Journal of Sacred Work

5 responses to “Friday Forum – Healthcare Reform”

1. 

   Jan Keeling

   July 6, 2007

   I do support universal healthcare coverage. When people who are against it say we can’t afford it, or it will result in intolerable wait periods for services, what should I say?

   LikeLike

   Reply
2. 

   liz Wessel

   July 6, 2007

   I had the opportunity to take myself to the movies today and see “Sicko” which and I thought was excellent film. I would encourage everyone to see it and I think it will do great good to get the country thinking and talking about the need to change the current system. I don’t think anyone can argue the fact that there is something terribly wrong when nearly 50 million Americans are uninsured. Our healthcare system has been developed over decades with a Band-Aid approach in a patchwork of one program added onto another. Overtime the system no longer functions well and it is broken. Unfortunately, political agendas and special interests have paralyzed our congress from addressing healthcare on a systemic level to effect meaningful change. Personally, I do think we are in dire need of a universal healthcare program. Moore made a poignant statement when he asked the question, “Who are we?” I thought he made a powerful case for universal coverage by interviewing people in countries that have access to this kind of care. It really comes down to doing the right thing, as a nation of people we must care for one another.
   Jan, these are good questions that you pose. I think it is all about making choices. When we say yes to one thing we have say no to others, as we can’t have everything. To me, access to healthcare is a basic human right. What are our priorities? I think we must value human life and the welfare of others. If we do not have our health, what do we have? If the system was overhauled we could eliminate the costly administrative waste and funnel money saved into patient care. Also, I think we could create a national system that is efficient and timely.

   LikeLike

   Reply
3. 

   Karen York

   July 9, 2007

   I hear comments that we would lose our expertise in healthcare as there would no longer be incentives for research and cutting edge technologies and therapies. It is said that healthcare in other countries that offer universal care is below what we are able to obtain in the US. Now, these arguments come from those who are insured and can typically obtain these procedures with minimal out of pocket expense. What do you say? Will our expertise suffer?

   LikeLike

   Reply
4. 

   liz Wessel

   July 9, 2007

   Great question Karen…one thought that comes to my mind is to look at healthcare outcomes. Although we spend the most money on healthcare our outcomes seem to lag far behind many other countries.

   LikeLike

   Reply
5. 

   liz Wessel RN, MS SJHS Home Health Network

   July 9, 2007

   A reformed system would need to allocate resources for ongoing research and development. The landmark report by the Institute of Medicine has documented wide gaps in the quality of care patients should receive and what they actually do receive. A study by the Juran Institute/Severyn Group concluded, “30 percent of all direct health care outlays today are the result of poor-quality care, consisting primarily of overuse, under use, and waste.” Some progress has been made in reducing medical errors and improving quality but there is much work yet to do. For example, improving consistency and implementation of best practices nationwide, a national information technology infrastructure to include national practice guidelines, evidence-based protocols, electronic patient records, and prescriptions.
   Annual healthcare costs in America now exceed over a half a trillion dollars annually. The Institute of Medicine has estimated that the total economic losses attributable to uninsurance amounts to $65 billion and 130 billion per year. The creation of a universal coverage program for all Americans with a core benefit package with consistent ground rules could streamline healthcare, improve efficiencies and the quality and measurement of healthcare outcomes. The National Coalition on Health Care http://www.nchc.org is a great educational resource to better understand the urgent need for healthcare reform.

   LikeLike

   Reply