Post by Luke on Nov 13, 2013 0:08:38 GMT -8
"The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) depends on healthy and wealthier individuals paying premiums in order to subsidize the plans that cover the sick and the poor. Without those healthy and wealthier individuals paying for coverage they won't use very often, the ACA can't afford itself."
news.yahoo.com/can-obama-fix-obamacare-012751271.html
The Idea behind the ACA is really very noble, and essential to a nation of our size. However, what the ACA IS, is not what the Idea is.
Here is what Universal Healthcare means: Each and Every citizen is entitled to the healthcare they need to lead a full life, and to ensure that any conditions that do avail them are taken care of in the most Effective means to cure them.
Here is what the ACA says, and means: Everyone now has to pay for health coverage they may not need, to ensure the already dysfunctional system remains in its position, and does not suffer any crippling blows.
The current healthcare system we have is not driven to the Benefit of society, but is simply another Business, out to make money. In order to "fix" the ACA, that standard MUST change. Pharmaceutical companies, surgical technology companies, major hospital groups(Kaiser Permanente for example) and so on, ALL need to become non-profit. That is the only way the system can Truly become functional, is if the profit from Healthcare is taken out of the equation, and only the best interests of the Patient are put on the board.
I have personally lost both of my grandfathers to medical malpractice, and in Both cases, the best interest of the Patient wasn't put on the board. One doctor simply wanted to try something new, against my grandfather's wishes(Grandfather had Prostate cancer and said "cut it out" when diagnosed); the "new" idea failed, the cancer spread, and my grandfather died. A second was too afraid of causing a malpractice suit when my grandfather(Grandfather had a history of strokes, and had a hip replacement 10 years prior) came to him asking to have his hip rebuilt so his stress level could stabilize, the doctor refused, and my grandfathers body gradually ran out of steam due to the trauma of a simple fall in the bathroom.
Under a Universal Healthcare system, in Both cases, my grandfathers would have Survived; the first wouldn't have ignored my grandfather's orders, and told him "his" approach was better; the second wouldn't have refused because there was a risk of death, he would have realized my grandfathers condition would eventually be fatal if left untreated.
I have my own story of medical incompetence as well. When I was 14 I was admitted to the hospital from school with severe breathing difficulty; first diagnosis: Asthma, then Allergies. I was put on Claritin D for 3 months, with no effect, and I finally demanded more tests. A chest x-ray showed abnormal fluid build up in my lungs, and large, nebulous masses in both lungs. A lung biopsy confirmed it was a simple Fungal infection, one that 3 months on Claritin D had grown unbelievably large, and spread throughout all 5 lobes. 2 weeks of anti-fungal medications, and the masses were all but Gone from my lungs. I spent nearly 4 MONTHS choking for every breath because some doctor was worried about spending the money needed to get me the tests to properly diagnose my condition.
All three examples above are Exactly the sort of consequences that result from a Profit driven healthcare industry; and the only way to prevent them is to make healthcare non-profit.
Pills frequently cost 1-10c to make, and sell for several dollars each, syringe and intravenous delivered drugs cost even less, to say Nothing of the surgical procedures that save lives every day, but costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to perform, the vast Majority of which is liability insurance for the doctors and nurses.
Cutting the profit out of Healthcare is easy and essential, because in this day and age, where high technology is constantly expanding, and new innovations reach the ER and OR, the ones who benefit Most from them are more often than not denied because of Financial reasons alone. And that is a direct violation of the Hippocratic Oath.
news.yahoo.com/can-obama-fix-obamacare-012751271.html
The Idea behind the ACA is really very noble, and essential to a nation of our size. However, what the ACA IS, is not what the Idea is.
Here is what Universal Healthcare means: Each and Every citizen is entitled to the healthcare they need to lead a full life, and to ensure that any conditions that do avail them are taken care of in the most Effective means to cure them.
Here is what the ACA says, and means: Everyone now has to pay for health coverage they may not need, to ensure the already dysfunctional system remains in its position, and does not suffer any crippling blows.
The current healthcare system we have is not driven to the Benefit of society, but is simply another Business, out to make money. In order to "fix" the ACA, that standard MUST change. Pharmaceutical companies, surgical technology companies, major hospital groups(Kaiser Permanente for example) and so on, ALL need to become non-profit. That is the only way the system can Truly become functional, is if the profit from Healthcare is taken out of the equation, and only the best interests of the Patient are put on the board.
I have personally lost both of my grandfathers to medical malpractice, and in Both cases, the best interest of the Patient wasn't put on the board. One doctor simply wanted to try something new, against my grandfather's wishes(Grandfather had Prostate cancer and said "cut it out" when diagnosed); the "new" idea failed, the cancer spread, and my grandfather died. A second was too afraid of causing a malpractice suit when my grandfather(Grandfather had a history of strokes, and had a hip replacement 10 years prior) came to him asking to have his hip rebuilt so his stress level could stabilize, the doctor refused, and my grandfathers body gradually ran out of steam due to the trauma of a simple fall in the bathroom.
Under a Universal Healthcare system, in Both cases, my grandfathers would have Survived; the first wouldn't have ignored my grandfather's orders, and told him "his" approach was better; the second wouldn't have refused because there was a risk of death, he would have realized my grandfathers condition would eventually be fatal if left untreated.
I have my own story of medical incompetence as well. When I was 14 I was admitted to the hospital from school with severe breathing difficulty; first diagnosis: Asthma, then Allergies. I was put on Claritin D for 3 months, with no effect, and I finally demanded more tests. A chest x-ray showed abnormal fluid build up in my lungs, and large, nebulous masses in both lungs. A lung biopsy confirmed it was a simple Fungal infection, one that 3 months on Claritin D had grown unbelievably large, and spread throughout all 5 lobes. 2 weeks of anti-fungal medications, and the masses were all but Gone from my lungs. I spent nearly 4 MONTHS choking for every breath because some doctor was worried about spending the money needed to get me the tests to properly diagnose my condition.
All three examples above are Exactly the sort of consequences that result from a Profit driven healthcare industry; and the only way to prevent them is to make healthcare non-profit.
Pills frequently cost 1-10c to make, and sell for several dollars each, syringe and intravenous delivered drugs cost even less, to say Nothing of the surgical procedures that save lives every day, but costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to perform, the vast Majority of which is liability insurance for the doctors and nurses.
Cutting the profit out of Healthcare is easy and essential, because in this day and age, where high technology is constantly expanding, and new innovations reach the ER and OR, the ones who benefit Most from them are more often than not denied because of Financial reasons alone. And that is a direct violation of the Hippocratic Oath.