In a free market economy, the consumer is the driver. The driver of costs, quality, and competition.
In the healthcare economy, the patient would be the consumer. But we are not the driver. We don’t have choices, we don’t know where to go for quality and value. We don’t know how providers and hospitals are performing. It’s a secret. Faceless entities control our money and decide how it’s spent. Corruption is rampant, we’re prescribed drugs we may not even need, but we don’t know if we do or not. We have surgeries we may not need. We trust our healthcare providers, we really don’t have a choice.
There’s a lack of transparency and accountability in the industry. We’re not really “consumers” though, healthcare isn’t a luxury it’s a basic need. There’s a shortage of primary care providers, because specialties are much more lucrative. Primary care is what we need.
We don’t have anywhere to go when we are harmed by healthcare. We need an “internal affairs” department for healthcare. Do we want an adversarial relationship with our healthcare providers? Absolutely not, but we need accountability and those in control of healthcare have created the adversarial relationship with the patient and we are reacting accordingly.
How will we pay for all of this? Taxes. The government is already in our healthcare, the “Affordable Care Act” is here to stay. It actually contains many improvement measures that need to be strengthened. Being mandated to pay for insurance I can’t afford is no different than a tax. Like it or not, we’re already there. We can create the healthcare system we want. There will have to be price controls.
What do YOU want? I’ll start. I want free healthcare for children under 18. I want my healthcare costs limited to 5% of my income. We need to develop a budget for healthcare and that’s what we have to work with. We can’t afford to sustain what we have. All Americans should have access to basic health services. This should be our right.
If I need a cavity filled at 8 pm, I should be able to get it. Healthcare is supposed to serve us, not the other way around. Home visits, after hours treatment, telehealth, this should all be available to every one of us.
Who among us can afford $100k back surgery? Why does it cost $100k? I want accountability and oversight. I want somewhere to go when I’m harmed by healthcare. I want sanctions and fines for wrongdoing. These fines and sanctions should be paid out to the patient and a portion back to the healthcare fund. Perhaps a point system, like a driver’s license. I think even providers would agree, there needs to be more accountability in their industry and a means to weed out bad actors efficiently. I would like to hear from providers with their suggestions. Medical Boards are not effective oversight, neither is JCAHO. Neither serves the patient.