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About Me
- dsm
- Biostatistician, Biology and Philosophy Faculty, Lacrosse Addict
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7 comments:
I agree with what the author talked about in explaining the good and bad things about rational health care. He considered both sides carefully, and he finally states that rational health care is better for the public. He makes many good points and has the numbers of surveys to back it up. America’s health care system is in trouble. The costs of medical treatments have risen and are still on the rise. It is good to see that our leaders recognize the problem and are considering ways to deal with it. Singer states that the government implicitly places a dollar value on human life by deciding how much to spend on healthcare programs, determining copayment amounts or how much to spend on someone who is uninsured but needs emergency treatment. In the public sector, public organizations such as Medicare, Medicaid, and hospital emergency rooms, health care is already being rationed by long waits, high patient co-payment requirements, low payments to the doctors which in turn discourages some physicians form serving public patients, and the limits being made on the payments to the hospital. We all have a limit that we are willing to place even on ourselves as far as what we deem is worth saving even our own lives. Something needs to be done about our current health care state and if this is a necessary precaution that needs to be taken to help us maintain a decent health care structure then so be it. I just wish there were an easier way to really make health care fair for everyone no matter what the circumstances.
Healthcare rationing
Read the article Why We Must Ration Health Care by Peter Singer. Does the author make a good case for rationing? Why or why not?
While we as American’s believe that rationing healthcare is wrong, there are many countries that do ration their public healthcare and it works. While it seems wrong to say to someone that they cannot receive certain medical care that would be available to someone else. As a country, we have to look at the bottom line sometimes. If very expensive treatment is all that is available, and the life of the patient is not going to much longer with the treatment then without we have to decide when we are going to stop the treatment and just let them die in peace. As he explained in the article a teenager does have an longer expected lifetime than someone who is eighty-five. So more treatment should be offered to the teenager first because they have more of a chance to offer something to the public than someone who is eighty-five and at the end of their natural life. While we should not just deny the healthcare to someone whose life span is going to shorter than someone else, we do have to look at the cost to provide him or her with proper care. So as a country we have to set up a system of what public funds we are going to allocate to what patient, so we have the money to treat the patient’s who are going to be able to get more out of the treatments available. Our public healthcare system is putting our country more and more in debt, trying to provide healthcare to patients who are already expected to die. That when we come to saving the life of someone who is able to offer more to our society there is no money left to pay for their treatment. So as a country we go further and further in debt.
As mentioned in the article, healthcare is rationed to some degree already, and currently to those who are able to pay for it, while those who are unable to pay go untreated. When considering whether or not to cover a miracle drug that would extend life under such circumstances many factors must be considered. First and foremost, the desires of the patient should be considered. What quality of life would the patient have? How does the family feel about this and what are their thoughts? While these should be our primary concerns, the sad reality is that the cost of this drug will be the determining factor in whether or not the patient gets this medication. However, these funds must come from somewhere, but where? I believe that healthcare must be rationed but not in a manner to exclude certain patients. Healthcare must be standardized in which a basic service is provided to all citizens. Such a system would lower costs because we would reduce the demand for expensive emergency care in situations that should be addressed sooner and in a primary care situation. I cannot assign a value to the life of another, but I do feel that we must be realistic in providing such treatments. We must ask is another six months worth this price? What will these six months be like? Will the patient derive meaning from this time?
Because healthcare resources are limited we must ration these services in a way to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number. I feel that as long as rationing is based on the greatest good for the greatest number that such practices are ethical. Such rationing must not take into account a patient’s social standing or wealth.
Much to my surprise, Peter Singer did make a good case for rationing health care. Although I found the majority of his editorial wordy and pretty mind numbing, he did manage to make a few really good points and tie together his overall thoughts and proposals by the end of his article.
I couldn’t agree with him more when he brings to light how pharmaceutical companies price gouge the United States because we will pay their astronomical prices. The fact of the matter is that if the pharmaceutical companies do not have a marketable demographic, like the U.S., to sell their outrageously priced drugs to, then they would find other means as to how to sell their products. If we refused to pay these prices as a whole and in unity with one another, then they may have no other option then to lower the prices and make them more affordable. Since we can’t do it individually, because of the current system in place, then perhaps we should all come together and form a united front and refuse to pay prices that are not comparable to other countries. There is no reason we should be paying more than anyone else for the same medication.
