Is This Really Health Care Reform?

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Much is being said about the current move toward “Health Care Reform,” although I question how much relating to actual health care is being reviewed for possible reform.  Everything I hear or read about has to do with how to pay for the high costs of health care.  The goal of such reform is to have an insurance program, private and/or public, available to everyone so that the high costs are not prohibiting anyone from seeking the health care they need.

I am in favor of these discussions and hope we end up with whatever system will be equitable in both cost and access.  These changes are greatly needed and long overdo, however I don’t think they should be classified as health care reform, rather I see these as health insurance reform.  I haven’t heard much, if anything, about the actual delivery of health care in the discussions and I believe that there is a real need for review, and in some places, reform. 

I was excited after the presidential elections and it looked like we had a President that understood the need and would support efforts for health care reform.  I still believe President Obama would do so, but we are only examining one aspect of the health care system and I fear that other important aspects that need reform will be lost in the effort to define and implement new and equitable ways for paying for health care.

True Health Care Reform would examine all aspects of the health care system, including the education of all medical professionals, the role of integrative medicine and complementary therapies such as acupuncture, nutrition counseling, massage therapy and psychotherapy, just to name a few.  Experts should review the current system in which a patient’s needs are determined, for instance how long the patient should remain in the hospital after a particular procedure, or what medicine is the best for a particular patient.  Currently many of these decisions are being made by insurance company regulations. Is this how they should be decided or should medical professionals be making these decisions?  Why aren’t these topics on the national agenda for Health Care Reform.

A program of reform should look at the health care system from every direction, including the education and accreditation of our medical professionals and facilities; whether the whole patient is being treated or just the symptoms of a disease, especially patients who live with chronic or disabling illnesses; the amount of federal funding for research into specific diseases and symptoms, such as chronic pain; how information on the prevalence and patterns of all illnesses is collected and used; and regardless of funding aspects, whether the accessibility of health care professionals is equitable in all areas of the country.

There are many other areas of the health care system that should be reviewed, from access to and availability of care to the quality of care.  Other areas that need to be examined are how doctors relate to their patients with chronic conditions, do they know the impact these can have on a person’s life or that of his family.  Research funding and the implementation of new research findings into practice are also important areas that should be addressed.  Are medical professionals utilizing the latest research findings that have been approved?  Those who work in the health care system will have myriad questions in each of these areas, as well, and will identify other categories that should be examined.  Then, and only then, can we say that we have conducted true Health Care Reform.