One way would be to have a string of simple health clinics that could do checkups and make ordinary repairs - stitches, shots, setting broken bones, monitoring diabetics, etc - and refer people to other facilities if there were problems. They need not be staffed by doctors: they could be staffed by medics, paramedics, medtechs, nurse-practitioners, etc - with a doctor on call who also made the rounds of the clinics on a regular schedule.
As it is, I know a fair number of people who go to herbalists and other alternative practitioners for a lot of their health care, partly because of all the hassle and expense involved in using the health care system. If anyone wants to howl about witchcraft, all I can say is, the witch gives decent service at affordable prices, and is usually either an experienced practitioner of traditional medicine (hence with a long tradition of knowing when to send the patient to Public Health) or a college-educated person of a New Age persuasion. And both the latter are far more skilled at taking care of the patient's emotional, spiritual, and family-oriented needs than the health care system (which for the most part does not address them.) For example: a Navajo veteran might see the VA for combat wounds, but for PTSD would also have an Enemy Way Sing done, and the sing can be very effective. http://idiotgrrl.livejournal.com/ "'Earth is just a starter planet.' Stephen Colbert" >From: "Dan Minette" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion <brin-l@mccmedia.com> >To: "'Killer Bs Discussion'" <brin-l@mccmedia.com> >Subject: RE: U.S. health care >Date: Wed, 23 May 2007 10:21:12 -0500 > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >On > > Behalf Of jon louis mann > > Sent: Sunday, May 20, 2007 11:04 PM > > To: Killer Bs Discussion > > Subject: U.S. health care > > > > "Why do we behave the way we behave? What has become of us? Where is > > our soul?" > > > > DUMPED ON SKID ROW - Hospitals drop homeless patients on the city's > > Skid Row, sometimes dressed in only a flimsy gown and without a wheel > > chair, even if they're not healthy enough to fend for themselves. > > Anderson Cooper reports on the practice known as "hospital dumping." > >The first thing that comes to mind is that this is an expectable, albeit >immoral, response to the mess that hospitals find themselves in with regard >to treatment of the indigent. > >I have had some extended conversations with my brother-in-law (a physician >who has a low income private practice in Northern Michigan (he sees a lot >of >Medicaid patients, and the area is very poor). We agreed that what is >needed is a system in which everyone can get a Chevy, but you have to pay >your own money if you want a BMW. The system we have now is that a >hospital >is not required to take any given patient (I think there are exceptions for >some public hospitals such as Ben Taub in Houston). However, once a >patient >is in, they must be afforded the best care available...until they meet >discharge criteria. This is an overwhelming cost to the hospitals, with >virtually no hope of recovering the costs. > >Insurance companies have the leverage to bargain down bills...as anyone who >has seen a hospital bill before and after adjustments can tell. So, the >bills for those paying privately are through the roof...especially if they >do not pre-pay an negotiated amount. For example, we got a bill for 50k >for >the use of an operating room, a day in intermediate care, and 2 days in a >regular room.....and had to prove that we pre-paid a negotiated 12,500. The >insurance rates were lower than this, of course...so the hospitals can only >recoup so much of indigent care from insurance coverage for other patients. > >Given this, we can see why hospitals would be strongly motivated to release >indigent patients that meet discharge criteria...particularly those who are >candidates for extensive expensive care. While this is certainly wrong, I >think the real problem is the system. > >And, fixing this is not as easy as Moore might suggest. As it stands, over >16% of GDP is spent on health care.....and this is with a significant >fraction of Americans obtaining sub-standard care If everyone was given the >BMW service, this would rise to 20% to 25% quickly. As it stands, costs >are >expected to rise to 20% within 10 years, which means that BMW care for all >would cost 25%-30% within 10 years. > >There are a lot of things that can be done to address these costs, but they >will involve sacrifices by average people who now have good insurance. We >will have to allow, as do other countries, government bureaucrats to decide >services that will be offered as well as waiting lists for non-emergency >procedures. > >This problem is a good one for discussion here. However, it will not be >solved by polemics that provide simple stories with heroes and villains >like >that provided by Moore. There is a hard way out for this, just no easy way >out. > >Dan M. > > >_______________________________________________ >http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
