Healthcare Reform - Viewpoint from a Pre-Med

Despite the hopeful future that surrounded the election for President Obama, Americans still engage in daily battles against the ineffective and controversial healthcare system that prevail over them. Without a doubt, healthcare reform is a very challenging agenda for any President or party, but a part of this challenge stems from people not seeing the situation as clearly as they should be.

1. Adam Smith is not the solution

Several conservative politicians believe that healthcare system, too, is a economic market that will suffer if government steps in to intervene. While I believe that there is validity in fearing too much government interventions, it is incorrect to simply equate healthcare system like another economic market. From the surface, it is true that healthcare system, like fast food or clothing market, has consumers and providers. We also have a scarcity because there are more people in need of healthcare than the amount of services that are available.

But, here is the catch: unlike other economic markets, people do not have a choice whether or not to pay for the healthcare system. People can choose to avoid eating at Olive Garden and shun from buying a Coach purse because of the recession. However, they cannot decide to not become sick, so everyone, regardless of economic statuses, is in need of healthcare. So, to use Adam Smith's "invisible hand" or laissez-faire on healthcare system is wrong because this decision is beyond the ability of individuals.

2. Limited doctors - what do you expect?

Earlier this month, The New York Times ran an article explaining how there has finally been an increase in number of medical schools such as the Commonwealth Medical College in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The article also discussed how compared to 200 ABA-approved law schools in the country, United States only has 131 medical schools.¹ But, let's look at the population. More and more people are living longer, and elderly are in need of healthcare more than younger people. So, it's simple arithmetic here. If you have 10 doctors and 20 patients, each doctor will take care of 2 patients. If, however, the number of patients doubled to 40 patients, then each doctor will take care of 4 patients with same amount of time that he had.

This is often where medical malpractices come in as well. While it is true that some doctors are plainly bad and irresponsible, there are some good doctors who are just overworked and end up being negligent with some of the patients. My belief is that if you had more good doctors, then the stressful workload could be alleviated to increase the quality of healthcare.

3. Papers, papers - welcome to healthcare bureaucracy

Most people still do not understand why healthcare is so expensive. It is true that advancements in technology and developments in new drugs and tests result in higher costs. It is also true that the costs to cover medical malpractices for doctors play a significant role in keeping the cost high. But, there is another factor that's much more critical, and it's the healthcare bureaucracy. Healthcare bureaucracy consists of doctors, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, and patients. The central problem to healthcare bureaucracy is the inefficient paperwork from one part to another.

Let's say that a patient named A received a treatment that technically should cost $100 (hypothetically). Doctors add other paperwork to protect himself and his practice, so the cost jumps to say, $150. Now, he will then send the paperwork to the patient's insurance company, and as everyone can guess, this does not come from. So, the price jumps to $200, and insurance company will likely to add its own share and delay the paperwork, causing the cost to reach $300. Then, it will send the paper to the pharmaceutical company for prescribed drugs. Following this, the company will send drugs back to the doctor along with the increased cost of say, $400. On top of this, let's add about another $100 because paperwork between each one takes a long time and often stresses the patients. Thus, what should have cost $100 is now $500.

Of course, these numbers are incorrect since I just made them up, but the idea remains same. The healthcare system is in need of reform to make the transitions from each part in the healthcare bureaucracy to be more effective, lowering the cost for the patients.

As a Pre-Med student who has a great interest in law, I hope that everyone can see that healthcare reform is an extremely difficult and sensitive topic, and that doctors have to go through enormous physical and psychological trainings to reach where they are. So, let us stop generalizing the issue as just economic topic and view the issue as people-issue.

Primum non nocere - First, do not harm. This is not just for medical students, but for everyone who is trying to change the healthcare system.

1. "Expecting a Surge in U.S. Medical Schools" by Anemona Hartocollis. The New York Times. February 14, 2010.