My latest HND piece takes a dim view of current efforts at health care reform, since they are all destined to fail, using current models. Right now, there's really no reform of health care, rather there is an effort to reform health care INSURANCE coverage. And this is simply a fool's errand.
Here's an analogy for you: Would you "reform" the number of auto accident related deaths and injuries by focusing on auto insurance, or would you simply try to improve driver safety?
Once third party payers have lowered provider reimbursements as much as they can, and restrict drug benefits to the max, then what? Besides, who'd want to be a doctor under these rubrics? The money is getting worse and worse, and the student loan debt is getting higher and higher. But, the population is getting older and sicker.
Plus, we're making them even sicker by defining down diabetes, high blood pressure, and other chronic conditions.
What to do? How about actually creating health care, not disease care, which is what we currently practice. Real health care would not favor procedural medicine over cognitive medicine, and real health care would include such things as using some of the billions in ag subsides to make fruits and vegetables more affordable. Maybe it's time to stop subsidizing unhealthy foods?
It's time for a real paradigm shift.
Read the complete article.
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