A hot topic...

I just finished reading a great article in The Journal of the Missouri State Medical Association about universal health care. The author (Charles Van Way III, MD - a physician at UMKC) brought up some excellent points:

- The political system seems almost totally out of touch with the realities of taking care of patients.

- Universal health insurance is not going to solve the problem of inequality, even though we would like to think it will. Access to good health care does not automatically bring good health.

- Right now 85% of the population is covered by some form of insurance so federalizing the whole health care system would force 85% of people into government run health care in order to help the other 15%.

- To cover health care for all, we'll have to make the deficit grow and we'll eventually have to raise taxes. The current administration and Congress don't want to cut anything except military spending and they can't do that because they're ramping up the war in Afghanistan.

- A lot of factors prohibit a swift reform of health care. These include: a steady increase in health care costs, driven by technology, rising expectations, growing emphasis on optimal results and safety, and the aging of the population, topped off by a very expensive legal system.

What are your thoughts?

This physician was promoting a network of public facilities but also noted that every player in the game has his or her own idea of what would work, without any consensus among them.