I just spoke with McJoan about the health care debate. We take about 15-20 minutes and discussed the recent developments in this healthcare debate. (My interview with McJoan).
As a trauma surgeon, I've been following this healthcare debate extremely intensely over the last 2 to 3 years. I would like to briefly tell you a story about how healthcare (single-payer -- government payer) is so critically important. The folks on Capitol Hill are heading down the wrong direction. This is a story that can happen to almost any of us.
A 25-year-old gentleman presents to the emergency room by helicopter. He is in extremis -- his blood pressure is low and he is having difficulty breathing. 30 minutes ago, he was a perfectly healthy 25-year-old. He had no medical problems. He has no pre-existing conditions. He works in construction and has no health insurance. He simply lost control of his car on the extremely slick ice. His car slid off the road and down an embankment. He now has 2 broken legs and a broken arm. He has multiple rib fractures. Now what? With appropriate care, in six months, this young man can be as good as new. He can go back and be a productive citizens of our society. He should be able to get married and have kids like every other American. In order to get from this critical scene in the emergency room to a Norman Rockwell painting, he is going to need proximally five -- seven surgeries, a stay in intensive care and extensive rehabilitation. His hospital bill will be well over a quarter million dollars.
Now, to get to my point, what is going to be discussed tomorrow at the Summit that's going to help this 25-year-old? We need real healthcare reform in order to help Americans. We need something that is going to control costs, increase access and is portable. I'm not sure the public option comes close to this yardstick. I know that Ed Schultz and others are pushing this and that's fine. The public option is better than nothing. It help control the premium increases that we've seen.
It appears that Representative Stupak has raised its ugly head, again. He does not seem to be focused on the millions of Americans in need help. We are focused on getting healthcare to millions of Americans and he is concentrating on abortion. Why? Write an anti-abortion bill if that is what he is interested in. This is not an abortion bill. It just isn't.
I think the best that we can hope for out of the Summit is that the Republicans reveal themselves to the American people. I am hoping that the American people see that they are nothing but surrogates of big business. I hope the American people see that they have no ideas on how to seriously curb the rising costs of healthcare. That's my hope. Maybe, I'm hoping too much.
You can listen to my interview - here. It is GREAT progressive radio.