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It's not socialized medicine

Saturday, April 07, 2012 11:32:24 PM by Jo Ann Fields

I disagree with the Letter to the Editor 4/6/12 “Socialized health care is not American!”

Health reform is very much happening at the state and local levels, not just the federal level, and not just by governmental agencies.  The letter writer is wrong to say that it’s “socialized health care rammed down our throats” and “where the federal government will be our health care providers”.   Health reform is coming from the local communities, from the medical community, local hospitals, private insurance companies, private services companies, private information technology companies, private pharmaceutical companies.  This is not socialized health care run by the federal government.  Funding and guidelines are coming in part from the federal government but not entirely.  The ideas, the planning, the control in many examples are at the local level.  

Examples of local health reform are the Patient Centered Medical Home projects in our state.  The Patient Centered Medical Home is a well established team approach to achieve lower health care costs, better quality health care and better health outcomes. The current projects include:

1. Primary care centered pilot project developed by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware and the Medical Society of Delaware - expected to launch in May 2012.

2. University Health Sciences Alliance nurse practitioner led medical home in Newark - already in operation.

3. The Delaware Cancer Consortium, composed of Delaware doctors and concerned citizens - made Delaware the first state to eliminate the disparity between African-Americans and whites in the incidence rate of colorectal cancer.

4. Project Engage – Alliance between Brandywine Counseling and Christiana Care Health System to identify and better serve patients with substance abuse and addiction problems who are frequent, high expense admissions to the hospital.

5.  AI DuPont Hospital for Children – Working with three pediatric practices in New Castle County to identify frequent users of the Emergency Room and help them make better use of lower cost primary care.

From such projects we learn that if you go to the patients who are the highest expense and highest frequency users and direct them to more efficient, cost effective care, then the money you save more than pays for the programs.  We have to leverage those cost savings in order to make these projects self-sustaining.

It’s not socialized health care and the federal government is not the only provider or even the primary provider.  People who keep on calling it socialized health care serve only to divide us.  Health reform is happening at all levels of government and by private companies and non-profit companies.          


Reader Comments :

Comment Display: Tree Flat
Saturday, July 07, 2012 08:13 AM

dantrux

Join Date : 07/07/2012

Posts : 22

Re:It's not socialized medicine

When you have a preexisting condition

And I do not

And I have to pay as much as you

 

OR

If you are a woman that sees her OBGYN 4 to 6 times a year

AND sees her general care provider another 2 or more times a year

 

AND I HAVE TO PAY THE SAME AS  YOU AND I DO NOT GO TO THE UROLOGIST OR A GENERAL CARE DOCTOR...

it is socialism...

When I have to pay for you.. and you have no limits .. no reason to reduce your visits that may not be necessary.

IF YOU HAVE NO OUT OF POCKET

 

AND I HAVE TO PAY TO COVER YOUR COSTS AND I DO NOT SEE A DOCTOR I JUST NEED A PLAN INCASE I AM IN A CAR ACCIDENT OR HAVE AN INJURY OR HAVE A PROBLEM LATER IN LIFE THAT MEDICARE... NOT MEDICAID SHOULD COVER....

 

IF I HAVE TO PAY FOR YOU EVEN THOUGH I ONLY WANT THE $100 Plan at work AND THEY MAKE ME GET A $500 PLAN I CAN NOT AFFORD...

 

IT IS SOCIALISM

YOU ARE THE PROBLEM... YOU ARE CAUSING OTHERS TO PAY FOR YOU...

 

IF YOU HAVE CANCER.. and with God's help a doctor can cure you...

YOU HAVE A MUCH HIGHER CHANCE OF GETTING IT AGAIN!

you should pay more... I am not saying you should pay full costs of your care not $100,000 a year...

BUT YOU SHOULD PAY MORE...

the same way if you climb mountains.. or bungie jump or take drugs or are over weight...

YOU SHOULD PAY MORE... because you are costing more.
Friday, July 13, 2012 07:48 AM

LVB Fan

Join Date : 06/20/2012

Posts : 125

Re:It's not socialized medicine

Most of your own colleagues, like Dr. C.L. Gray (author of Battle for America’s Soul) would disagree with you! Read his book and you’ll find out why.

Are you working at all with Region 3 Director Joanne Grossi? Or did Secretary Sebelius appoint you to one of the following panels:

The Advisory Panel?

The Review Panel?

The Independent Expert Advisory Panel or the numerous other subordinate advisory panels?

The Medical Expenditures Panel Survey?

The Nutrition Facts Panel?

The Advisory Board?

Personal Care Attendants Workforce Advisory Panel?

Or any one of a dozen Multidisciplinary Panels?

 

Oh, it must have been the so-called “Evaluation Panel,” since your glowing approbation of government-centered, “socialized” medicine is so obvious. The laudatory projects you alluded to have NOTHING to do with ObamaCare. And if they are deemed "too expensive," they shall be cut based on decisions made by these panels.

Here’s the Law. Please show us exactly where the Patient-centered care is located, because I can’t find it!

ObamaCare: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr3590enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr3590enr.pdf

If this bill is supposed to be about Affordable health choices, then why so much emphasis on taxation?

One would have thought this bill to be an Internal Revenue Code reform bill for all the references to taxes, rather than an Affordable Health Choices bill as described by the title. Do the word-search yourself.

Tax Imposed: 30 times.

Internal Revenue: 197 times.

Taxpayer: 141 times.

Taxable: 207 times.

Penalty is mentioned 132 times! For a bill designed as a positive step in offering affordable health care choices, why so much emphasis on the penalty (which is actually a tax according to the SCOTUS), when you claim this is about (gasp) patient-centered care?

Sorry, but I just don't see the "affordability" and "choices" part of this TaxCare legislation.

However, you support it. Defend it!

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