What Kind of Health Care Reform?
April 4, 2009 by Cherie Burbach
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
We hear a lot of talk about health care reform these days, and for good reason. But the meaning of health care reform changes depending on who you talk to. As an example, my family would benefit from insurance companies that didn’t discriminate, covered everything they could in the way of preventive medicine (like test strips), and didn’t change their mind about which drug company there were going to use.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to get a prescription filled only to hear that “it’s no longer covered” because my insurance company is now covering a different batch of drugs from a new manufacturer. My doctor will then have to give me a new prescription, I have to send it through again, and cross my fingers that it isn’t more than I was paying before.
This week President Obama passed a “$3.5 trillion budget blueprint” that Congress now has to put into action. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, “Congress must follow through and enact health care reform and an energy bill capping emissions this year.”
But what will it mean for the average person. Your thoughts?
Image: Bauer-Griffin
Unfortunately, health care reform will only exacerbate the problems of already overworked and over-scheduled health professionals. Does anyone remember when HMO’s were lauded as being the best thing since sliced bread? We were told that participation in these organizations would control medical costs, secure better treatment options, etc. However, once the federal government became involved in the oversight of HMO’s in 1973. More and more HMO’s have been given the authority to determine which tests, procedures, medications, etc. are ALLOWED under their plans – and this undermines the ability of the patient to receive the best care possible.
I fear that a national health plan will turn its back on huge segments of our population, namely those who are deemed to sick to be healed. The government will weigh the costs associated with providing treatment PRIOR to weighing the quality of life of the patient, and this is anti-Hyppocratic.