Monday, March 07, 2005
Settling for a Broken System
Herewith another pithy quote provided by Ed Parkhurst, this one from an article by Michelle Brandt, the Media Relations Manager of the Office of Communication and Public Affairs at Stanford University Medical Center. The article, “Why Americans settle for a broken health-care system.” appeared in the Winter 2005 edition of Stanford Medicine Magazine, a publication of the Stanford School of Medicine.
My only comment in response to the quote would be “But what if fixing the system is not something politicians can do?”
………………….
"The whole thing is broken," says David Magnus, PhD, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. "The core problem is that we have a completely irrational way of paying for and delivering health care."
Our national leaders haven't adequately addressed the issues, and - despite survey after survey showing that Americans believe our health-care system needs reform - the public hasn't taken them to task for it. Health care hasn't reached critical mass as a political issue, experts say, because Americans are worried about the future but not concerned enough with their current situation to clamor for change.
Yet many continue to push for reform, including medical student Graham Walker, who is hoping to soon begin a documentary on the health-care system. He's among those who feel confident that change is coming. Says another believer in change, advocate Don McCanne: "I personally suspect it will happen in years, rather than decades.
"We want our technology, we want great advances in health care. When we see only the wealthy can get them, that's not going to be acceptable."
Sociology professor Donald Barr agrees and predicts that increasing numbers of "horror stories" will eventually cause people to vote only for those politicians who address the health-care issue. And that's exactly what we need to have happen: only when the public puts the pressure on legislators - and becomes entrenched in the fight like Walker and others will the nation get real reform.
The entire article can be seen at
http://mednews.stanford.edu/stanmed/2005winter/healthcare-main.html
Herewith another pithy quote provided by Ed Parkhurst, this one from an article by Michelle Brandt, the Media Relations Manager of the Office of Communication and Public Affairs at Stanford University Medical Center. The article, “Why Americans settle for a broken health-care system.” appeared in the Winter 2005 edition of Stanford Medicine Magazine, a publication of the Stanford School of Medicine.
My only comment in response to the quote would be “But what if fixing the system is not something politicians can do?”
………………….
"The whole thing is broken," says David Magnus, PhD, director of the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. "The core problem is that we have a completely irrational way of paying for and delivering health care."
Our national leaders haven't adequately addressed the issues, and - despite survey after survey showing that Americans believe our health-care system needs reform - the public hasn't taken them to task for it. Health care hasn't reached critical mass as a political issue, experts say, because Americans are worried about the future but not concerned enough with their current situation to clamor for change.
Yet many continue to push for reform, including medical student Graham Walker, who is hoping to soon begin a documentary on the health-care system. He's among those who feel confident that change is coming. Says another believer in change, advocate Don McCanne: "I personally suspect it will happen in years, rather than decades.
"We want our technology, we want great advances in health care. When we see only the wealthy can get them, that's not going to be acceptable."
Sociology professor Donald Barr agrees and predicts that increasing numbers of "horror stories" will eventually cause people to vote only for those politicians who address the health-care issue. And that's exactly what we need to have happen: only when the public puts the pressure on legislators - and becomes entrenched in the fight like Walker and others will the nation get real reform.
The entire article can be seen at
http://mednews.stanford.edu/stanmed/2005winter/healthcare-main.html
