Every Patient’s Advocate

Is Daschle Really Interested in Our Ideas for Healthcare Reform?

I was excited to hear that the new secretary of Health and Human Services, Tom Daschle, was reaching out to the American people for input on what a reformed healthcare system would look like. Imagine — asking the people who must participate. What a unique and exciting concept!

That was… until I actually went to Change.gov and read about how these “Healthcare Community Discussions” were deemed to take place.

And now? I’m not sure that’s his intent at all.

Read what I have to say about it all.

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Healthcare Reform - Do You Understand the Questions?

We all think we know what healthcare reform means — we think it means something about universal healthcare, right?

You might be surprised to learn that “universal healthcare” isn’t what it’s about at all.  It’s about shifting who gets healthcare, figuring out how to pay for it, and knowing that any success we find will be based on how we ration care.

Huh?

Yes — you read that right.

Universal healthcare — it’s terminology used to confuse, actually.  Most people think it means we would move to a single payer system, but that’s not what it means at all.  Read more about what universal healthcare means here.

Rationing?  Yes — our care is rationed now.  Sometimes we are the ones who ration it for ourselves, and sometimes our insurers or the government rations for us.  You need to understand it if you really want to ‘get’ reform — because the more reform, the more rationing.

Questions?  Let me know — because your questions are what helps me write material to provide answers.  blog - at - epadvocate.com

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