And this fear will be marketed and delivered to the American people in all shapes, sizes, configurations, and mediums.
Let me give you a word or two about how the New York Times delivered a dose of fear today.
If you read the online edition of the New York Times, as I do, you might pay particular attention to the list of the top emailed news stories.
I constantly ponder this list. I believe it's a window into the mood or zeitgeist, if you will, of the quite affluent and educated readers of the newspaper of record.
Today's most emailed piece is what I would call, scare journalism at its best--or worst.
Even I emailed it to a few people. I can only imagine what others were thinking. Something like, uh oh.
Microfinance’s Success Sets Off a Debate in Mexico
Choice Tables | Montreal: These Chefs Believe in Sticking Close to Home
Op-Ed Contributors: Tighten Your Belt, Strengthen Your Mind
Paul Krugman: Voodoo Health Economics
Gail Collins: White Guys Are Back
Work Every Bit as Wild as It Is Woolly
Editorial Observer: The Already Big Thing on the Internet: Spying on Users
Timothy Egan: Big Sky Slugfest
The opening paragraphs are about lengthy waiting lists for an appointment with a primary care physician in Massachusetts.
Waits to see a doctor have increased since Massachusetts instituted mandated insurance. Residents of Massachusetts who, at minimum, are now required to purchase bare bones, high deductible junk insurance, are usually permitted even with this crap coverage, to see a doctor at a nominal cost. Hence there is a surge of patients amongst the huge numbers of previously uninsured who have deferred healthcare for too long. The system is straining under the increased load.
AMHERST, Mass. — Once they discover that she is Dr. Kate, the supplicants line up to approach at dinner parties and ballet recitals. Surely, they suggest to Dr. Katherine J. Atkinson, a family physician here, she might find a way to move them up her lengthy waiting list for new patients.
Those fortunate enough to make it soon learn they face another long wait: Dr. Atkinson’s next opening for a physical is not until early May — of 2009.
In pockets of the United States, rural and urban, a confluence of market and medical forces has been widening the gap between the supply of primary care physicians and the demand for their services. Modest pay, medical school debt, an aging population and the prevalence of chronic disease have each played a role.
Now in Massachusetts, in an unintended consequence of universal coverage, the imbalance is being exacerbated by the state’s new law requiring residents to have health insurance.
Since last year, when the landmark law took effect, about 340,000 of Massachusetts’ estimated 600,000 uninsured have gained coverage. Many are now searching for doctors and scheduling appointments for long-deferred care.
And the sick fuck president, wouldn't you know it, wants to cut funding to primary care training programs.
The situation may worsen as large numbers of general practitioners retire over the next decade. The incoming pool of doctors is predominantly female, and many are balancing child-rearing with part-time work. The supply is further stretched by the emergence of hospitalists — primary care physicians who practice solely in hospitals, where they can earn more and work regular hours. President Bush has proposed eliminating $48 million in federal support for primary care training programs.
We're being led to believe by this type of journalism that if we bring the 47 million uninsured into the system, it will mean big problems for those of us already privileged to pay for the very expensive and very worthless for-profit insurance we're lucky to have.
In a country which worships at the alter of I, me and mine, this article raises some troubling questions. What's going to happen to me and my family when we add 47 million undoubtedly sick Americans in desperate need of healthcare to our already broken system?
I'll leave you with this.
On April 15th, as you pay your taxes to the Iraq Internal Revenue Service, PBS will air a Frontline called Sick Around the World I hope you'll watch it and ask yourself how the government spends your money.
Did you know the U.S. healthcare system rates 37th in the world?
The entire civilized world, with the notable exception of the United States, can provide healthcare to all its citizens.
