The Truth About Healthcare

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of working in one of the largest research hospitals in the United States. In fact, the hospital was ranked in the top forty world wide. If you have never associated with a research hospital, then let me familiarize you with how it works. Doctors and scientists looking for funding have a grant writer prepare a document explaining the focus of the research and how it will help benefit society. This document is then sent to the National Institute of Health (which will be referred to henceforth as the NIH) where they decide to either fund their research or not. This is one of several ways that they procure funding. If the research is promising enough (meaning that a corporate giant can feed off of it for a few years) then the doctor or scientist can get private as well as public funding. It is not unusual for the government to fund research that benefits one of the many drug companies in the United States.

The hospital I worked for had over six million square feet of floor space with a minimum of seventy five percent of that space dedicated to research laboratories. They continually remodel existing space and have a continuous thirty year building plan to add to that space. Yes my friends, there is money in that there research. Most laboratories in this hospital were about twelve hundred square feet with each lab having a lead researcher and several grad students to complete the work. The reason I am breaking this down for you will soon be apparent. This hospital also has a three billion dollar endowment. Which is to say they have three billion invested which the interest collected each year only provides seventeen percent of their funding. Now I didn't do the math, but that is allot of green flowing through the place. Now I am no accountant, but this is one of hundreds of such institutions throughout the United States which collects its funding by one of several sources. One, they get public money from the NIH. They can get financing from DARPA. They can get financing from the EPA. They can even get financing from the drug companies. However, when you break it down, it all comes from us doesn't it.

Now, I am not saying that we shouldn't do research. In fact I am for research. Yet, how is this research prioritized and who decides what is important. There are several ways to look at it. AIDS has been a terrible plague on the world, especially in Africa. But, the flu kills more people. It is no different than the war in Iraq. Since the beginning of the war, about 3500 to 4000 men have lost their lives and it has become a political hot potato. In that same amount of time twenty five Americans a day have lost their lives to crimes committed by illegal aliens. That is a staggering nine hundred thousand deaths due to failed domestic policy. Who makes these decisions people? YOU!!! Now I digress. I know I have taken us slightly off track but I am trying to make a point.

To get back to my main point, health care in America is shameful. The amount of money spent each year in research cannot begin to be counted. There is just so much money spent, it surpasses the space program in size. Now I would love to see a cure for cancer, but at what price. In the mid nineties, the government researched the idea of universal health care. One of the ways they did this was with Tenncare, a program in Tennessee that not only failed miserably, but was planned to fail. The state spent huge sums of money to have a middle man write checks to the end provider. The final analysis is that managed care turned out to be unmanaged money. Now to drive my final point home, if one third of the money spent in the U.S. on research was spent on preventive care, there would be no health care crises in America. I know that I cannot afford insurance and that really doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that thousands upon thousands of doctors receive huge sums of money with no net contribution to the people who actually provide that funding.

It is time for America to put our money in the right places. If you notice earlier I said that we should spend on preventative care. Meaning every American would be insured by the government. (Now wait before you freak out) This insurance would be free of cost if the person insured lived a certain lifestyle. If you smoke, you pay. If you jump out of airplanes, you pay. If you race motorcycles, you pay. Now, this insurance would provide for a doctor visit every six months whether you needed it or not. At this visit, you would be tested to see what ailments you were susceptible to. If for instance you were susceptible to skin cancer, you would be required to limit your time in direct sunlight and required to eat a certain diet. Now, you have a choice not to do this. If you choose to lay out in the sun every week knowing that you are liable to get skin cancer, then you would be required to pay. If you a susceptible to lung cancer and you smoke two packs a day, then you pay.

This system would allow all Americans the health care that is so desperately needed and it would also require the people to be responsible for their choices. If you knew that your wallet would shrink with every pound that you gained, then maybe you wouldn't spend twenty dollars on the value menu for dinner. Yes, Americans should be responsible for their health. But at this point, we are spending huge (and I mean huge) sums of cash with no net gain. Where is the balance? There is a way people, and the money is already being spent. Do we really need to cure every disease or should we treat as many as possible? Do we really need to take the worlds problems on our shoulders? Or should we let charity and God take care of those? I say we cut research to the bone, if the drug companies want new products, let them finance the entire venture. Our money is being spent so that someone can take more of it. How in the hell did we get to this point. I am not a socialist, but there is a dire need for health care for everyone and for the last time I am going to say it. WE ARE ALREADY SPENDING THE MONEY, THE CASH IS THERE, IT IS JUST BEING USED THE WRONG WAY RIGHT NOW.

Now to end my endless rhetoric. America can do better. Somewhere we got lost. The system became corrupted. We can do something but it will take all of us. Do something today. Write your congressman. Find out how much money is spent on research in your area and who actually benefits from the spending. Congress has opened it's checkbook for corporate America and it is time we finally helped the people. The final note. Everything that is good for business is not good for the people!!!! ZGRINCH