Healthcare, Hospitals, and Me

Having just been released from a 3-day "vacation" in the Hospital, I have a few things to say! Actually, since this is the first day I've felt decent in 2 weeks, I'm itching to blog. First, the Doctors and Nurses are angels, no doubt about that. But...the hospital bed is a torture chamber designed to make one feel worse than when admitted. In one of my "feeling better" moments, I had a good conversation with the Doc on duty. (Turns out he spent 4 years in my hometown of Birmingham, and loves it!) I could not resist asking him about the state of healthcare, and I paraphrase what he said: He doesn't think Americans will stand for a full, socialized system in this country. His prognosis: We will eventually go to a system that covers all Americans with very basic healthcare, and then tiered healthcare according to one's ability to pay. We already have private-payer clinics that are doing well. The #1 reason hospitals are going broke is that they must protect themselves from lawsuits, so he (the Doc) performs 4 unnecessary tests on a person, vs 1 test that most probably would suffice. The #2 reason is that hospitals must service all people, including uninsured. They are not allowed, by law, to ask the person's status, legal or illegal. (My note: having spent 6 hrs. in the Emergency Room, listening to all around me, I just don't believe that a hospital ER would turn anyone away who was injured, regardless of status. Just call me Pollyanna?) The Doc sees fewer Americans entering medicine, and more foreign doctors coming to America to fill vacancies. Best fix for our healthcare system: TORT REFORM.