I will say a few things about healthcare reform.  First, we need it.  Second, I’ve had the experience of working as [...]]]> I am not inviting a debate about healthcare reform here on Fitness Rocks, but I think this video, sent to me by a filmmaker friend, is at least entertaining.

I will say a few things about healthcare reform.  First, we need it.  Second, I’ve had the experience of working as a doctor in two different healthcare systems: the US Army and American private practice.  The US Army is a government program.  There is no comparison between the quality of medical care I observed firsthand in the government military system and private, for-profit, medical practice.  The government run program is better, period.  All three of my children were born in Army hospitals.  The care was excellent and it cost me – nothing (except a trip to a war zone).  There were no lines for service.  A 19-year old private was seen and cared for just as fast and just as well as a General.

What frustrates me most about the healthcare “debate” is that the agenda is set by the people who are profiting from the current system.  They have the money to create the lies and propagate them.  The people disrupting town halls and screaming about “socialized medicine” have been manipulated to work against their own interests.

I worked in the world of private practice and I can tell you it is rife with corruption.  Every element of private practice – doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, drug companies, etc. are in it for the money, and money is the ultimate decision maker.  Yes, there are some good people trying to do their best to treat the patient well – but they face a monumental struggle dealing with the current system.

If the idea of a government bureaucrat between you and your doctor is scary, consider the implications of a for-profit insurance company between you and your doctor – it isn’t pretty.

Medicare, a government program, has its problems, but I never got a phone call from Medicare denying my treatment plan for a patient – never.  I routinely had to fight with insurance companies to treat my patients and every single day I had to tell a patient, “sorry, your insurance company is refusing to let us carry out the treatment plan we discussed, we’ll have to think of something else to try.”  Do you want your doctor to go with plan B because your insurance company denied plan A?  It happens every day – EVERY DAY – to hundreds of thousands of patients.  You’re next, trust me.

In the Army I did what I thought was best for patients.  I never had to argue with anybody about what my plan was.  My conversations with my medical colleagues centered around patient care and the latest medical research.  I never had to waste a moment wondering if a bimbo at an insurance company was going to “authorize” my treatment plan.  And, remember, “authorization is not a guarantee of payment.” In private practice doctors are consumed with making their business work.  They are constantly struggling to get insurance companies to pay them.  I had to hire employees just to spend their days begging insurance companies to let us take care of the patients, and to pay us when we did. I had to pay people to nag insurance companies to pay me. Does that sound efficient to you?

We need healthcare reform.  If a “public option” becomes available I will be first in line to sign up.

Before you start disrespecting the government I would ask you to consider that in a true democracy the government is you.  Our government is floundering these days because it has essentially been bought by corporate lobbyists.  Who’s fault is that?  Who has been asleep at the wheel while corporations hijacked our government?  A government of the people, for the people, and by the people only works when the people pay attention.  Do you vote?  Do you read the paper beyond the editorials from people with a clear agenda?  Do you write your congressman and senators about important issues?  If you don’t, then point that accusing finger right back at yourself.  We live in a democracy, and that means you have a stake and a voice in the process, and it takes work.  Stop screaming at town halls, get the facts, and make a rational argument that is in your best interest and that of your neighbors.

Enjoy the video.

Monte