Bucking the trend and praising the U.S. health care system?

Recently the Obama transition team asked Americans to get together, talk about health care in America and report back the thoughts, ideas and suggestions from such meetings. You can read more about the questions the Obama campaign suggested as discussion points here, but they range from defining the biggest current problem in our system to questions about how each group thinks public policy can actually help to questions delving into what kind of care people had gotten, and how they had health insurance to begin with.

Dr. Val Jones from Better Health held one such group, and her report on it is interesting, mostly because she seems to feel that most of us take a glass half empty approach to looking at our health care system, while she definitely sees the glass half full

She says: "Although we had been instructed to compile a list of compelling stories about system failures – instead we decided to be rebellious and discuss “what’s right with the healthcare system” and compile a list of best practices" 

But reading the suggestion question list (again, excerpted here) sounds like they weren't exactly the crazy rebels they wanted to paint themselves as. Yes, there were questions asking to illustrate a system gone wrong, but mostly the question guide seems to want to delve into finding out what people want and what they would consider best practices to be. As an employer I found it particularly interesting that the Obama team wanted to know if people in the room knew how much their employers paid for the health care benefits they, as employees, received. I'm betting most have no idea whatsoever. 

Anyway, Val goes on to list 10 good things. She mentions Kaiser Permanente a few times, which interested me, since they're my provider. I'm actually quite satisfied with the care and coverage I've received as a long-time Kaiser customer, but let's be clear that I (knock on wood) haven't taxed them too hard.

A couple of the items on the list have nothing to do with the American health care system per se. I wouldn't consider #4-Social Media, for example, an American health care system feature or innovation, those same apps (and people participating on them) are available worldwide. 

And one other big blind spot about the list is that some of the positives listed are only available if you already have insurance. Which is awesome, but I think it's a given that most of us consider the number of Americans who do not have insurance to be one of the biggest problems and burdens on the system. I find it unintentionally ironic (or maybe I mean oxymoronic) to refer to "democratic" accessibility, which just happens to be limited to those already with coverage.

I think most of us who are looking at our system as glass half empty are doing so because it seems un-American to be satisfied with being able to make a list such as Val's, knowing it doesn't even apply to so many people. 

Here's my analogy: Would you go to a Club Med resort in the middle of an impoverished region (as many of them are) and tout the availability of fresh, potable water within the resort's confines as one of the things that country's government was doing really well...while people died every day outside its walls from the lack of clean drinking water? I don't think so...the pride about providing for resort-goers might be mitigated just a bit by shame over being unable to take care of the rest of your countrymen and women.

So, what I would have liked to see close out Val's list was at least one idea, from what sounds like an esteemed group gathered at her house, about how to truly democratize those great things happening in our health care system. And how to improve accessibility for those uncovered and level of coverage to those under-covered.

Isn't THAT the biggest challenge the Obama administration faces?

Val: How about a sequel? :)

Comments

[Dr. Val]

Well, you're right Elisa that we didn't discuss the problem of the uninsured. We figured we'd leave that to the other 2999 community groups. :) And yes, it'd be fun to have a sequel! Thanks for linking to me... please consider me for your blog roll. :)

[Elisa Camahort]

Total oversight that I had yet to add you, Val. Consider it done :)