Entries for June 2009

By Bernadine Healy, M.D.

Doctors want to be healers and not bean counters, President Obama observed, warming up a skeptical American Medical Association assembly gathered to hear his plans to reform healthcare last Monday afternoon. The president sought the doctors' support. They proved to be a polite and kindly audience, riveted for almost an hour. I counted close to 50 rounds of applause, much laughter, and only one round of boos.

To encourage the country's physicians to join his journey, Obama in his gracious way delivered some strong and scary talk. If comprehensive health reform is not passed, he warned, the financial health of the nation—not just our medical system—will require life support: "If we do not fix our healthcare system, America may go the way of GM: paying more, getting less, and going broke."

Doctors' overtreatment of patients was one of his big themes. All doctors have seen it, he said. And he's right. It can occasionally be a nasty way to juice up income, which is categorically unethical. But this is by no means the predominant explanation for overtreatment, which some have calculated as accounting for 20 to 30 cents of every health dollar.

By Bernadine Healy, M.D.

Change is coming to medical care in America, and it may be a done deal by summer's end. From Capitol Hill to the White House, enthusiasm is running high for President Obama's plan to morph with lightning speed the current patchwork, private-public blend of healthcare into something closer to a single-payer, government-run system. Steadfastly promising to bring high-quality, affordable care to everyone, the president assures people that they will keep their own doctor and insurance if they want, see a return of some $2,500 to their pocketbook, and become decidedly healthier. But restructuring will inevitably call for sacrifice on the part of most individuals. Today, Sen. Ted Kennedy introduced a 600-plus-page bill, the first of several bills that will be issued in a flourish in the next few weeks. Since full details of what might make it into the final legislation won't be known until later this month at the earliest, barely a month is left for any kind of public discussion before a July vote. Enough common threads have emerged, however, to indicate that people should start looking beyond the headlines now for an idea of how the new system will affect them personally. For starters, here are seven ways that your healthcare experience is apt to change: