The Gift of Healthcare

Wow! I was stunned. How easy it is for us to let ideas play in our heads; what may make sense at the time can eventually lead to our own detriment.

Case in point: My brother-in-law has been worked up for over the last year about Donald Trump running for president. He’s been maybe even more worked up since Trump was elected. Needless to say, he wasn’t thrilled when he found out his parents voted for Trump. In fact, he was so upset that he didn’t invite them for their customary Thanksgiving dinner gathering (despite living in the same city). Wow!

My point here today is not to discuss the pros or cons of Donald Trump’s presidency, but rather to try and promote a healthier attitude and perspective regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, including those in the far center.

Let’s examine the topic of healthcare for instance, and Obamacare to be more specific. Obama and his supporters generally see Obamacare as a really good thing. Trump and his supporters usually see Obamacare as a flawed program that they will replace.

Both sides need to calm down, as I believe they’re both right in principal and they’re both wrong in practice. The goal of Obamacare was good: achieving affordable healthcare for all. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened as there are still plenty of uninsured people, health costs have gone up, and businesses have been hurt.

Trump states he will replace Obamacare with a better system. I wish him the best with that but I’m skeptical. This is because I don’t hear Trump or any of the republicans proposing what I see as key to fixing the problem.

Since it’s my blog, I will weigh in on the subject, especially since it’s not like you can stop me anyway. The two key components to having affordable healthcare for all are:

1. Eliminate medical lawsuits. This means doctors, pharmaceutical companies, hospitals, or any medical provider cannot be sued. Patient safety would still be intact as government agencies (such as the medical board, FDA, etc.) can shut down bad doctors or medications much quicker than any lawyer. Lawsuits drive up costs for us all.
2. Eliminate the disconnect between payer and receiver. Currently, the payer is either Medicare/Medicaid or the insurance company. The receiver is the patient; we, as patients, generally don’t have much incentive for the system to be cost conscience as long as we receive what we perceive as the best care. We need to have more ‘skin in the game’ for when tests or treatments are ordered. Much less would be spent this way and the basic cost of the insurance would go down significantly.
3. The above two points would greatly reduce healthcare costs to society, and the savings could be used to subsidize the poor.

 

So which of us (Obama, Trump, or Abshire) has the best plan? I think you know my bias. However, none of these plans are perfect (even mine), as we live in a less than perfect world, no matter who is president. That’s why it’s important to maintain a healthy attitude and perspective.

The perspective I encourage you to apply is that of our ancestors. Consider your ancestors prior to modern medicine. Basically, there really was no medical care back then, at least by modern medical standards. From our ancestors’ perspective, any medical care that we currently receive would be a blessing, if not a miracle.

Instead of complaining about our current medical care, or lack thereof, we should just take the attitude of being thankful, and grateful for anything we receive. It is far healthier to consider our medical care to be a gift, rather than getting angry about what we think we ‘deserve’. This attitude of gratitude will allow us to enjoy our next Thanksgiving dinner with each other. Can’t wait for the pumpkin pie.