Saturday, April 30, 2011
The Difficult Politics of Health Care Reform
Earlier this week, wife Marilyn and I between us had three physician appointments on the same day. Both of us had lab work and I had a hormone injection.
In every case the services were provided in attractive, modern, well-equipped facilities. Personnel were professionally competent (so far as we could tell), courteous, and attentive. Each appointment was kept on time. The services were obtained at locations that were geographically convenient for us.
All services were covered by Medicare. Deductibles and co-pays were either covered by insurance or modest in amounts.
So it is hard to get us excited about reform. It is hard for us to think of anything that government might do that would make our health care better. On the other hand, we can imagine lots of things that would make it not as good.
It seems reasonable to assume that ours was, if not a universal experience, at least a common one.
So it is little wonder that health care reform, while necessary, is proving so difficult. Those responsible for making it happen need to develop strategies for dealing with the opinions of the large portion of the population, and the even larger portion of those who are politically active, who are happy with their care and don’t want it tampered with.
Earlier this week, wife Marilyn and I between us had three physician appointments on the same day. Both of us had lab work and I had a hormone injection.
In every case the services were provided in attractive, modern, well-equipped facilities. Personnel were professionally competent (so far as we could tell), courteous, and attentive. Each appointment was kept on time. The services were obtained at locations that were geographically convenient for us.
All services were covered by Medicare. Deductibles and co-pays were either covered by insurance or modest in amounts.
So it is hard to get us excited about reform. It is hard for us to think of anything that government might do that would make our health care better. On the other hand, we can imagine lots of things that would make it not as good.
It seems reasonable to assume that ours was, if not a universal experience, at least a common one.
So it is little wonder that health care reform, while necessary, is proving so difficult. Those responsible for making it happen need to develop strategies for dealing with the opinions of the large portion of the population, and the even larger portion of those who are politically active, who are happy with their care and don’t want it tampered with.
