Healthcare Blitz

Press reprints Obama PR news

Which overstates the lack of coverage.. and implies universal healthcare will help jump start the economy.

But while Med school enrollment is increasing, Primary Care practitioners continue to decline.

- There have been numerous tv and press articles on this. The reason: Long hours.. and low income/hour. And every PCP that leaves increases the pressure on the remaining ones.
Obama's health plan has no remedy for this, as far as I know. Except more of the same... or worse.

 

Yes a huge chunk of our uninsured, choose to be uninsured. Why? Often because the yearly cost of insurance far exceeds what they would pay out of pocket to see the doctor. This is true even for people whose employer provides healthcare insurance plans. An outpatient operation can cost something like $20,000 if you're insured but if you pay cash it's more like $5,000. A larger and larger percentage of the insured are chronically ill people and this is one of the reasons healthcare costs are skyrocketing. Insurance spreads the cost out to pay for the chronically ill.

The primary care doctor situation does need to be addressed. We need to return to a system where doctors know their patients and have a more personal, vested interest in them. Studies show that when people get to pick their doctor and know their doctor, they are far less likely to bring a malpractice suit. Malpractice insurance is another huge reason med students dont pick certain specialties and leave certain states.

I dont think Obama has provided any detail at all in how he plans to spend the 60 billion he's set aside for healthcare. I believe it's still to come.

We do know Obama wants electronic medical records (an initiative which Bush started, but the media is acting like it's Obama's idea). It is likely lots of money will go towards this. My fear is that if they dont choose a standard system of e-records it will be money down the toilet.