MS sufferers getting 'postcode lottery' treatment
Submitted by art on Tue, 2008-07-22 07:19.
No country has figured out a healthcare system that works for everyone (or even most people). The US system is seriously broken and detractors are usually proponents of some form of national health system.
Here's a story from the UK about the poor treatment you get from NHS when you have MS and the failure of a five year effort to fix that.
Here's a health plan that works: get really rich and be able to afford the best doctors and hospitals. Now we just need a plan to get really rich.
Every time I hear our
Every time I hear our political candidates say universal healthcare, I just shake with fear. Those of us with chronic diseases need our medications and healthcare on a timely basis. The US healthcare system most certainly has issues but universal healthcare is not the answer!
First off - we have
First off - we have universal healthcare in this country. You can walk into an ER and get taken care of - and we all pay the cost. It's just not formalized. So why not formalize it and divorce healthcare from employment. Could the cost get any worse? The service?
It took 8 weeks for me to get a neurological exam after my PCP wanted a closer look. It took weeks to get an EMG and then weeks to get an MRI. This was at Lahey in good ole Burlington/Lexington Mass!
Last year it took 2 months to get an ear, nose, throat doctor to see if my daughter needed tubes put in her ear. Thus, our system is not necessarily faster than Britain, France or Canada. We have to lose this fear about doing things differently. If we in the US go universal, who says we can't correct the many things that are wrong with their system as we set ours up?
Looking at the cost of our current system...Let's say your employer has a generous coverage (85-100% of premiums). Do you think you're not paying for that? Are you really Mr or Ms. Free Market when your salary and life expenses have already adjusted to the assumption that they will cover that 800-1400/month in premiums. That 3% salary cap increase you're held to annually by your company at 'review time' outside of a 'promotion' from your HR department is all you can expect because they've factored in that they're paying so much for your healthcare. They play that card all the time at my company. You're already paying that 'tax' - so why not go to single payer, universal system?
The whole world is moving to universal everything (anywhere/anytime connectivity, etc). China and India are far from great in healtchare compared to the US, but it's universal and their people can launch an upstart without worrying about healthcare coverage. If you wanted to put free market principles to work and start your own company, where would your coverage come from. As a renegade entrepreneur, maybe you don't care - you'll take the risk, right? Well, then what about your spouse and family's hc?
Those of us with MS need to know that our healthcare is NOT employment based or dependent on a spouse or otherwise. I am not looking for FREE healthcare - but am looking for a universal plan that goes with me no matter where i work or what I do. Employers use healthcare as a political football to avoid salary increases and whatnot. We need to divorce employment from healthcare. Conservatives should get behind universal healthcare so that would be entrepreneurs can leave a dead end job and put their newer/better ideas into place (ie more efficient captialism) without fearing healtchare coverage loss for their families. Our competition are universal - everyone here thinks they;re independent free market but really we've just replaced powerful government(accountable to/of/by/for the people) with powerful corporations (of by and for themselves).
Free markets and democracy work well together when given the chance. That's why I disagree and think we should go Universal. But dont worry, entrenched special interestes from all corners will prevent it from happening for 20 years. But it will happen because it has to--eventually.
If the only thing about our
If the only thing about our system that is "broke" is the high cost then I'm not holding my breath for a fix. Do we have a problem with slow service or shoddy care here, or is cost the only problem?
Having read the article, I
Having read the article, I am not so sure that the diagnosis and treatment of most people with MS is all that different in the U.K. and here. This is a wacky disease. Diagnosis here often takes a long time, in part because it has to be done by process of elimination and in part because doctor's want to find something they can cure. The statistics in this country for the number of people with MS who shun treatment is incredibly high. All in all, there is simply not enough information in this article to conclude that the NHS in the UK is broken or that a national healthcare system here would be worse than what we have. I have to agree that everybody getting really rich would be a neat solution.
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