I just watched Obama’s speech about healthcare reform. First off, I have to say, that it is such a pleasure to have such an eloquent, intelligent leader who can express his ideas in a very accessible and intelligent manner. I thought the speech was overall very good, and I would only would have wanted it to be a bit more radical, but then that’s not really how you get something as important as healthcare reform into public policy. I just wish that the American public would stop and think for themselves for a change. People are so stuck in their ways and can only think within their often quite arbitrary political views. Conservatives are saying they don’t want the government meddling with our healthcare system, but if you look at any of the statistics, it is obvious that our system is completely flawed! We have some of the worst rates (if not THE worst) of mortality, healthcare related bankruptcy, being uninsured, and overall healtchare spending in the western world. We spend almost twice as much on healthcare per person as the next highest country (Switzerland) and for much worse care. The problem seems quite obvious to me: insurance companies are driven purely by profit. Now even though I am somewhat of a socialist, I cannot deny the power of the free market. But that model works for something like… cellphones. Make a better product, more features, cheaper, and you win. Competition drives innovation. But healthcare is different. Just think, how can an insurance company maximize their profits? Collect premiums from their healthy customers, and pay out as little as possible. No matter how you look at it, when driven by profit, insurance companies are encouraged to drop their customers as soon as they are sick and make it as difficult as possible for doctors to collect. My mother is an office manager of a doctor’s office and has been working specifically in medical billing for years. It’s a nightmare. The companies constantly change their forms, their codes, their procedures, and generally make life hell for those in my mother’s occupation. And why shouldn’t they? That is why something like healthcare must be treated differently.We’re talking about people’s lives here! About the well-being of our society!

I think with the combination of NON-PROFIT health insurance, some laws that force insurers to provide equal coverage, accessible preventative care, and some innovative technology, we can provide much better care for much less. Japan spends something like only 2% of their medical costs on administrative overhead, and thats coming from a much smaller amount spent per person. Claim procedures must be simplified and become more automated. Doctors should be in charge of what care their patients receive. Obama was speaking about a myth that his reform would create a panel of bureaucrats that could decide the life of senior citizens. Frankly, I’d rather have a government official deciding than what we currently have now, which is an insurance salesman; a gambler. Insurance companies make their money by gambling, and sick people are never a good bet for them. Now the only way this can work is if all people, healthy and sick, young and old, pay for coverage (one reason why Obama is creating a law requiring everyone to have basic coverage). It also means that we have to go to the doctor early and often, to catch problems when they are easy to deal with. So let’s set up some standardized electronic medical records, integrated automated claims, and create innovative solutions to bring down the costs of drugs and medical tests. What are we waiting for?

Great Washington Post article on myths about healthcare around the world

Watch Obama’s Speech (each part is linked to the next with an annotation link at the end):

Good Explanation of “The Public Option”:

Watch my former camp counselor who is now an inner city doctor explain a few things about healthcare reform: