« Look what came out of my vagina! | Main | Video - Rep. Tony Weiner on a Single Payor and Baucus bill »
September 17, 2009
Video - Health, Money and Fear courtesy of MadAsHellDoctors.com
Very informative documentary from people who care - Doctors.
Produced by an emergency physician (Paul Hochfeld), "Health, Money and Fear" answers three questions about our broken health care non-system. Why does is cost so much? What does it say about us? What can we do about it?
While Congress is more focused on the symptom, lack of Universal Coverage, they are ignoring the underlying problem. COST. Unless they address the perverse incentives that drive up cost, the "reform" we are going to get will be more government subsidies so the insurance industry can continue to thrive being central to a dysfunctional health care system that is better at producing profits than health.
The elements of the solution must address the elements of the problem: technology, the fear of liability, mass marketing of prescription drugs, the profit motive, chaos in medical records, unrealistic expectatiions, and the multitude of insurance companies that add substantially to cost without contributing anything to health.
Video - Health, Money and Fear hosted at BlipTV
Health, Money and Fear hosted at OurAilingHealthCare.com
Another copy of the video, hosted by YouTube follows:
From the White House web site on the issue of health care:
Comprehensive health care reform can no longer wait. Rapidly escalating health care costs are crushing family, business, and government budgets. Employer-sponsored health insurance premiums have doubled in the last 9 years, a rate 3 times faster than cumulative wage increases. This forces families to sit around the kitchen table to make impossible choices between paying rent or paying health premiums. Given all that we spend on health care, American families should not be presented with that choice. The United States spent approximately $2.2 trillion on health care in 2007, or $7,421 per person - nearly twice the average of other developed nations. Americans spend more on health care than on housing or food. If rapid health cost growth persists, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that by 2025, one out of every four dollars in our national economy will be tied up in the health system. This growing burden will limit other investments and priorities that are needed to grow our economy. Rising health care costs also affect our economic competitiveness in the global economy, as American companies compete against companies in other countries that have dramatically lower health care costs.
The President has vowed that the health reform process will be different in his Administration - an open, inclusive, and transparent process where all ideas are encouraged and all parties work together to find a solution to the health care crisis. Working together with members of Congress, doctors and hospitals, businesses and unions, and other key health care stakeholders, the President is committed to making sure we finally enact comprehensive health care reform.
The Administration believes that comprehensive health reform should:
* Reduce long-term growth of health care costs for businesses and government
* Protect families from bankruptcy or debt because of health care costs
* Guarantee choice of doctors and health plans
* Invest in prevention and wellness
* Improve patient safety and quality of care
* Assure affordable, quality health coverage for all Americans
* Maintain coverage when you change or lose your job
* End barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing medical conditions
Health Care | By doctormatt | 10:22 PM