Faith or Dynamite<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If Trumps nominees, Kennedy for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Dr. Oz to direct Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) are able to get confirmed by the Republican Senate, which I think they will, I wish them luck. If anything needs disruption now, it\u2019s healthcare in this country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These two clowns claim they want to disrupt. Maybe they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kennedy points to the bad diets and over treatment. He\u2019s right about that. So, he\u2019ll argue to cut subsidies to high fructose corn syrup producing mega farms? Of offer regulations limit how many chips we can consume while watching the NFL from our couches? I just don\u2019t have much faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Dr. Oz is selling his dubious concoctions<\/a> on the internet. Seems pretty self serving. But maybe that\u2019s the America we are striving for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sorry. CMS is responsible for almost 40% of the federal budget. I would LOVE to see some commonsense solutions applied to this behemoth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call me a fool, but I believe good solutions come from careful study and wise choices. But I\u2019m almost to the point of giving up on that. Maybe it is time to just blow it all up. Maybe Oz and Kennedy can be the disruption we need. It\u2019s a dismal place when you see dynamite as a solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I started my medical career believing my work as a lowly family doctor could help right this wasteful ship. That was back when healthcare costs were just 10% of our GDP. They are now 17%. And GDP has increased over 15-fold in that long career. Believe me, family docs didn\u2019t get much of that bump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do you believe we have a problem? I\u2019d like to know, because us voters sure didn\u2019t hold Trump or Kamala\u2019s feet to any fires about this afflicting behemoth. Maybe I\u2019m prescribing dynamite when all we need is just a reassuring pat on the back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Think about this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Half of people in this country diagnosed with cancer<\/a> have depleted all of their savings within two years of diagnosis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s even with \u201cgood\u201d health insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The leading cause of bankruptcies<\/a> in this country is from medical debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this is after the \u201cAffordable Health Care Act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At least one Trump spokesperson, Brian Blase claims<\/a> Trump will reduce costs for all of us by focusing on \u201cfraud and waste.\u201d Maybe he doesn\u2019t want us to remember Trump commuted the sentence for a $1.3B Medicare fraudster<\/a>, though political donor. I guess some people\u2019s fraud is OK. Maybe that\u2019s the theme here. Grab what you can for yourself or your heirs before the ship sinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I gotta say, this doesn\u2019t give me confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Given the amount of money sloshing around in the leaky hull of this wayward juggernaut, I can see why venture capital is investing<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The New York vigilante who allegedly shot United Health Care\u2019s CEO might have thought a couple bullets could bring a change, maybe even sink this lumbering, misdirected hulk of the American health care system. Sorry, that\u2019s not enough lead to change the inertia. And lead is not the right element to affect change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s going to take something heavier than lead and stronger than steel to accomplish some change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It will take faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Americans give up on changing this mess when they think about losing what they have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We have a very lousy system. It enriches investors and impoverishes the sick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But it\u2019s something. We\u2019re afloat. We\u2019re moving across the water. In what direction? Do you know?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Do we have the faith to let go of this horrible mess, when we can\u2019t see anything concrete to grab on to?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Or will we just believe in the disruptor rhetoric, and not notice when they line their pockets as the ship finally sinks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Faith or dynamite? Maybe we have already chosen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Faith or Dynamite If Trumps nominees, Kennedy for Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Dr. Oz to direct Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) are able to get confirmed by the Republican Senate, which I think they will, … Continue reading