Sadly, most of the so-called debate I hear and read about regarding health care reform is of the most pedantic and polarizing of political partisanship. Most of what I hear and read is shrill and vitriolic, far from thoughtful and civil. If those elected "public servants" and public personalities so opposed to reform, who happen to have quality insurance and financial resources, would spend the night with me in our Emergency Room or in the Operating Room waiting area or on the floor for Labor & Delivery, I believe they might have a change of perspective, if not a change of heart.
As the sun rises, I walk to the parking garage by way of the ten story out patient treatment tower adjacent to the Eye Institute and the Children's Hospital. It sometimes feels as if my hospital is "TBTF", is impersonal, too concerned with ever shifting bottom lines. If my hospital environment can feel that way, how about the entire health care system in our country. I feel like a tiny piece in a complicated puzzle. Yet I hear far too little from local physicians and hospital administrators and nurse managers, chaplains and others about health care reform.
I have been reading, in addition to the "less than all the news fit to print" on this subject, three books entitled And a Time to Die: How American Hospitals Shape the End of Life by Sharon R. Kaufman,
Living Well and Dying Faithfully: Christian Practices for End-of-Life Care by John Swinton, Richard Payne, and Stanley Hauerwas, and Accompany Them with Singing--The Christian Funeral by Thomas G. Long. When I started them, I wasn't consciously thinking of the first dealing with end of life, the second with dying, and the third with the funeral but they have turned out to be an interesting constellation of viewpoints on issues that I deal with on an almost daily basis. I wish I could report that the insights imparted from them have been revelatory and life-changing. They haven't been; at least not yet. However, the books have provided a tremendous amount of food for thought and reflection. Depending on what one does with the majority of one's working day, I recommend at least one of these books to you.
I continue to struggle and be disappointed with the health care reform debate in our country. I believe we can do better. In a blog dated February 12, 2010 entitled Frozen Reform, Robert D. Francis writes: "The federal government finally reopened today after four days closed due to record snowfall in the DC area. As for health-care reform, it’s seemed frozen since Scott Brown was elected to the Senate last month." It doesn't have all the answers, but at least it's a thoughtful attempt at addressing the "TBTF" elephant in the room. Follow this to rest of blog: http://theolog.org/2010/02/frozen-reform.html.
If our health care system is "TBTF", what are we going to do? Run back into our burrows like Punxsutawney Phil and hide? Let those with other agendas make decisions in their best interest, not the interests of patients and taxpayers? I hope the spring thaw arrives soon; Lord, real soon.
Wow! I have been a lot of things in my life, but to my knowledge, I have never inspired a blog post.
ReplyDeleteAs the two year survivor of open heart surgery, I certainly have a lot for which I may be thankful. My surgeons, my cardiologist and my nurses at Charleston Area Medical Center took great care of me, and I owe them a great deal. My friends and family rallied to my side, and I learned to appreciate them in a way I had never done before. I also am thankful that my employer provided me with some of the best health insurance available to anyone. At the time, I was working for a coal company, and my company definitely provided a "Cadillac" plan (to use the term that has been in use in the health care debate). My deductible and co-pay were small, and my plan covered everything I needed to survive and recover from my surgery. Indeed, compared to so many who have no health insurance at all, or limited coverage, I was extremely blessed.
Now, two years later, I miss that insurance coverage. In my new job, my benefits are much more limited, and the cost I have to pay for the many prescription medications I will have to take for the rest of my life is taking a really big bite out of my budget. Yet I know that I am still fortunate, because many people have no coverage at all.
Reggie, as you know, I am conservative by nature and in political leaning, and my default position is to oppose any new government programs that will increase the size and cost of government and thus the burden upon taxpayers to pay that cost. In order to shift me from my default position, I have to be given solid, convincing evidence that the proposed program will actually make a difference and will create value--in other words, that the program will help more than it hurts.
So far, nothing I have read or heard about the Obama Administrations health care plans have convinced me that they will help more than they will hurt. My position does not mean that I am not sympathetic to the plight of those who need medical care and cannot get it. In fact, I believe that every person should be able to live life without fear that illness will cause them severe financial hardship. But better ways exist to reach this end than through the current proposals for a massive government takeover of the health care industry. We can, and should, take immediate steps to stop the worst sort of insurance company abuses. We can provide refundable tax credits to lower-income Americans to be used to purchase medical coverage. We can remove artificial restrictions that keep health care costs high, such as the prohibition on insurance companies offering coverage across state lines. And for goodness's sake, we must curb the horrible excesses of the plaintiff's bar, whose members line their pockets and force the cost of health care through the roof. Yet NONE of these proposals are even on the table in Congress except for the curbs on insurance companies. Oh no, we cannot step on the toes of the plaintiffs' bar, can we? Those guys provides millions of dollars in campaign contributions to Democratic candidates every single year.
Our health care industry is indeed too big to fail. Every one of us depends upon physicians, nurses, hospitals, clinics, public health agencies, and yes, hospital chaplains! The health care industry represents at least 1/6th of our total national economy. We must fix those things that need to be fixed, and we must take action right away.
Keep up the good work, Reggie. I hope I can serve as your muse again someday.