Wednesday, August 8, 2001
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Wednesday, August 8, 2001 |
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Is it about health care or right to sue? By DAVE HAMRICK So, is the God-given American right to sue all there is to the Patients' Bill of Rights? You would think as much from watching and reading news reports. I've listened to congressional debates on C-Span and less formal debates on TV talking-head shows, and I've read newspaper accounts, and that's all anybody is talking about ... who can sue whom, under what circumstances and for how much. One congressman did phrase it slightly differently. He said the version he disagreed with wouldn't do enough to help patients fight HMOs. Fight HMOs? Makes it sound like HMOs are some kind of alien force that's attacking our borders by land, sea and air. Just think, if he had been born later, Paul Revere would have had to have three lanterns. "The HMOs are coming, the HMOs are coming!" Last time I checked, nobody was forced to be a member of an HMO. Certainly the fact that one deliberately chose to receive health care from a "managed care" organization does not exempt those organizations from being held responsible for the care, or lack of care, that they render, and if we needed to occupy a couple of months of national debate getting that straightened out, so be it. But I don't understand the vilification of that form of health care. I get my health care from Kaiser, and years ago I was a member of Prucare. There are drawbacks to that kind of system, but on balance, I like it pretty well. I pay a pretty steep but manageable monthly premium, and when I need a doctor, I don't worry about where the money is coming from. In contrast, I spent about a year insured under the old style of program, and when I spent one night in a hospital for observation no actual treatment involved I had to come out of pocket with over $3,000. Some people prefer to take that risk so they can have their annual checkups done and take their flu shots from some friendly family doctor that they're comfortable with, and that's certainly their choice. I'm happy to go to the doc-in-a-box for the minor stuff, knowing that if anything major comes up I'll be sent to a specialist anyway, probably the same specialist that Doc Friendly sends his patients to. Granted, managed care requires you to take a little more active role in your own health care. I get copies of my test results and discuss them with the doctor du jour, and if I'm not satisfied with the response, I push. Is it perfect? No, and neither are any of the other alternatives often discussed. The key point is that we have alternatives, and as I understand it, that's one of the best things about this new legislation ... it increases access to more alternatives, like medical savings accounts. More choices, lower cost, personal responsibility ... sounds like the American way.
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