In 1960 the cost of health care was 5% of the GNP. Today it's 15% , still rising, and out-pacing any other inflationary expense by leaps and bounds. In 2005 Drug Companies spent $7.2 billion to promote drugs to physicians and $4.2 billion on consumer advertising, as per GAO. As the consumer becomes more educated or when "the well runs dry" it will become apparent there are too many expensive "middlemen" between the patient and the doctor. Doctor's salaries have not risen for more than 20 years, though the cost of health-care has doubled during the same time-period. For the first time in American history there are more non-medical personnel running the health-care system than those medically trained. The government does not pay for health-care. Neither do insurance companies: We, the people, do. Yet, we are not the voice in the decision-making: They are.
The physician-patient relationship needs to be restored. Government and insurance company regulation needs to be reviewed and stream-lined, as its cost is actually higher than the amount spent on direct healthcare itself. We are intelligent enough to realize that if we bring our car with a flat tire to a mechanic, that it makes no sense to get a referral from the mechanic to tow the car over to a tire specialist to fix the tire. And to have the tire specialist be told how much he is allowed to charge for the tire repair by a third-party salaried employee being paid more than the repair itself is totally beyond my comprehension, It is beyond insanity. Yet we, the people, allow it to exist. If the price of a "out-of-network" tire specialist is too high, Americans are astute enough to shop around. If the mechanic does not know how to install tires then we are smart enough to find one who can, and avoid the referral altogether. That's what "checks and balances" are all about. That's one of the reasons why James Madison (the "father" of "checks and balances") is such an important individual in American history. Why wasn't medicine universally set up the same way? Why are government agencies and insurance companies so eager to make sure our health care delivery system is "properly delivered?" Is the system looking out for our self-interests?
Socialized medicine will be one of the models presented in the upcoming presidential elections. Such a model will not restore the direct physician-patient relationship, and will lead to a population of un-motivated physicians, screaming "yaba-daba-doo" when the 5pm whistle blows, signaling the end of a work-day. If the proper "checks and balances" system is implemented into the health-care delivery system, it will regulate itself, without assistance from insurance companies, and with much less governmental interference.
There are places on earth such as Africa with only one doctor per 100,000 population, where simple infections such as strep throat turn into epidemics due to unavailable trained medical personnel or health facilities. Whole villages are wiped out due to easily treatable infections while most Americans archetypically enjoy "the finer things in life." We spend billions searching for others out there in the galaxy as lives are needlessly lost right here at home, a.k.a. Planet Earth. I often wonder what we will say or do if and when we make contact. Will our "welcome package" include a chapter on our "impressive" world healthcare system? Will self-interest groups call it "universal?" I guess if they interview us humans one at a time we can skirt the issue, declare ignorance, "pass the buck," and say "don't ask me: I'm only visiting this planet..." As we wait for the discovery and subsequent arrival of these extraterrestials we've been looking for, many can still continue believing there is nothing out there mightier than us. Hence, all that would matter is who we are, our personal concerns about what other fellow humans perceive us to be, and what is expected from each one of us, based upon the value systems of our peers (excluding, of course, those who answer only to themselves). The desire to help others is driven by either the spirit of charity or self-interest. So whether one believes in mightier forces or not, why are we spending so much money to find them, instead of waiting for them to find us? What if they're already here, that they just don't want to tell us yet? So why don't we use that money to fix problems like the one mentioned above, instead of getting such an expensive second opinion? Those mighty extraterrestials could turn out to be one big self-interest group, and harbor incurable diseases which spread through our populations like small-pox and syphilis did, right after Columbus discovered America. What makes us jump into the neighbor's yard when there are plenty of weeds to pick in our own? I'm sure King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel must have had a similar conversation before Columbus got the "green-light." Obviously, Isabel had the last word.
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." - Martin Luther King
"Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with their own government." -Thomas Jefferson
"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government." - Thomas Jefferson
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." -Thomas Jefferson
"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty." -Thomas Jefferson
"Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future. " -John F Kennedy
"I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone." -John F Kennedy
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Disturbing statistics on our 535 members of Congress, as per Hip Shaman on the Grist myspace site:
29 have been accused of spousal abuse
7 have been arrested for fraud
19 have been accused of writing bad checks
117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses
3 have done time for assault
71 cannot get a credit card due to bad credit
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges* 8 have been arrested for shoplifting
21 are currently defendants in lawsuits
84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year...
More Essays
The essays below include my formal (and informal) education, "magic moments," and opinions on healthcare and politics. Magic Moments are those episodes which enhance life with enlightenment and wisdom. They are the spiritual learning experiences which re-shape our souls, and change the way we perceive the world, ourselves, and others. Such moments are often associated with a smile both at the time of occurrence and each reflection thereafter, and hopefully, when they are shared with others.
Doctor Bolte's Formal Medical Training
