Comments on: Health Care Reform – A Sign Of Maturity

By: Global Patriot

Global Patriot — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:57:30 +0000

A very insightful statement : “What matters is how we as human beings with hearts and souls chose to take care of our brother and sisters who are in genuine need.”

How we accomplish this – privately or with government involvement – is secondary to the notion that as a society matures we figure out, as human beings, how to take care of each other.

By: cstante

cstante — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:29:38 +0000

I don’t know if health care is a right or not. To me it doesn’t matter. What matters is how we as human beings with hearts and souls chose to take care of our brother and sisters who are in genuine need. I am a psychiatrist working on an inpatient psychiatric unit in a fairly small community hospital.

I see people who are on the whole unable to care for themselves. Most insurance companies want an update on a patient even after only a day or two in the hospital. This is absurd. No one with a serious psychiatric illness gets better in two days. Frequently I have to do what is called a peer review. This means that I have to talk to a doctor at an insurance company to justify why I think the patient needs to stay in the hospital.

Mostly what that doctor is looking for is whether or not the patient is suicidal. A patient has to say he or she is suicidal and thinking about actually killing himself or herself to be allowed to stay in the hospital. If the person is only thinking suicidal thoughts, then it is out the door. Frequently the patient is not ready for discharge. Many of my co-workers and I wish for a time when we could keep the patient in the hospital long enough to get better, truly better. As it is, I feel a pressure to get people better and have at times increased medication too fast.

The point of all this is, as I see it, that money is not everything and that cherishing life can encompass everything including our relationship with money.

By: Global Patriot

Global Patriot — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:39:09 +0000

The “maturity” view stated in the post supports your statement: “everyone receives the health care they need when they need it” – what is interesting is that even those who support this notion differ on how to actually make it happen – private industry, government, or a combination of both.

By: Skovi

Skovi — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:05:20 +0000

To me is not only about insuring the uninsured, but making sure that everyone receives the health care they need when they need it. The problem lies in the “profitable” side of this matter, when insurance companies make money by denying health services for whatever reason. This is the scary part that unfortunately and unethically has taken the lives of many and has left families bankrupt. That is mainly what’s wrong about the health system.

By: Global Patriot

Global Patriot — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 04:17:20 +0000

You make a number of good points Jen, and anyone whose life has been saved by medical treatment will say much the same thing. But I have spoken with many who say that our health is a matter for us to take care of as individuals, and not a “right” that our government should take care of. Definitely a contentious debate on the topic.

By: JenK

JenK — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 02:39:46 +0000

How is being healthy not considered part of the rights that the forefathers guaranteed under life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? You can’t HAVE ANY of these unless you have the ability to utilize wellness programs and get treatment prior to there being a catastrophic health event that lands you at the automatic doors leading into the emergency room.

Ask anyone who they themselves, or a loved one, have received a life threatening or terminal diagnosis whether or not healthcare is a luxury? Good luck finding someone who has been lucky enough NOT to be have been touched by chronic disease either themselves or through their family. Healthcare is not a luxury it’s a requirement – you literally cannot live without it.

If anything, the economic crisis and unemployment statistics should shake everyone up that they may not always have that cushy insurance that a company is paying for. What would you do then? For the uninsured that’s where they are and you could just as easily be one of them especially when they are still predicting double digit unemployment. We need to wake up and stop listening to the special interests who only care about making their profits at the expense of the true health of this nation.