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Nancy Grace BlogNot my cup of tea-”Obama Care”
August 28, 2009doubleshot 3 Comments »A few years after “Obama care” is initiated, some scenarios are predictable. Since someone has to pay for the plan, it means increased taxes or increased national debt. Eventually, employers may encourage employees to enlist in a public plan instead of paying for health benefits. This may gradually put private insurance companies out of business, as they cannot compete with the “cheaper public plan”. It is possible insurance rates may come down, finally cutting into the profits of private insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Unless the government demands all doctors see public plan patients, certain specialists will increasingly see private insurance or cash-credit card patients. That will be further fueled by the lack of malpractice reform. Americans want “the best” medical care and expect immediate medical care. Millions of new patients cannot have immediate access to a doctor. Since the new plan will have a limited budget, rationing of tests and treatments will be more obvious. Perhaps hospitals that have recently been shut down have to reopen to accommodate the new patient load. Such pressures would discourage the choice of medicine as a career, and create even fewer primary care physicians. A rapid change in policy would place the masses that are now happy with their health care benefits into an inferior system. A spiral down the drain is expected.
Posted on September 3rd, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Have you checked out San Francisco’s health care program, “Healthy San Francisco”? It’s been successful thus far and is a potential model for Obama’s plan.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/08/26/BAB719DL29.DTL
Posted on September 3rd, 2009 at 9:47 pm
it’s important to be well “au courant” while commenting on the new health care program that Obama’s government is proposing. the majority of the strong opinions out there are far from the real proposition and somehow misinformed.
for instance it seems that they are not only looking at the san francisco health program but also at the current health policy in switzerland. for more information on this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Healthcare_in_Switzerland
or
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92106731
Posted on September 4th, 2009 at 11:32 am
The Healthy San Francisco program model is certainly a first step. I noted that it is geared toward primary care, and that may work wonders for millions who work for small business companies or mom and pop shops. If anything like this program is adapted by Obama, I can certainly tell you what not to expect:
1.Do not expect immediate attention to your health problem- and yes, for certain cancers like breast cancer it means life or death. Waiting week after diagnosis can mean shop around for a grave site.
2. Do not expect the doctor with hundreds of thousands in school loans to start working in a public health clinic. I can’t comment on the quality of doctors that work in public health clinics in SF, but I have my suspicions about it. Caution: Ask the doctor about his/her credentials.
This may be a better model for rural areas with lower populations.
Keep in mind the population in the United States is growing faster than some Asian countries that American used to call ‘third world’. Taking care of illegals with taxpayer money is going to put this country further behind India and China. Remember the movie “Dumb and Dumber”?