In our last few blogs, we have set the stage for a deeper\nconversation on Medicare For All (MFA). We\nhave looked at some of the macro and micro numbers, and there is a bit more to\nexplore. In our upcoming blogs, we will\ndive further into potential costs and ways to pay for MFA, as well as suggest\nsome real tangible ideas on three \u201cmust do\u201d items:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fact is, anyone that does not propose doing all three of\nthese items, is ultimately proposing something that will not work in the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just for a moment, let\u2019s look at other countries with single\npayors or socialized medicine… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the examples mentioned repeatedly are Northern\nEuropean countries like Norway, Finland, and Denmark. Two others that I\u2019d like to add are Canada\n(CN) and the United Kingdome (UK), mainly because we can read their information\neasier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I could also talk about my birth country, Cuba. Cuba\u2019s healthcare is the subject of much\nreferenced relation to the U.S. in print and in media. As is the case with most conversations about\nCuba, what tourists, journalists and people who live outside of that focus, see\nand experience are very different from reality. I will say that from actual experience of\npeople who have been there and been treated, the fact that you have \u201chealthcare\nprofessionals\u201d in surplus, and healthcare is free, does not mean that\nhealthcare is even remotely comparable to 90 miles north of Havana. I have friends who have experienced healthcare\nin Cuba. They informed me that there\nwere a lot of attendants and doctors however, in all cases, they did not have\ntools, diagnostic equipment and lacked the basic medical supplies every doctor\u2019s\noffice has in the U.S.; not to mention what is available at hospitals in the\nU.S. I have witnessed this lack with my\nown eyes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the U.S., I expect that if we chose to create an MFA to\nhave a fully bifocaled system of care (that seems to be the developing case in\nthe UK and CN) one where the wealthy will choose private care, and\/or come to\nthe U.S. for treatment, versus sometimes waiting months to be treated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the UK, a country with 66 million people expending\napproximately $4,200 (USD) per capita for their Universal Healthcare program, that\u2019s\nabout 50% less than the per capital in the U.S. \nThere are clear values in a universal health program, and there are\nchallenges. Some of those challenges are\ntime to receive care or treatment, lack of personalized options, employed\nmedical staff (nurses and doctors), long waiting periods for procedures and\nsurgeries, and bureaucratic challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For example, 7% of the population of the UK are on active\nwaiting lists. On average, 350,000 wait\nlonger than three (3) months for treatment; 90,000 waited longer than six (6)\nmonths and thousands wait longer than one year for treatment. One amazing fact we discovered is that 9% of\nall physician posts (capacity needed) remain unfilled; that is a shortage of\n11,000 physicians. Let\u2019s remember, it\ntakes about 10 years of post-secondary school to produce a medical doctor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Canada, the median waiting period to see a specialist\nafter referral is 10 weeks, and the time between diagnosis and treatment can be\nmonths. The average Canadian can wait up\nto three (3) months to visit an ENT and four (4) months to see an orthopedic \u2013\neven longer to see a neurologist. Normally\nif you need to see a neurologist, it is important to be seen in a more timely\nmanner. I lived that scare last year\nwith a family member. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In certain areas of the U.S., we have long waiting times;\nhowever, nothing like CN or UK. The\nsurveys tell us that the average is 21 days to see a specialist; something I\nhave also experienced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I personally know Canadians that pay for private U.S.-based\nhealth insurance to handle any priority care they could need and receive service\nin Detroit (MI), Buffalo (NY), Boston (MA) or even New York City. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Excessive waiting times are unacceptable to Americans who\nhave healthcare insurance provided by their employers. Furthermore, it\u2019s also unacceptable for those\ncovered by Medicare, who also have access to on-demand care for needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our intent is not to diminish the value of other systems\nthat have worked for more than half a century. If America had made the transition to a more\nsocialized system after World War II, it could have worked in the 1950s and\neven up to 1965 when Medicare and Medicaid began. Today, we think it is impossible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of the countries that adopted a single payor after the\nSecond World War were able to benefit from an exploding population boom and a\nrelatively young population with modest demand for healthcare and growing\neconomic power. The growth of Japan,\nGermany, France, Spain and the UK post-war was an economic miracle. However, we are now on the back side of the Baby\nBoomer wave and the developed world is aging fast. The last time I checked, the median age in\nJapan was about 45 years old; EU was 42 and the U.S. was 38, and aging. Japan, EU in general, and the UK are facing\nmaterial pressure on medical cost. The\ncracks are showing, as waiting lines grow. \nCanada and the UK have a private fee-for-service alternative emerging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. continues to have the base of private systems with\ntwo huge government sponsored programs and we lead in innovation and\ntechnology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We need to focus on the solutions that free markets, as well\nas innovations and technology that can and currently are, bringing to the\nmarket. The American consumer has never\nbeen more connected, engaged and demanding. In fact, one of the best ways to change the\nhealthcare problems is to empower the consumer even more \u2013 technology is the\nonly way today to do that! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In our next blog, we will continue to explore how a proposed\nMFA will impact the healthcare and health industry in the U.S., as well as how the\nimpact can impact both access and cost. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In our last few blogs, we have set the stage for a deeper conversation on Medicare For All (MFA). We have looked at some of the macro and micro numbers, and there is a bit more to explore. In our upcoming blogs, we will dive further into potential costs and ways to pay for MFA, as well as suggest some real tangible ideas on three \u201cmust do\u201d items: Expand healthcare coverage to those not covered today Lower the cost of care Improve healthcare for our society The fact is, anyone […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3925,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/AdobeStock_110439297.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3924"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3924\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3926,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3924\/revisions\/3926"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pwer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}