I think our healthcare system isn't as great as it should be and we are behind compare to European countries especially Sweden. There are ups and downs to the healthcare system in America but I think certain improvements can be made. I found it interesting that for profit hospitals spend most of their money on doctors and medical labs, where as nonprofit spend it on patient care. I feel that regardless of for profit or nonprofit, a patient's health should come first.
Something I found interesting from reading in NonProfit Nation, was that hospitals account for a third of the health economy and how much revenue they receive is incredible. Nonprofit hospitals are often seen as for profit because of the way they operate and I always though of hospitals as for profits because of the medicine fees. I think having nonprofit and for profit hospitals can be complicate for health insurance simply because the cost of coverage would be funded differently. I think nonprofit hospitals would be strain by the financial burdens compare to for profits. A solution to this is a national government hospital statewide. I feel a national hospital run by the government would be effective implying a healthcare plan that would cover anyone and would compete with private hospital. This national hospital would provide basic services for the poor people and middle class, such as check ups, flu shots, teeth examination, and treatment for infection. The private hospital would be more upper class and have more expensive services such as heart surgery, bone marrow transplant, or cancer treatment.
Question: Do you think there should be a national government hospital? Would it work or will it be a burden the government to start one?
A interesting issue I want to bring up is about pharmaceutical companies and the medicine drugs prescribe by doctors. I feel that most drugs companies run a monopoly type of empire and there are lots of controversy stuff that I see revolved around them. First off, they promote so many TV ads about new drugs that can cure this or prevent that while listing so many side effects. I think some of our healthcare problems comes from this. New health problems are created because of new drugs created and I see the elderly needing more and more drugs. An article I read this week, was about ADD and how it effects adults. I feel this issue is somewhat over exaggerated and when there is a new disease or disorder, it seems people will want to get a examination right away to determine if they are fine. I think new founding like this adult ADD is just a hype and gets people worried so that they will visit a doctor.
A problem I find about doctors and medical care is how doctors try to give you preventive treatment or medicine to prevent problems. I believe in the saying, “If it ain't broken, don't fix it”. This apply to healthcare because I experience times, where doctors tells me to take this or do that even though its not necessary. I find Western medicine sometime causes more problems than cure them. The Eastern/Oriental approach is diet, exercise, and acupuncture but rarely medicine or drugs. Obviously this is very similar to Western thought but the difference is traditional technique versus advance scientific medicine. An example is how my grandpa has good health and hasn't seen a doctor in a long time. I believe good health comes from health lifestyle and stress free life.
I like that you brought up the difference between the Western and the Eastern/Oriental medicine approaches. I have been to countless "Western medicine" doctors throughout my life and it seems like their solution is always to take some kind of prescription drug, maybe go to another doctor, or try this new surgery. I did everything they said, and a few years later I still finding myself experiencing all the same problems, yet my parents were now burdened with all the different medications I was instructed to take. Oftentimes, the prescriptions I was given made me feel worse or just complicated the problem. I finally became fed up and went to seek treatment from elsewhere, and I was led to acupuncture. The only problem was that while my insurance covered all my visits to the doctors who suggested all kinds of different meds and surgeries, my insurance would not cover naturopath or acupuncturist visits. So, I have been paying out of pocket for the treatments, but have received unparalleled results. I guess the point of my personal experience is that it seems to me like insurance companies, many doctors, and hospitals are willing to send you in whatever direction will make them more money, even if that isn't necessarily the best direction for your health.
ReplyDeleteIn regard to non-profit and for-profit hospitals, I think it is interesting how some switch in status, and how it is occuring both directions. Non-profit nation noted the some non-profits are actually accused of being for-profits in disguise. It seems that as long as high executive pay is occuring in the for-profit world it will force the non-profit world to compete. It seems to create a race to the bottom, this as costs are raised, and at the expense of consumers.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question Stan, should government hospitals exist? I believe in health care that is nationalized, government run, socialized, call it whatever you want. Looking exclusively at overnment run hospital, it seems like it would be similar to non-profit, in that it would just be a component within the larger system. I feel like for a government run hosptial to work we would need to adress other areas such as insurance.
In reguard to western medicine, I agree that the first thing the doctor wants to give you is drugs, and that the insurance company won't cover other areas. I am currently nursing my wrist/arm back to full health. The problem was that the doctors would only give me drugs and that would hurt my stomach more than anything. In the end, what I needed was physical therapy and treatments such as acnepunture. Natural muscle relaxents were much more helpful than the drugs the doctor would give me. It just seems ironic that the pain killers among other drugs were completely covered by insurance but I ended up paying a large portion of the physical therapy. It seems that insurance companies steer what types of treatments are available and rack up unnecessary costs. If compensation were given so that I could persue exercise rather than working at a desk it would have greatly helped my situation and put me in a much better place today. All in all, we should rethink the way we do health care, and a first step would be to rid this area of profit driven entities.
I agree that there could be different forms of health care, between private and public. I feel like if there is a "public option" to choose your health coverage it could end a lot of the debate that many conservatives have against health care reform.
ReplyDeleteI feel as though a government run hospital service would be beneficial towards society. I feel as though many people could use to cut the insurance companies out of the picture.
I agree with you that many western practiced medicines can be to prescriptive rather than beneficial to the patients. Often times doctors will tell the patient to undergo a procedure or take medicine without gaining a more personable relationship with the patient and what that patient needs.
In regards to your statement about pharmaceutical companies I found it interesting that many pharmaceutical companies are actually struggling through the recession.
(http://www.politics.co.uk/opinion-formers/press-releases/economy-and-finance/esrc-tipping-points-the-future-of-the-pharmaceutical-industry-$21387056$365399.htm)
I really enjoyed your comparison between Western and Eastern medicinal cultures. I feel that a lot of how our drug-based society works in the way that you addressed “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” has a lot to do with a general belief that quick fixes result in higher efficiency. Most people I have interacted with want to do the least amount of work in the least amount of time, and this has translated into how we address our health concerns. I feel if we took more responsibility for our personal actions and their consequences, we would generate both a healthier and more efficient society.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are many valid arguments in favor of government-funded health care plans, one issue of great importance that we have not touched on in our text or in class universal health care's effects on medical advancement/innovation. According to an accumulation of studies done by the National Center for Policy Analysis, "Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations, have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K., spend less time waiting for care, have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries, and have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers
ReplyDeleteThe top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country." ( http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba649)
Even though our current health care system is in dire need of repair, in comparison to other developed countries operating under universal health care, we can see that our free-market system is much better in terms of mortality rates and patient care satisfaction. What would help our current system is taking note from Asian cultures (and their life expectancy rates, particularly in Japan) and adopting healthier diets and more implementation of Eastern practices (like acupuncture) in our HMO's.