Comments from an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner on Health Care reform

Here's an interesting note from an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner concerning the health care debate. She's been working in the emergency room for almost 30 years. Her note was in response to an inflamatory email regarding the futality of health care reform. I offer this note here not as a way to say anything in particular, but simply to share the point of view of a seasoned ER practitioner with anyone who is interested:

She says:

First of all, if you ask a great many nurses, mid-level providers and physicians there are many in favor of a single payer system but have not been allowed to be at the table for discussion. This is in most part to fear from the conservative right and the power of the insurance and pharmaceutical industry lobby.

Secondly, we already ration health care. Many insurance companies take months to schedule proceedures, if they agree to pay for them at all. We are ALL paying for the lack of health care of both our own citizens as well as others here illegally. We pay because they come to the ER and we have an obligation to care for them. We pay because people without health care are far sicker as they get older and have been unable to receive preventative care or early diagnosis and treatment of chronic illness resulting in more severe chronic illness and more secondary complications. We pay because these people are far less productive in our society.

The United States far outspends other countries on our health care and we are NOT healthier. We practice medicine to avoid lawsuits, many of them frivolous because after all, my illness or misfortune MUST be someone else's fault and there MUST be some way for me to benefit at someone else's cost. Without tort reform, we cannot hope to decrease unnecessary spending in the health care system.

A single payer system would insure that everyone is covered and golly you might need to wait a little while for that plastic surgery boost or elective bunion repair. Suppose anyone will die from that? I do not believe we will ration necessary care to those who are truely ill and in need. We do not have to duplicate the Canadian system or any other. We can create our own but we have to start somewhere to begin to change what is a topheavy, overmanaged, corporate and insurance and CEO benefiting system that is NOT making us a healthier country. So there you have it, for whatever it is worth."

M. Allin

ARNP