What struck me the most about President Obama’s recent televised town-hall meeting on healthcare was that when he asked the gathering of some 160 people of all political persuasions if any of them felt the healthcare system is fine the way it is, not a single one raised a hand.
Over the past few weeks, the administration has collected hundreds of thousands of stories about just how messed up the healthcare system is.
I have read many of these stories and find them a mix of poignant, heartbreaking, and enraging. There are also stories of people who have lived in countries where healthcare is accessible and affordable.
Disagreement about how to solve the healthcare problem is rampant, but when you read these stories, you know that America must fix healthcare.
I am convinced that we will get it done this time.
The fact that the administration is using stories to make the case gives me even more hope.
The healthcare story site is still collecting stories. Tell yours today.
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I'm posting this on behalf of Deane Waldman, who was unable to post the comment successfully:
I wish I could agree that this time “we are going to get it done,” but I do not think so.
It makes great political fodder to listen to your true, poignant stories about healthcare, both the terrible ones and the glorious ones. (I could give you large numbers of both from 35+ years as a pediatric cardiologist.)
The problem continues to be treating symptoms not causes and blaming people instead of the true villain: the system, not its parts.
We cannot “reform” healthcare, reform meaning to change structure but keep essence. The essence is incurable. We need a new system. We need a transplant, not political painkillers.
Frankly, I do not know whether the President understands or he does not. If the former, then he is just doing what good politicians (not good doctors) do: they try to make the best of things. Or, unlikely as it seems, does he not comprehend the interconnectedness of the system parts? If his statements that Tom Daschle’s book was the “answer,” then he simply does not understand.
You cannot fix (much less worsen) healthcare financing, such as by adding a competitive government option to the current insurance morass, without having huge impacts on quality and access. Systems thinking or simply the practice of good medicine teaches us this. Just look at HIPAA to see how good intentions result in medical shackles.
I wish I could share your optimism. I fear that my pessimism is justified, and two years from now, things will be worse (if you can imagine it).
Deane Waldman, MD MBA
Email: dwaldman@thesystemmd,com
URL: www.thesystemmd.com