We fear change.

The issue of universal health care has been on my mind a lot in the past few weeks. I have decided to take the proverbial bull by the horns and rant a bit about it because it's my blog and I can. Sit back, relax, open your mind and don't forget your pencil and paper to jot down agreements and/or arguments 'cuz I am sure there will be a few.

Firstly, a definition of socialized medicine is warranted. From Wikipedia, under a search using the term 'socialized medicine':

"Exact definitions vary, but the term can refer to any system of medical care that is publicly financed, government administered or both.

The original meaning was confined to systems in which the government operates health care facilities and employs health care professionals. This narrower usage would apply to the British National Health Service (NHS) hospital trusts and health systems that operate in other countries as diverse as Finland, Spain, Israel and Cuba. The United States' Veterans' Health Administration and the medical departments of the US Army, Navy and Air Force would also fall under this narrow definition. When used this way, the narrow definition permits a clear distinction from single payer health insurance systems, in which the government finances health care but is not involved in care delivery.

More recently, a few have used the term more broadly to include any publicly funded system. Canada's Medicare system, most of the UK's NHS general practitioner and dental services, WHICH ARE ALL SYSTEMS WHERE HEALTH CARE IS DELIVERED BY PRIVATE BUSINESS WITH PARTIAL OR TOTAL GOVERNMENT FUNDING (my caps), fit this broader definition, as do health care systems of most of Western Europe. In the US, Medicare, Medicaid and the US military's TRICARE fall under this definition.

Most industrialized countries and many developing countries operate some form of publicly-funded health care with universal coverage as the goal. According to the Institute of Medicine and others, the US is the ONLY wealthy, industrialized nation that DOES NOT PROVIDE universal health care (my caps).

The term is often used in the US to create an understanding that the health care system would be run by the government, thereby associating it with socialism which has negative connotations in American political culture."

From the above, one can see that:

a) Universal health care already exists in various forms in the US as I type;
b) The model of universal health care upon which this administration is attempting to base its proposed system is delivered by private medical providers;
c) The United States is behind the times in its system of health care delivery.

I assume many arguments abound, the first being that small businesses in the US will be required to offer health care their employees. This system in no way models the NHS system where you are covered from birth and your workplace has no involvement in your health care coverage. The US should just make the jump to eliminate the health care insurance industry and use these grand institutions (haha) to their benefit and bring them in as the paper shufflers. Secondly, I think I might hear that health care in the UK isn't all that great. In response to this, we receive medical services for FREE in a country in which we are not even citizens, nor do we pay taxes. Granted, we are in a special situation, but it is what it is. Now, allow me to tell you a few things:

1. Infant mortality is higher in the US than in the UK or any of the countries listed above as having a type of 'socialized medicine' (6.3 per 1000 live births in the US; 4.8 in the UK; 3.7 in Finland; 4.2 in Spain; 4.7 in Israel; and 5.1 in Cuba). This means that 150 more babies survive in the UK than in the US for every 100,000 babies born. Also, all of these countries have a higher survival rate of children to the age of five than does the US. A Cuban child is more likely to see its fifth birthday than a child in the US. Please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_infant_mortality_rate for further statistics.

2. Appointments to see a doctor are free and available when needed. We have never had to wait more than 10 minutes to see a doctor and the actual doctor came to greet us in the waiting room. We never leave with a bill to be paid or filed. There is no paperwork involved on our end. In the examination room, the doctor puts everything into the computer during your visit.

3. They do phone triage here which means that if you need to see a specialist, the doctor will send you to the next level via phone instead of making you go to the local surgery (doctors' office) to be told you need to see someone else. This does not happen all of the time, but it is common practice.

4. Health care for children 16 and younger is completely and utterly FREE from birth. This includes and we have experienced all of these:
doctor's visits including all immunizations
ALL prescriptions
eye exams
lenses for glasses (frames are a small cost depending on style - my kids' frames cost on average $30 each)
free repairs to frames and one repair of lenses per year
free dental visits & cleanings
free sealants
free orthodontia (must meet criteria of malocclusion - Evan did easily and his teeth aren't really that bad)

5. Adults on daily prescriptions can obtain an Exemption Card depending on the medical disorder which allows for free medications. I am on a daily med for hypothyroidism and my medications are free. In the US, I was paying at least $100 every three months for medications and we had insurance. Also, the surgery applied for the Exemption Card for me, just asked me to sign the form and the card was mailed to me in less than a week.

6. Non-exempt adult prescriptions cost a flat fee of about $10. This includes every and any prescription which if long-term are usually a three-month supply. That's $10 every three months per medication.

7. Private health insurance is also available here just like in the US. However, sometimes when a person goes to a "private" hospital that accepts only private insurance, they end up at the NHS hospital because care is not available such as diagnostic machines and surgical options or the cost is too high and the private insurance won't pay the full amount. The NHS gets government funding so the more up-to-date methods and diagnostics are readily available whereas they are unavailable or extremely costly in the "private" hospitals.

Downside to universal health care:

1. Sometimes you have to wait for follow-up or an operation but this is definitely based upon severity and need.

2. The Brits must purchase travel health insurance when they travel outside of the UK. Cost is minimal though and you can buy it when you purchase a plane ticket, it's that easy.

So here's what I see:

In the US we pay health insurance premiums to still pay co-pays. We pay to pay. For those without insurance, regular doctor visits are cost-prohibitive to the less wealthy therefore eventual visits are more serious and often result in trips to the emergency room. The patients still can't pay and eventually get treated, often in a substandard way, and we as US citizens still wind up paying for it in the form of higher premiums or taxes.

Since we already pay health care premiums, why not just assume that is the amount of "tax" or whatever each person, family, etc. would contribute to the national plan and put a cap on the actual amount no matter what age, race, medical condition? I mean really, what's the difference?

I know I am going to get the argument of how great Hopkins is and everyone has access, blah, blah, blah. Well, for one, Hopkins makes mistakes too and is a huge bureaucracy in its own right and two, if there were institutions like Hopkins in every state in the US, universal health care would not be an issue. We are very privileged to live in a privileged area. Ever been to Baton Rouge General? I worked there and it's no Hopkins. It's scary and depressing and no one should have to be in some of the situations I have seen because they don't have the money to see a doctor or they don't know how to fill out the stacks of paperwork involved to obtain Medicare or Medicaid.

It's very easy to say 'no', it takes a strong commitment to say yes. Our country has a definite and very recent fear of change which seems ludicrous since it was born from the need for change. And whatever happened to our belief in democracy and equality which is being overtaken by capitalistic attitudes? I say let's try it. Things can change again with a new administration if it doesn't work out. That's what our country is all about.