The Health Care Debate

Well, I am not a health care policy wonk, nor do I ever expect to become one. However, I have to say I am unhappy with the current health care reform debate.

My family is relatively healthy, and yet, with 3 kids in 3 different schools and a variety of health care providers, I think I spend too much time getting bills from providers (before they have been submitted to insurance) ignoring them because I know insurance will pay something, reading EOBs from insurers and then getting a second bill from the health care provider with the amount I really owe to them. Added to this is our (fairly) recent experience of moving. Have you ever moved and had to get your health care records (from every doctor you have ever seen) to new providers? It is harder than you might think.

It is possible to have a more streamlined system and I have just finished reading The Healing of America by T. R. Reid. In the book, he takes his sore shoulder for medical care in a variety of countries and talks about the differences in approach and treatment.

Highlights for me:

• There is a country where you carry a smart card with you to the doctor’s office and it shows the doctor all your health information including previous diagnoses, prescription drug information etc. (France)

• There is a country where the average person visits the doctor twice as often as the average person in the USA, visits to specialists are frequent and waiting times are minimal (many patients just drop in the day they want to see a specialist). They are huge consumers of medical care and yet they have universal coverage and still manage to spend less per capita than the USA. (Japan)

It is a fascinating read and helps change the conversation about health care. His argument that access to health care is a basic right rings true to me. He compares it to public education. If you want more than the public schools offer, and you can afford it, you choose a private school. But at least every kid should have a school to attend.

I highly recommend it. We can learn a lot about health care from other wealthy democracies.

All the Best,

Trish