Oct 19, 2009

Healthcare for the Many or Greedcare for the Few

The Harvard Medical School researchers found that an uninsured person’s risk of death is 40 percent higher than his or her privately insured counterpart. Looked at another way, every 12 minutes a person dies unnecessarily because he or she doesn’t have health coverage. –Dr. Deb Richter

We’re losing more Americans every day because of inaction … than drunk driving and homicide combined. –Dr. David Himmelstein

Forty-five thousand Americans die every year due to their inability to pay for decent, timely medical care.

America took a one-time murder of 3,000 citizens to justify an eventual expenditure of trillions, coupled with two wars and the ensuing deaths of hundreds of thousands of innocent people. You might think we would show a sense of urgency, if not high moral outrage, at the fact that the same number die every month, and millions more experience severe financial distress, simply because we refuse to adopt a rational and compassionate healthcare delivery system.

Though the politicians drone on about how difficult the problem is, in fact there are plenty of examples of working systems in the world, including (since we are constitutionally incapable of learning from other nations) two in America — medicare and the VA.

The key to all such systems? Healthcare is viewed as a primary human need and therefore every citizen’s right. Everyone involved in the delivery of that right is fairly compensated for their work, but nobody rakes in unearned profits, and no payments at all go to those who do not in some way contribute to patient care.

In America, healthcare is viewed as a commodity to be bought and traded in the so-called free market. As with most commodities, there are middlemen involved — corporations and investors who don’t contribute in any way to the delivery of care, yet slice off a chunk of the healthcare dollar (as much as 30%) for themselves. Payments to these healthcare profiteers naturally result in a more expensive commodity.

Because corporations are legally bound to increase profits for their shareholders, healthcare profiteers will always grab for as much loot as they can. And even if the government were to regulate their profits, the fact remains that they do no actual work to contribute to patient care. They are money-sucking parasites and will always be the reason our system costs so much and delivers so little.

A strong majority of Americans understand this and favor a single-payer system that cuts all of the profiteers out of the picture. Even most Democratic politicians understand, including the President.

Unfortunately, the only thing sicker than America’s healthcare system is it’s legislative process. Both are dying from the same illness: unregulated and unabashed greed.

Michael Sky | CommonHealth