The state of health care in our society is headed for a major collapse. It has been compared to the current housing crisis multiplied by 10! Costs are spiraling out of control leading to a higher percentage of the population with no insurance and an increase demand on safety nets such as County Hospitals and emergency rooms.
One of the major problems I have seen is the medical insurance decision to pay for curative treatments but not preventative measures. This has hit home recently with my grandmother who is obese and a diabetic. Her insurance refuses to pay for podiatry visits but if her leg needs to be amputated they will surely provide the money. Therefore instead of spending $100 for a routine office visit thousands of dollars will be spent on a surgery that will leave her permanently disabled and requiring more care in the future.
The logic is illogical! Without a reform I am afraid my future career choice is headed for disaster and I would like to know what other young people think about his current situation. Is universal health care the solution or will that just extend the national debt? As more and more physicians decline patients and health insurance plans are we headed toward only the wealthy receive quality care? Let me know so as I navigate through the medical school system I can take your ideas and implement them into the future.
A focus on preventative care is so very important. I think some sort of incentive plan from insurance companies (or the government in the case of universal health care) is crucial. Discounts or tax breaks for people within a healthy weight range, proof of regular exercise, buying produce, or regular blood glucose, blood pressure and cholesterol testing for adults would be fantastic. Incentives work so well. And I think everyone would benefit from a focus on preventative care.
Common sense is as rare as genius. ~Emerson
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I'm a big fan of insurance companies paying part of a membership fee for a gym and programs like Curves, and offering incentives for those who have proof of regular attendance. Proof wouldn't even have to be difficult. ASU makes you swipe your student ID for access to the gym. If insurance companies partnered with gyms, I'm sure they could make a similar system, where you swipe a card each time you go in order to prove you were there. There is so much potential good insurance companies could be doing...
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I agree. It's frustrating how many insurance companies would rather hand out hundreds of thousands of dollars for extended hospital stays, surgeries, medications, etc. for pregnancy and birthing complications, rather than spend a couple hundred dollars for a series of prenatal classes for the pregnant mother.
Diabetes education, podiatry visits, etc.--these don't actually cost a lot of money. Amputations, dialysis, etc.--just a tad more expensive.
I wish insurance companies would do more to encourage preventative care. Compared to treatment for complications, it isn't that expensive.
However, like you said, $100 for a routine office visit to a podiatrist to examine your feet and clip your nails--a lot of people just can't afford it, especially when insurance won't cover any of it. Suddenly they have a huge infection because they didn't notice they cut themselves when trimming their own nails.
A lot of people choose not to attend prenatal classes or take prenatal vitamins because they can't afford them, and some of them end up at their next insurance-covered OB visit saying "oh... I think I last felt the baby kick about a week ago. That's normal, right?"
I don't really think universal health care is the answer. I do think that if people utilized preventative care more, it would lower overall health care costs eventually.
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As more and more physicians decline patients and health insurance plans are we headed toward only the wealthy receive quality care? .
I think That the wealthy already are the only ones getting quality healthcare. And it is just wrong (and illegal) to deny a person patient care. The only reason docs even consider denial is because of liability blah blah.
I am against government and think that less regulation would allow people and buisness to get the care desired. If people want it they have to work for it...getting things handed to them is only thrashing the entire economy. Next will be wage caps.
I hope you become one of the good Docs.
Great topic
All truths are easy to understand once discovered; The point is to discover them ~Galileo
We all need to be more proactive in our health-- minimizing our exposure to toxins as much as possible, using natural cleaners, cosmetics, avoiding chemical dependencies such as smoking, and eating healthy and organic.
This would be even better preventative medicine.
That is preventative medicine. Just because it doesn't involve medication doesn't mean it's not medicine.
~C
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The system needs to be overhauled. People don't want to focus on preventative health because there aren't enough people remaining as general internists or family care docs to make it work. Why? Because they're not paid well enough. Our society places too high of an emphasis on specialization.
~C
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