Health Care not Health Insurance…

The debate about our healthcare system is not a debate about healthcare but has become an insurance debate. The real debate should focus on the quality of care, how to improve access to care that doesn’t necessarily mean money but increasing efficiency to deliver simple services like cold, flu, strep, cuts and bruises, blood pressure, etc… care.

We need to debate increasing the supply and choices in healthcare services. By doing that the costs could be controlled by market forces. Why do simple repeatable healthcare issues need a doctor when we know for example strep throat needs an antibiotic and could be handled by a nurse? If you think about it when you go to the doctor how much time is spent with the doctor?

Here is the debate we need to have:

• Let’s review the care people receive in Britain and Canada and decide if these are models we want to duplicate
  
• Let’s open up more competition in the market by allowing nurses and trained healthcare technicians to provide basic services in communities, without the threat of lawsuits.
  
• Reform the legal process to limit liability and situations for civil suits related to medical treatment. Jury's need to include medical experts that understand the often complex evidence in medical lawsuits.
  
• Utilize the new technology for all types of efficiencies including records management, and knowledge bases to help local clinics expand their ability to provide services.
  
• Phase out Medicare due to its falsifying the true costs of services.
  
• Streamline the FDA process for drug introduction. Allow development patents to extend out long enough to recoup costs and reward companies for their efforts.
  

These are a few issues to debate. We need to focus on increasing access and competition, utilize technology and knowledge, increase clinics focused on basic services, increase both doctors and nurses, and reform the legal process.


No one is talking about healthcare they are simply arguing who should control it; private or public insurance? The most important aspect is being left out; your health…