By Dave Anderson:
For the second day in a row, thousands of people lined up on Wednesday � starting after midnight and snaking into the early hours � for free dental, medical and vision services, courtesy of a nonprofit group that more typically provides mobile health care for the rural poor....
When Remote Area Medical, the Tennessee-based organization running the event, decided to try its hand at large urban medical services, its principals thought Los Angeles would be a good place to start. But they were far from prepared for the outpouring of need. Set up for eight days of care, the group was already overwhelmed on the first day after allowing 1,500 people through the door, nearly 500 of whom had still not been served by day�s end and had to return in the wee hours Wednesday morning....
many others said they had coverage but not enough to meet all their needs � or that they could afford. Some said they were well aware of the larger national health care debate, and were eager for changes.
Best healthcare in the world --- bullshit.
There are three million people in America's second city that are un or underinsured. The only available medical treatment for these people (even the ones with crappy insurance that will bankrupt individuals if they actually use the insurance) is from a charity that was founded to deliver healthcare to 3rd World isolated villages.
Best healthcare in the world --- bullshit.
At this point, although the debate and spin continue, this bill is essentially dead from an emotional and mandate perspective, even if some version gets passed. Whether it ultimately proves to be of any benefit to society, or a detriment, will take years, if not decades, to appreciate.
ReplyDeleteThis bill, and virtually anything that might be done to improve our healthcare system, involves too much complexity with which we are emotionally motivated to deal. In addition, there are too many factions with entrenched economic and/or financial interests to permit it to become a true health initiative.
There's been too much arguing about the details. People can not describe in 2 or 3 sentences the conceptual parameters of the effort and what it is supposed to accomplish. Unfortunately, people can describe how they feel about it in 1 or 2 words, and that's not good. And that's not to mention the elements which have whipped up hysteria by suggesting, with certainty, what will occur once the final product (which does not yet exist) emerges.
If either side of the debate has to work this hard arguing about something which theoretically should improve the lives of the masses of people, there's a big problem.
Even more so than how something is done, people are interested in results, not the details. And once again, as is frequently the case with much of human processing, the facts don't really matter. How people view the world, what they value, and what they want, matters.
And there is nothing collaborative in nature about that. Factor in the strong individualistic American DNA, and this effort is emotionally toast.
Being an optimist, I hope and pray that some improvement in our health status as a nation is made. However, the noise is deafening, and I may need medical treatment for loss of hearing before the debate is over.
Actually the US has the 37th best health care
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