Healthcare Outcomes

What do we want from healthcare. Ideally. What do we want? Don’t fret the details. Don’t worry about the costs. Just focus on the ideal outcome you wish we could have as a nation. Might these be some of the outcomes wished for?

-Accessible by all who need it

-Affordable by all who need it

-Healthier lifestyles by more and more of us

-Willingness to help each other more

-More productive lives living without fear and dread of healthcare problems

-Stronger communities and families within them

-Happier lives creatively lived

These are the desired outcomes I hope for. Yes, they sound like ‘pie in the sky’. But each is possible if we want them badly enough.

Another thing, we haven’t addressed the cost of all this. It will be enormous, but it doesn’t have to be done all at once. Besides, some of this will produce savings along the way that will help pay for later stages of gaining the desired outcomes. So let’s take this slowly and in logical pieces.

One step at a time.

Who are the most in need? End of life or beginning of life? Which are more costly? Which are more time consuming? Which are more productive in building meaningful lives? So many questions, each has its place. Ask them. Keep asking them. Build an array of questions. Order them in priority of importance. Discuss with everyone. Gain consensus. This will take time but the effort and time must be invested to get the outcomes we want and need.

Some wants conflict a bit in life’s journey; each want and need will occur in most of our lives eventually. So we are taking care of others and ourselves at the same time! That’s how healthcare works. We provide care for critical life phases. Natal and neo-natal care ensures healthy babies and children who eventually grow up and live healthy, productive adult lives. They keep our society healthy, growing and dynamic.

Same for elder care. We certainly want this for ourselves and our loved ones, so we provide it for those in this phase of life as well. It is the value of life we say we believe in. We have always said this. If we didn’t, we would figure out a way to remove unproductive people from our presence with the idea that they would no longer ‘waste’ resources needed by others. You know, the ‘death panel’ concept first voiced by Sarah Palin some years back.

That’s not how America thinks or values its people – elder or not! So no death panels. Elders receive good and compassionate care. Essentially because they are due this respectful treatment. And because one day we will be in the same position and need the same care.

In between natal and elder care is the rest of our phases of life and the routine demands on healthcare. We need good healthcare to keep the population happy, healthy and productive. This keeps society functioning well. So, healthcare is needed and provided sufficiently all around to each and every one of us.

Having settled that issue, let’s move on to how we pay for this and manage for proper outcomes. The bill is enormous. No one person can afford it. Neither can employers. Nor should government pay for everything all the time for everyone, especially if some treatments are not agreeable to differing points of view. Compromise will be needed to solve some of these issues.

Abortion is one. Elective cosmetic surgery is another. Erectile dysfunction for whim and fancy is yet another. I’m sure the list goes on. Fill in your own specific on the list. These will need sorting out later; don’t get hung up now.

Eventually we will get to the point of making critical decisions to move forward with a healthcare plan that serves the needs of the nation. What is good for the nation? What is the common good for us all? That’s what we have to aim for and provide.

I think – just my opinion – that a single payer system will be found to be the most efficient means to provide national healthcare. Many other nations have already found this to be true and are ahead of America in this public discussion. But let the consensus process do its work and make a decision on this in due time.

The real point of all of this is that a solution is available for us to engage. It is available in our group conscience and national genius. All we have to do is honestly search for it and give ideology a rest for a bit.

Real people are dying while we fritter away with the political arguments. The time to stop this nonsense is right now. Let’s get back to business. Serious business.

March 16, 2017