November 24, 2004

Every once in a while I see a news story about the coming "doctor shortage". There are millions of people getting ever closer to the end of their life, a time when most people need medical care the most. But if you, like me, look at the yellow pages in the phone book and think of the incredible numbers of doctors of all kinds available, it's hard to imagine a shortage.

That shortage just might not be a figment of some reporter's imagination, however. There are two things driving the coming problem, and the increased number of elderly people is only a small part of one of them, much as the newspapers love to punch your hot button by using the "baby boomer" label for their nonsense.

So, what is the real problem? Government, of course. While everyone was arguing the relative merits of socialized medicine and "national health care", our medical system became almost totally socialized without most people being aware... except most of the doctors and many other health care professionals.

Oh, many of them thought it was a wonderful idea at first, but that quickly changed as they compared notes with their European counterparts and watched their bottom lines go into the red. Yes, most ordinary family physicians take home less money than the average factory worker, believe it or not. Here is an exceptionally good article from Lew Rockwell on the subject.

The specialists are still doing pretty well, but their time is coming, and most of them know it. When the price of something is manipulated to be less than its real value, people will tend to use more of it and use it less wisely. There are people who will feed real butter to the cat because they got it for "free" from the government, which used stolen money - stolen from YOU - to buy the butter from the farmer. Then they give it to the woman with the cat - all at an incredible cost for storage, transport and bookkeeping, far beyond the real value of the product. See what I mean? That's welfare on steroids, and has been going on for a very long time. That's one of the reasons you probably can't afford to buy butter, believe it or not. See this if you want to learn more about this insanity.

Medicare "gives" unlimited access to medical care, at little or no cost to those who "qualify". The doctors have an incredible overhead of liability and other insurance, office space and staff, equipment, endless regulations and rules that limit their efficiency. Compensation from Medicare or insurance companies is far below their expenses in many cases.

Multiply that by all the millions of people who see the doctor constantly because they can and don't have to pay the real cost for it. Think about that the next time you have to wait two weeks or a month to get in to see the doctor, and then only talk to him for 5 minutes or less. When too many people try to use a service they don't have to pay for, and the government pays the provider less than it is worth, that service will eventually not be available at all.

Doctors are leaving the profession in record numbers, and there are fewer all the time being graduated from US schools. Many of the doctors who remain are no longer accepting Medicare patients, and that will soon spread to most forms of insurance as well. Don't like seeing foreign doctors? Too bad. They will increasingly become the only doctors willing to work. Much the same is happening to nursing and other health care professions.

How many times a year do you go to see a doctor? What makes you go? How do you determine that you NEED to see a doctor? Often we have to go in order to get refills for prescription medicine, or to get a change of medication. A lot of people could eliminate the visit AND the medications if they really wanted to, but it's much easier to go to the doctor and swallow pills than to change a lifestyle and eat right. At least it's easier if you think going to the doctor is free.

You might think about it, however, because there's a pretty good chance that there won't BE a doctor for you to see in the near future, and government is just likely to pass stupid laws that will make it "illegal" for doctors to take private patients who will pay them directly. This is supposed to help YOU, of course, and it could if you don't really NEED a doctor... but, especially with the ongoing loss of hospitals and emergency rooms, you might want to cut down on the high risk stuff like skiing and mountain climbing, or figure out a way to avoid the rush hour traffic, because - especially in more rural areas - there a good chance you won't be able to get any kind of intelligent medical care, no matter how much you need it.

Most of the health problems we have could be avoided if we just listened to our grandmothers. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Eat your vegetables, get 8 hours of sleep, work hard, but avoid stress. Don't smoke, don't drink too much, and stay away from the ladies of the night. That should just about cover it. Good luck.

Remember all this the next time you hear someone ranting about the "right" to health care.

Please send me your comments and questions too! Use the feedback form below. Thanks! Susan Callaway, RN

Other health information resources:

Simple Care - The Future of Health Care

It's Simple!
Patients and their physicians are returning to a true patient-driven health care paradigm. As the ranks of the uninsured grow and businesses are strangled with increasing health insurance premiums - many are turning to SimpleCare as a viable and logical solution. Physicians and allied health care providers can charge a lesser fee when the patients pay them in full at the time of service. Patients are understanding the basic economics and savings with "pay-as-you-go" health care and providers across the country are rallying behind them by charging a fair fee when patients pay in full at the time of care. SimpleCare puts the CARE back into healthcare. Combine SimpleCare with a high deductible/ major catastrophic health insurance policy (rather than the "traditional" managed care type plans) and you may find that health care IS affordable for you after all! SimpleCare is a natural fit with the new HSA's (Health Savings Accounts) signed into law December 8, 2003. George Bush stated upon signing the law - "With this law, we are creating Health Savings Accounts so that all Americans can put money away for health care ... tax free!" SimpleCare provides the format for an individual to chose what kind health care they want and who is going to provide it to them - it is their choice - not a third party. (See more here!)

Real Medical Freedom

The Mayo Clinic has thousands of pages of information about asthma and almost every other health problem known to man. The information at this site is presented in language that most people should be able to understand. Bookmark this page and use it regularly to find reliable and timely information about any health issues that interests you. Other good resources are listed below.

MedlinePlus is owned and operated by the U.S. Government, so take things here with a grain of salt. Lots of good information here anyway. This is much more technical and is most useful to medical professionals or people who have done a lot of reading about the subject already.

National Library of Medicine. This is also owned and operated by the U.S. Government, but it contains a great deal of useful information on every medical topic imaginable. Unfortunately, most of the medical research in this country is done by government funding, at least in part, so there is not much available that is totally independent. That will only be possible when the free market can be restored and government reduced to its Constitutional limits.

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