The Obamanation

By Misael Galdamez, Entertainment Editor

Yes, health care reform needs to happen. Yes, we need cheaper, easier, and better care for everyone, but it is neither the government\’s role nor its obligation to provide charity. Allowing the government to impose a policy of universal health care that carries a potential price tag of 1 trillion dollars or more would be both counterproductive and detrimental, economically and medically.

Now, I use the word counterproductive because in places such as Canada and France where policies of universal health care are in effect, wait times for an MRI screening for cancer are generally upwards of a month, unless one foregoes the government option and opts for a private clinic. Needless to say, the wait for radiation treatment is just as long (1). In fact, in an effort to improve these wait times, Canada is beginning to send patients across the border for treatment (2) (3) because wait times for an MRI in the U.S. are only a few days, and radiation treatment usually begins with a couple of weeks.

Of course, we have not taken into consideration how much the costs could damage the economy. Take our current debt of 11.4 trillion dollars, add an additional 1 trillion dollars (4), and we have a mess upon ourselves. Allowing a government that cannot properly fund a car exchange program (Cash for Clunkers) to monopolize a multi-billion dollar industry is akin to piloting an X-wing without an R2 mech droid. Failure is inevitable.

This is not to say that we should give up on reforming health care. No, we should be driven to push even harder. Reform is not difficult, and it begins on the lowest levels. First and foremost, hospitals and medical offices need to modernize records and prescriptions. By using electronic prescription programs, doctors can both avoid dangerous drug combinations and avoid the cost of paper, saving a potential 4 billion dollars and cutting drug related injuries by up to a third. If 90% of hospitals agreed to modernize their records, we could save up to an estimated $80 billion, according to Richard Hillestad, Ph.D.

Also crucial to cheaper health care is tort reform. In 2006, Harvard School of Public Health found that four out of every ten malpractice lawsuits were filed “without merit.” Doctors are forced to perform additional tests, referrals, and consultations in order to avoid malpractice lawsuits. Consequently, prices on these tests and consultations go skyward. Tort and liability reform would purge the system of frivolous lawsuits and allow doctors to lower prices. It is also crucial to ensure that medical errors happen less frequently by creating a system to log and report errors and ensure that proper investigations take place.

But perhaps the biggest way to save money and cut costs on health care is to allow Wal-Mart to expand its generics and walk-in programs. Wal-Mart\’s goal has always been lower prices and higher customer satisfaction, and the company has already helped to fix the health care system by providing cheaper generic drugs. A 90-day supply of any generic drug is only ten dollars. In addition, Wal-Mart has also opened walk-in clinics in stores located in Arkansas and Dallas. Realize that a parent would be able to have a child vaccinated without insurance and at an affordable price, all while getting the week\’s groceries. An attractive idea, isn\’t it? Wal-Mart aims to have 400 walk-in clinics by 2010.

It is true the Land of the Free is the only industrialized nation that doesn\’t offer universal health care. But the United States has never been a follower. No, we have been the trailblazers, the leaders, the City upon a Hill. We must continue doing so, providing our own answers. To give up would be to change the very nature of the nation.

Sources:

1. http://www.cancercare.on.ca/ocs/wait-times/radiationwt/
2. http://freep.com/article/20090820/BUSINESS06/908200420/1319/
3. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1115892
4. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5icf1XEHHem8Z_Ck1V-oxciA6dCUAD9A16JV80