Written by Tim:
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While there are many aspects of the presidency that must be considered for the election, secondepinion will focus on the healthcare portion of each candidate. The first candidate we will feature is John Edwards.
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Edwards' health proposal is to institute universal or socialized healthcare. He wants to implement a system where everyone will receive free healthcare and through government regulation, control what businesses and insurance companies offer. (For the full proposal, click on this link to Edwards' website). This "free for all" health system may be pleasant to the ears at first, but then one must consider Edwards' past activities in healthcare and also look at other countries already with socialized care.
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First, John Edwards made his living and became rich off of suing doctors that made mistakes in obstetrics. Delivering babies is a serious job and not an easy one at that. In one case, he received $23 million for a mistake a doctor made. (click here for a list of Edwards' multimillion dollar cases). The consequences of the mistake were serious, but cannot doctors make mistakes? And do you need to sue someone for that much money to fix a mistake? John Edwards is one of the reasons why ob/gyn medical malpractice is the highest of any specialty. So do you really think that he is looking out for America's health, or maybe just the size of his wallet.
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Second, after living in Canada for a few years, I have seen many of the fallacies of socialized healthcare. If someone gets sick in Canada, they need to wait for hours on end just to get into the ER. Plus, the doctors are overworked and do not get compensated enough for the amount of time they put in. This inevitably leads to physician care mediocrity.
Can we fairly say that the quality of U.S. doctors are really higher? I would say that 1 out of 5 doctors are ones that I would want to go to. In talking to two of my other doctor friends, besides you guys, they both agreed that after going through medical school, they would be very picky about who they chose as a doctor. Would you agree with that?
ReplyDeleteAnd tell me this: In the engineering field, once you get out and start working, if you don't prove your technical ability time and time again, you will lose your job. Many have to go on and find another career because they simply don't have what it takes. Does that happen with Medical doctors? I get the impression that medical doctors feel like they are entitled because they spent the time in school. It should be the other way around. A technical screw up costs a company a lot of money - and an engineer can't get insurance to protect him/herself from that. A medical screw up can end someone's life - and we all know it does happen.
Of course there are less competant people in any group you look, but the quality of health care you get in the US is higher than anywhere in the world. If you universalize healthcare, then that's a different story. A lack in competition will lead to a lack in motivation. If socialized healthcare is instituted then we can expect mediocre doctors.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jerin. I had never looked at it that way. I think that you are right that doctors should be expected to perform consistently in order to keep their positions. I think that there is a big difference however in how an engineer and a doctor are treated. If a competent engineer messes up once, he might lose his job, though I doubt it. If a competent doctor messes up once, he risks losing everything: his practice, savings, home, cars, everything. That, I think, is not justice. Let's face it. Nobody performs flawlessly every single time.
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