Forum: Do physicians have a role in forming public opinion about health care reform?

As a radiologist, I greatly benefit from the current system. Every day I read xrays that are unnecessary, ordered by paranoid midlevels and primary care docs who can't afford to spend 30 minutes with their patients finding out what is really the matter. I get comfortable on the MRIs and CTs and petCTs ordered by oncologists every 3 months for 85 year old patients who should refuse further treatment. Meanwhile, the same old folks are paying $300/month for essential cardiac drugs (or not filling their scrips because of the cost) and I cannot get an appointment for a checkup or mammogram because all the smart kids went into fetal psychiatric oncology or finance.

A sensible single payer national health plan would get me a primary doc who has the time to listen to my little complaints, pay for my essential meds, and make me more likely to seek help when I am thinking my problems are too trivial to bother with.

My neighbors are all 1 illness away from the poorhouse and I care about them. We on earth are a community of neighbors. Life is more fun when we look after each other. Those who do not feel this way are missing out on a great part of being a human.

I want single payer government run health care

Pelosi Agrees to Allow a Vote on Single-Payer

Source: www.allgov.com

After angering the liberal wing of her party over compromises made to conservative Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has decided to allow a floor vote later this year on a plan creating a single-payer government-financed health care program.



SO I POSTED THIS ON FACEBOOK AND THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED:

My friend K posted:

As far as I understand it, this type of system is not working in other countries and we lose our freedom to pay for services that are not covered under the proposed plan.

And I said:

In Canada, France, and other countries, the total health care bill is 1/2 of ours, they live longer, are healthier, and provide coverage for rich and poor alike. What services are you looking for that you fear might not be covered? I believe there are no essential ones.

And K said:

The people that I know that live in Canada come here for services because there is a long waiting list to have procedures done. I am concerned about this. As for the services that are not covered...that is not what I mean. Now, people can opt to pay for an MRI if their insurance does not cover it because a doctor will not authorize it. As I understand it, we will no longer have that option. I think freedom of choice is important in our society. I am trying to learn more about the proposed plan.

And I replied:

We currently have the freedom to pay for services that are not covered by our insurance, including our medications. Many people cannot afford their medications, which easily run $300/month for common conditions such as heart trouble.

And:

In addition, very few of us can afford to pay out of pocket for a lung transplant although we certainly do have the "freedom" to pay for services that private insurance might not cover. Having the freedom to pay for services means little to those without the money to buy even minimal coverage.

And:

"Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose," words and lyrics by Kris Kristofferson made famous by Janis Joplin.

And K said:

I believe that people should be covered, but I do not think the government should be in the business of healthcare, auto industry and banking. We are becoming a socialized government, and that is NOT what the founding founders meant us to be, nor a society that I want to live in. I work hard for my money and I do not think that I should have to pay for insurance for those less fortunate. I guess we will agree to disagree.

And I said:

We pay health bills for our elderly. Is that socialism?

And K said:

The government takes my income to help pay for that. I do not like that either - however it was one thing they did. Now they are trying to take over many aspects of our lives...that is socialism.

And I:

They torture and kill with my money. Better to employ and heal.

And K:

You have a point there...



Wow. I feel like I won an argument for the first time in my life. I sure hope K never has to find out how really crappy her health insurance can be.

My friends are mostly Christians. I really wonder what they are hearing in church. It doesn't resemble Christianity, that's for sure. Of course my friend Gordon is a Christian too. He is in Honduras donating his time to provide medical care to the poor as he has done year after year.

The photo

This photo of me is interesting. Not because it is one of so very few (like all but the vain and starved, I think or know that I look horrid in photos) but because of the photoshopping I did. The hand on my right shoulder belongs to............Eliot Spitzer. The photo is from a long ago time when deluded Democrats were proud to have their picture taken with our wonderful governor-elect. How far they fall!!!

My vacation

So I am on "vacation" this week. So far I have done the quarterly NYS employer taxes, no help from their so called online filing which took 2 hours and wouldn't complete (they said it was because I was using Firefox, but when I tried IE it was worse), tidied the house for a party/meeting of the PTA (Harry: the living room table has NO magazines on it), WASHED MY CAR FOR GOD'S SAKE (if you make rain by washing your car, will I make a tornado as I have never been known to wash a car?), taken 100 lbs of paper to the Abitibi box at the school, put in 5 hours moving wood chips to the amazing new elementary school playground, done the PTA treasurer thing, sent Mom&Dad mail to my brother, withdrawn $ from nysaves and sent it to GWU to pay for the 2nd to last undergraduate college bill, called the phone company in Vermont, called IHA to get my gym debit card, filled my scripts, gone to the gym 3 times, and hosted 12 people at our PTA party/dinner. Next: 3 days of PTA camp in Utica!!!!!!!!!

Oh I forgot: I cleaned the inside of my car as well. I didn't find anything I needed there, unless you count the Canadian money. You folks who occasionally ride with me will be happy to know the (brand new) kitty litter is no longer in the car. I did find 3 right hand black winter gloves. Good thing I am right handed. (Hmmm...) Can anyone tell me how you get the streaks off the car? I have no experience with this. I washed with Calgon DW liquid in hot water, which worked really well on the bug carcasses.

So tonight I again tried to get movies of my water snake but again failed. I walked along the edge of the pond running my Flip hoping to get a picture of a frog jumping in. I have a nice audio of plops, screeches, and tractor noise but didn't get a single frog in the picture.

Now it's time to make dinner but since I have all the party leftovers, I can just chill. Wondrous!!

Next vacation: clean the oven. Can't wait.

Al Franken

So what's up with the cuntservative pundits? They think Al Franken somehow stole an election. Will they ever stop epitheting Franken as "comedian" or "SNL comic" and just give it up to Senator Franken? I always thought that Reagan was the functional actor who knew how to act the part of president of the US. Did he actually know anything about foreign or domestic policy? At least Al Franken graduated from Harvard. By itself that puts him way beyond Reagan in qualifying for public office.

Pictures of my kids

I hated being a cute kid. I thought people judged me by the first impression they got: pretty, cute, clean, whatever. I always considered it terribly unfair to those who weren't cute and to those who were cute who might actually have a brain or an opinion or something of more importance than physical attributes. It has been some relief to grow old and older-looking.

As a mother, I have learned that it is great to have cute children. What I never realized until now is that if one's children are far away on an adventure, if they are friendly, cute, nice, other people will take pictures of them and I will get to see them in a duct-tape boat at college or on top of a bus in Cameroon.

comedian in the senate

What is the problem with Al Franken being in the senate? Those who think Al Franken should not be a US senator always epithet him as "TV comic" or some such denigration. Never mind that, in the absence of a Minnesota law stating that a majority must amount to a lead of more than 225 votes, he won the election, what is the issue with a comedian being a senator? Haven't we had several physician senators, who wasted a perfectly good medical education to become an elected representative? What about the bug killer from Texas? I think it is about time that a funny guy got seated. I just hope he has some fun there. It looks to me like a not very fun job, but what do I know?