The realities of health care

More and more, people are starting to envision a government-sponsored health care system.

At a recent health care symposium, a government program, often called "single payer," was proposed to a receptive audience that obviously felt it was time for the government to expand a Medicare-like system to all Americans.

We understand that such a plan sounds great. Probably most of the supporters of the plan envision a situation where patients can drop in at a clinic just about anytime and get immediate and excellent service without much wait — and without having to pay for it.

Even the redoubtable Michael Moore has stepped forward with another cinematic "op-ed" called "Sicko," in which he castigates the health care industry and then proposes to do away with the entire health care insurance industry.

His movie will receive plenty of support, again from those who envision a government-run system that will bring better health care for all.

We agree that the current system has many, many flaws. And it's easy to go out and find those who aren't being served by the complex system as it exists.

Any system, whether here in the United States or in Canada, or Britain, carries with it strengths and weaknesses. Certainly it's the job of storytellers like Moore to point out when things don't work. This very newspaper over the years has published stories about people who have fallen through the safety net.

But this newspaper has also told the story of doctors that have saved lives. The successes of American medicine are easy to overlook. But miracles are performed at the nation's hospitals every day, and nowhere on earth [not even in Cuba, Michael Moore] have new technologies and medication saved as many lives as here in the United States.
Some get apoplectic over the idea that there are those in medicine who have made a lot of money either in developing new treatments or in discovering new ways to save lives. But count us among those who are happy that the United States is home to some of the greatest medical advances anywhere.

As for a government-run program, take a look at something as simple as enforcing new passport regulations.

Arguably, the idea of enacting tighter passport regulations and then supplying passports to those who apply is a much easier task than something as complex as a new system.

And the government has flat failed in its passport restructuring. People can't get their passports sent to them. Imagine a government-run heart transplant.

For those who blame recent federal failures with only the Bush administration, just think back to other major fiascoes — at Housing and Urban Development, to name to just one.

Health care is expensive; medical procedures and treatments don't come free. Yet a portion of the population expects these things for free. Certainly there are ways in which our delivery of health services can improve. But expecting a well-run, technologically sophisticated and free system is a fantasy.
source:www.santacruzsentinel.com