everybody incredibly expensive medical and surgical treatments because they decided to eat everything not nailed down for the past forty years. This current sick care system has to end one way or another...
related threads: my idea for universal medical care compromise Proposal of "importing cheaper drugs from Canada into the US" They also say there is going to be a huge doctor shortage in the coming years, so the country needs to train more doctors, since it takes 6 to 10 years to train new doctors.
I do want to point out one thing. The statistics are not always completely fair on this, because the ones paying the outrageous costs are not necessarily the same ones having the poor outcomes. The U.S. is a lot less homogenous than other developed countries. Maybe we need a lower cost (and lower quality) version of healthcare for poorer people. That would probably greatly increase overall outcomes and dramatically reduce costs. To do this, some laws and standards of care might need to change though.
Would you want to be a doctor in this health care environment? The corporations have financialized and the government regulated the health care professions to death. Add in ungodly debt from schools that are ripping students to shreds and everything else going on, and you see why many fewer people are willing to do what it takes to earn the necessary degrees and beyond.
Technology has rendered health care unaffordable. THIS is the main problem. The quality of care in most of the system is already horrendously low.
Its no secret that I'm all for a nationalized healthcare system here in the US. But there is always the claim (amongst many others) that doctors won't work for the paltry salaries compared to what is earned in the current system. Why not pay for those qualified to go through med school, but they must work within a nationalized system for an appropriate period (10-15 years) after they've completed their residency.
Do you really want your doctor to be a government employee? What made the American health care system the best in the world for a long, long time was the fact that you had individuals making the decisions, NOT corporations, NOT government. What makes a doctor have outstanding outcomes is if s/he/it? can apply their knowledge AND compassion [something only individuals can do] for each patient. The corporate/government cabal is only interested in mass processing...the first fatality in their process being quality of care.
Nope. Not a doctor. But a patient for 60 years. And some of that was under a nationalized healthcare program. The doctors were as good as I've seen in the US - with both competence and compassion. Doctors working in that system aren't 'government employees'. And their decisions are not made by corporations (as they are in the US) or by governments.
I've always practiced differently than most in many ways. Several decades ago when I started to do this to where people would notice, they would tell me how wonderful they thought I was, so on and so forth, and I would tell them that even though my approach was certainly better than most, 98% of what I did was pre-determined, that is, I had to still within not only the legal limits of practice but much more importantly within the standard of care. Again, what makes doctors really good is their ability to be autonomous [allowing for compassion]...something that hardly exists anymore [and hasn't existed for decades]. Perhaps you believe your doctor is doing this, when they are really doing that. Happens all the time.
