Healthcare System Overhaul

I support Senator Obama for president because of his realistic and reasonable views of the important issues of today: the Iraq war, education, economy, human rights, and healthcare to name a few. My interest is in healthcare inasmuch as I have been involved in both primary care and in medical management for over four decades.

Sadly, I have seen the deterioration of health care in this country--the erosion of quality, the abuse of the reimbursement system, the decay of integrity throughout the provider community, and the escalating costs from medically unnecessary utilization of services

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My heart goes out to those individuals who are turned away because of their inability to pay. Sure, they can flock to emergency rooms where, unless they present with a life-threatening condition, they receive only cursory evaluations, become indebted from the unreasonable charges, and are sent away with no hope of receiving adequate follow-up care.

Our healthcare system needs drastic reforms, and it is possible if we deny reimbursement for medically unnecessary surgical procedures and medically unnecessary diagnostics (laboratory, x-ray, nuclear imaging, etc.) And deny reimbursement to providers who self-refer to facilities in which they have a financial interest.

The dollars expended for health care today are more than adequate to provide care for every single person in the United States if those dollars are allocated appropriately.

I am convinced that Senator Barack Obama will back and endorse strenuous measures to reform healthcare and maitain the premise that healthcare is a right.

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Deportation Threat Spin-off

An Associated Press article in the Corpus Christi Caller today tells the story of immigrant parents taking their children out of Irving, Texas schools over fears that they will be deported. There is concern by the Irving School District that those parents will not enroll their children anywhere now because of fear. Irving police have turned over 1600 people to immigration officials since the crack-down on immigrants started last year.

It's hard for me to comprehend such a blatant disregard for immigrant's efforts to afford their children opportunity for education. These are parents who should be offered a fast-track to citizenship even if they are here illegally. These are parents who have already shown that they can be assimilated into communities and can contribute to our culture.

Is this same scenario being repeated all over the country? If so,our global reputation for being a nation of compassion that shows the highest respect for human dignity and human rights is being eroded to a dangerous degree.   

CHIPS

The furor over the president's veto of the CHIPS legislation passed by Congress grows in intensity daily. Imagine deniying healthcare to children! The CHIPS bill is another example of multiple proposed measures to protect the health of residents of the country without the least concern over the cost and the medical necessity for those healthcare services. Unless you read carefully to see who the CHIPS bill would protect, you are lead to believe that millions of children would suffer or die for lack of health care. Doesn't Medicaid protect the children of indigent parents? CHIPS raises the eligibility for health related services for children of parents whose income is up to $80,000 at a cost of an estimated cost of $34 billion.

Sure, children need to be protected, but so does everyone in this nation. One of the pressing problems in our healthcare system is the millions who are not protected by any insurance coverage. That should be the first priority. That need is real and requires no debate.    

Universal Health Care

I have reproduced here a blog that I submitted recently in response to a negative article on Universal Health Care . Some might find it abrasive, but I stand by my opinion.

charlesclarknovels  

September 19th, 2007 at 9:49 pm

First, I disagree with the statement that Universal Health Care is not a right and that it is not feasible.

As you said: "put the tax dollars in a pot and distribute it to care for the sick." We are putting money in the pot, but it is not being distributed where it is needed. Much of it is going to pay for unnecessary surgical procedures; for unnecessary diagnostics; for inappropriate utilization of both inpatient and outpatient services; for the cost of complications from poorly managed diabetes; from medication errors; and from self referrals by physicianproviders to their owned facilities (hospitals, day surgery units, imaging centers, laboratories, unregulated home health agencies). Unless providers are held accountable for over-budget expenditures, there will never be enough dollars to go around.

Our present deplorable system - that leaves millions of people uncared for - does not measure up when we look at both cost and outcome. It  is not going to improve until we face the fact that we have to look at the root cause and take corrective action.

As you stated: the Declaration of Independence guarantees life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. If you talk to some of the people in this nation who are destined to lose their lives from lack of availability of appropriate, quality healthcare, what do you think their answer will be about the guarantee of life? And liberty...? They are shackled financially to an extent that almost equals being confined to prison. And I don’t expect that you would find much happiness among them.

Get your head out of the sand and face reality. Read:  Dark Side Hospital, Suit Up in Scrubs, and CODE PINK! for a different perspective of our healthcare system.

http://www.charlesclarknovels.com/

Are We Becoming Xenophobic

The current immigration issues should be looked upon as an opportunity to show the world that this country still respects human rights and that we have not forgotten that we are a nation with a heritage of immigration. We have never been xenophobic, and the frightening thing that I see is that we are so focused on restrictive policies, deportation, and removal that we are being led into an era of racism, bigotry, and discrimination that equals that of a few years ago.

Some say that we still are in an era of inequality of human rights; but we have made progress, and I don’t want to see that lost. We still have a long way to go but we don’t need setbacks right now.

Get over the mindset that every immigrant, undocumented or documented, is a criminal, or a terrorist, or will be a burden on society. Give them a chance to prove themselves - to work, achieve an education, earn a place for themselves, and contribute to our culture.

We need immigration legislation, based on fairness, reasonableness, and compassion. Get out of the box and look at your family history - How did your family ever get to this country. I am glad that my ancestors, some of whom arrived here in a hold of a ship, were not turned away or deported.

Watch for "The Immigrant"....should be released in 2 - 3 months.