Disqus - Latest Comments for horsymom

Re: ABQNews: Health Care Debate: Day 4

horsymom — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 01:50:35 -0000

Mr. Burgos,

The health care the uninsured have access to is often only emergency care, especially in the rural areas of New Mexico. And that's often too little, too late. As I said in my post on the first day of this discussion, these are the people who end up in my nursing home after strokes from undiagnosed hypertension or complications from uncontrolled diabetes, etc. And they are staying there under Institutional Medicaid, your tax dollar at work, for about $40,000 a year per patient (that figure may be a few years out of date, it's been awhile since I worked on the financial side of it). Couldn't we have spent that money more wisely on making health care more accessible while these folks could live independent, productive lives? Don't think I'm only talking about the elderly here, I've had patients in nursing homes in their teens, and many aged 40-60. My longest running patient has lived in the home for 25 years and counting.

I've known lots of doctors that do pro bono work. But doctors have a right to earn a living, especially after taking out $300,000 in student loans to become a GP.

Kelly

Re: ABQNews: Health Care Debate: Day 2

horsymom — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:03:08 -0000

Thank you KathyF,

For an explanation of even more alternate health care systems (Britain, Japan, Germany, Taiwan) see PBS's Frontline "Sick around the World" which discusses the pros and cons of each system. And the cons seem a lot less onerous than the ones we deal with here in the USA!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pag...

Yes, you occasionally hear of people who come to the US for treatment, but these are anecdotes, not significant statistics.. People in these countries have longer life spans, lower infant mortality, lower rates of obesity and disease, and spend a lot less than we do. None of these systems are perfect, but we can't stymie change for the better looking for (unobtainable) perfection.

Kelly

Re: ABQNews: Health Care Reform: An Online Debate

horsymom — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:42:06 -0000

Thank you Mr. Gessing,

After reading the CBO report, I gather the problem is not hordes of hypochondriacs demanding monthly MRI's, but heath care providers either knowingly gaming the system for profit or operating in localized cultures of expensive care. An eye opener for me, because as an RN married to a PT, there are accepted standards of practice that we have to operate by, and I didn't realize things are much less standardized for physicians.

However, individuals don't have much of a say in these matters. If the doctor says a test, medication, or procedure is need, the patient, fearing for their health and trusting their doctor, will go along with it. I am amazed at how few of my patients even ask for second opinions.

As for "bearing the costs for their own decisions," patients do, if not financially, then physically, when that stroke or heart attack finally arrives after years of being overweight or smoking. I do agree that everyone should be required to buy health insurance, otherwise the cost is going to overwhelm us.

Thanks again for the information and discussion,
Kelly

Re: ABQNews: Health Care Reform: An Online Debate

horsymom — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:18:18 -0000

Mr. Gessing,

Can you be more specific as to who "certain groups whether they be geographically or demographically determined have been particularly prone to over-using the health care system, thus driving up costs," might be?

As an RN who has worked in long term care for over 15 years in New Mexico, I find that statement rather odd. My most costly, most intensive patients, with the poorest outcomes, tend to be people who could not or did not access health care before a catastrophic event--untreated hypertension leading to stokes, osteoporosis leading to fractures, untreated diabetic or circulatory ulcers requiring amputation, for a few examples. Conditions that can be diagnosed and in many cases monitored, by primary care providers. This is under use of medical services, not over use.

Thank you,
Kelly