The article also had some valid points in regards to universal preventative care. If the uninsured woman from Atlanta had been able to purchase her high blood pressure medication at a reasonable price, she may not have ended up in the emergency room requiring so much high-tech [expensive] medical care, which in the end, didn’t extend or save her life anyway. It would have been more cost effective for the taxpayers to help offset the cost of her medication than her preventable and expensive hospital bills.
I also found it enlightening that people without insurance in Wisconsin received 20 percent less care and had a 37 percent higher death rate than those with insurance. This actually hit very close to home for me personally. When my father was hospitalized a few years ago after losing consciousness for reasons unknown, his number one fear was that he no longer had health insurance. After holding an executive spot for much of the 26 years he was employed with CBS, he lost his medical insurance when he retired. One of his major fears was that he would receive health care of less quality due to his lack of insurance. It is disheartening to know that this was and is a legitimate fear for not only my father, but for many other Americans. If America had universal healthcare, these suspicions and uncertainties could be put to rest.
In addition, Singer made a good point in that rationing public health care limits free choice if private health insurance is prohibited. But, I do agree that if a 1.5 percent tax were imposed on the American public, it would still be more affordable than private insurance. It would be nice to have peace of mind that I could obtain health care when needed without having to worry about how I would pay for it. I think it would also be good for individuals to still be able to obtain supplementary insurance aside from any universal insurance if they wished.
Something definitely needs to be done to improve the health care system in this country and it appears that although I do not have any immediate solutions, Peter Singer may have some valuable insight as to how to fix this broken system.
The writer makes a good point on rationalizing healthcare if we don’t start doing something it’s going to bring down the system down more. We know that our healthcare system is wrong when have to decide today between an 85 year old man and teenager on who gets to get saved. The only reason I think eh country is struggling is because we let money hungry insurance companies run healthcare. If somebody has to wait in the emergency room for hours dying and somebody goes first because of being wealthier that’s when you know something is wrong with the system. In the article I read that in other states people that land in the emergency room get cared but only to a certain point because they don’t have insurance. I think that is unfair for working class citizens since it’s not their fault they can’t afford insurance.
The more the people debate on rationalizing healthcare the more it goes deeper into debt. As we try to rationalize healthcare other countries are advancing in there system as we fall behind. A solution has to be found but not by deciding who gets treated first or who’s going to serve better humanity but that seems the only way our system works right now. Our healthcare system still has a long way to go.
Pharmaceutical companies are also part of the problem when they over charge on prescription that are way cheaper in other countries. The way they look at people is plain and simple if a person is in a life or death situation they have to buy it no matter what the cost. A majority of people can’t afford it so they end up in the emergency room and tax payer end up paying for it. If prescriptions were more affordable maybe tax payers wouldn’t end up picking up the tab for uninsured patients that end up in ER.
Yvette Ferguson
Peter Singer makes a good case for public healthcare rationing. I say this because I realize that it is a hard thing to refuse anyone of anything, let alone the chance to live just a little bit longer. He hit that point right away, causing the reader to take a stand even in his own resolve.
Just thinking about paying higher insurance premiums, that are already astronomical, so that someone with a terminal illness can live a few months, makes one think. These are not treatments that will make the disease or illness go away. The patient is already set on a course for death and his arrival is staggered for the mere cost of 9,000 a month, for six months, in the kidney cancer case.
He shows the U.S. government as this entity that is a afraid to stand up and say enough is enough, while making great points concerning Britain and Canada. Canada pays much less for the same medications that the United States gets, Why? I never got it until now. The U.S. is a pushover when it comes to social matters. The government does not want to appear to be "socialist." There are ways to be firm while you show compassion. These other countries are 72% satisfied with their healthcare plans. Peter Singer shows why we should take note before we as a country become bankrupt over the public healthcare system because it has over extended its generosity.
This is a hard decision to make but it is one that has to have the proverbial line drawn for the greater good and future of our dear United States. We will never be able to put a price tag on a life because all life is precious, but survival of the fittest has always been the unspoken code.
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