The Current Situation:
Affordable, quality health care ought to be a right for all U.S. citizens. Currently, it is not. Our entire health care system has perverse incentives misaligned with both personal well-being and cost-savings. Insurance companies, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies are paid for providing more care, regardless of how effective that care is. We have many of the most advanced facilities and talented medical professionals in the world, but for the average American, they might as well be in China.
Better Government Party Future:
We need to reform our health care system to emphasize preventative care. This would keep Americans healthier and keep medical expenses under control – early diagnoses and treatments are far more effective and less expensive than emergency operations. Preventative care, which cuts costs, should be heavily subsidized or even free.
Doctors today are so afraid of malpractice suits that they end up running extra tests not because they are needed but rather to cover themselves from potential suits. This costs money and wastes valuable medical resources. Additionally, malpractice insurance is so expensive that it is forcing doctors and specialists out of areas where they are sorely needed. Tort reform would help alleviate both of these situations.
The bill signed into law by President Obama was obviously flawed – parts of it need to be fixed, and additional work needs to be done. However, if those who seek to simply repeal the law want to be part of the conversation, they must propose a viable alternative. For all that bill’s faults, it does put us on the path to having the equitable, affordable health care system you would expect of America.
What do you think?
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