Sunday, September 06, 2009
Troubling Question
As with most Americans I have approached the question of healthcare reform with an "us" or "them" attitude. As with most Americans I have not had to do without any form of insurance during my lifetime. I went from insurance with my employer to being in the US Army to begin covered by the VA to being covered by the VA and having insurance with my employer. I have chafed at the idea of "socialized medicine" and fought against it with everything I had - namely my vote.
Then a couple of gentlemen opened my eyes to the bigger problem. I am speaking of Clayton Christensen in his book "The Innovator's Prescription" and T. R. Reid in his book "The Healing of America". If you haven't read these books, I strongly recommend you do so - and quickly. Mr. Reid shows us that the question of health care in America is one of "How much inequality are we willing to tolerate?" and Mr. Christensen shows us that market forces can disrupt, and thereby reduce the cost of, healthcare.
First questions first - just how much inequality are we, as Americans, willing to tolerate? We have stated as a matter of public policy that we will not tolerate prejudice in the areas of race, color, creed, or gender. In some areas we have expanded that to include sexual orientation, but we have yet to say we will not tolerate prejudice in the area of income. We cling to the golden rule (he who has the gold makes the rules) like it is the last sacred cow of a dying race - but it is not.
So we are going to start asking these questions and exploring answers over the next several weeks, months, years. But the first question we have to answer as a people, as the American people, is, "Do we feel that when a person becomes sick they have the right to see a doctor?" - this is a "yes" or "no" response. Either you do or you don't believe that, in the United States, a person should have the right to see a doctor when they are sick.
Think about it...
Then a couple of gentlemen opened my eyes to the bigger problem. I am speaking of Clayton Christensen in his book "The Innovator's Prescription" and T. R. Reid in his book "The Healing of America". If you haven't read these books, I strongly recommend you do so - and quickly. Mr. Reid shows us that the question of health care in America is one of "How much inequality are we willing to tolerate?" and Mr. Christensen shows us that market forces can disrupt, and thereby reduce the cost of, healthcare.
First questions first - just how much inequality are we, as Americans, willing to tolerate? We have stated as a matter of public policy that we will not tolerate prejudice in the areas of race, color, creed, or gender. In some areas we have expanded that to include sexual orientation, but we have yet to say we will not tolerate prejudice in the area of income. We cling to the golden rule (he who has the gold makes the rules) like it is the last sacred cow of a dying race - but it is not.
So we are going to start asking these questions and exploring answers over the next several weeks, months, years. But the first question we have to answer as a people, as the American people, is, "Do we feel that when a person becomes sick they have the right to see a doctor?" - this is a "yes" or "no" response. Either you do or you don't believe that, in the United States, a person should have the right to see a doctor when they are sick.
Think about it...
