What do YOU think is the most important issue in health care today?

[Hemichordate]

.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[IceMan0824]

How can we continue to afford healthcare with American's sense of entitlement?

 

[Long Dong]

Doctor's compensation.

 

[ayushman80]

There are a couple of points here.

1) Our healthcare "Problem" is not as huge when viewed in the big world picture.
2) Competition between companies should drive down prices...theoretically... But for some reason healthcare is more expensive than ever.
3) And I have to agree with long dong on this one...I think that doctor salaries are dropping too much for the amount and complexity of the work they do.

 

[armybound]

the fact that everyone thinks it's so broken that it has to be majorly revamped ASAP.

 

[IceMan0824]

the fact that everyone thinks it's so broken that it has to be majorly revamped ASAP.

Amen to that.

 

[Daydreamer2008]

the fact that everyone thinks it's so broken that it has to be majorly revamped ASAP.

Those that are in denial that it's not broken

 

[nu2004]

most people don't know about SDN, or take it seriously enough

 

[armybound]

Those that are in denial that it's not broken

reading comprehension ftw

 

[BigRedder]

There are a couple of points here.

1) Our healthcare "Problem" is not as huge when viewed in the big world picture.
2) Competition between companies should drive down prices...theoretically... But for some reason healthcare is more expensive than ever.
3) And I have to agree with long dong on this one...I think that doctor salaries are dropping too much for the amount and complexity of the work they do.

1) It sort of is a problem when we bill ourselves as "The Greatest Country in the World".
2) Competition only drives down prices when consumers have a choice, and usually that choice is made by their employer. Competition in this case is driving down costs, aka physician reimbursements and pharmaceuticals.
3) Not so fast

 

[nu2004]

1) It sort of is a problem when we bill ourselves as "The Greatest Country in the World".
2) Competition only drives down prices when consumers have a choice, and usually that choice is made by their employer. Competition in this case is driving down costs, aka physician reimbursements and pharmaceuticals.
3) Not so fast

 

[EpiPEN]

the $$

 

[KnuxNole]

Obesity

Also, the fact that too many Americans are highly dependent on prescription drugs for every little sniffle to get. Not saying I would ignore their cries, but there are numerous ways for an individual to take care of themselves(eat healthy, exercise reguarly) so that they won't be another statistic in the heart attack/stroke death toll.

 

[vikingvallhalla]

The people who chose to spend their money on flat screen tv's, vacations, or whatever else instead of health insurance

 

[seansss]

preventitve care... In America we like to wait till there is a problem to fix. I think primary care docs should help Americans more by finding the issues before they become life threatening/altering. And its not helping that we hardly ever get annual exams like we should......

 

[Daydreamer2008]

reading comprehension ftw

but we scored the same on VR! I meant: Those that are in denial that it's sorta broken but not enough that it needs to be revamped ASAP

 

[ryandote]

.

 

[matt24]

definitely preventive care. everyone thinks prescriptions will solve their problems, but focus should be more on prevention.

 

[Daydreamer2008]

They ought to go back and take a few more points off, then.

If you are denying (in denial) that it's sorta broken but not enough that it needs to be revamped - that means you think it's NOT sorta broken and that it DOES need to be revamped.

That kind of sounds like your point of view... making YOUR biggest problem in medicine YOU ?

oh goodness. I was just trying to make light out of the subject, alright. relax people

 

[ryandote]

.

 

[Wylde]

That people feel they should have everything paid for them.

get a ****ing job, claiming more fed-aid because you have 20 kids doesn't count.

 

[Bcblazer]

I think that medicine has become overly commercialized. Competition is good, the free market is good, but medicine is (or should be) primarily about service. The money-making mindset puts the physician, not the patient, first.

 

[RySerr21]

preventitve care... In America we like to wait till there is a problem to fix. I think primary care docs should help Americans more by finding the issues before they become life threatening/altering. And its not helping that we hardly ever get annual exams like we should......

i totally agree.... but you aren't going to change the way that primary care docs do their job so that it involves more preventive medicine....thats why there is a specialty called preventive medicine.


other than that...i totally agree...which is why i am interested in going into preventive medicine ....specifically workign with heart disease...the fact that is the leading cause of death in this country is unacceptable. it shouldn't even exist...and it doesnt, for most of the world.

even more f'd up is the fact that we know how to prevent it...we know how to reverse it...we have seen preventive therapies that work better than the drugs....that work better than the 50K invasive surgeries..... but we don't use them. its all about the "quick fix." give me this pill that will fix the heart disease that his been developing my whole life!!! ummm sorry...it doenst work like that.

and its more than just the docs and the drug companies who want to make the money.... its the patients who are unwilling to face the fact that their lifestyle is what caused their disease and that the only thing that will get rid of it is a CHANGE in that lifestyle.

 

[Long Dong]

1) It sort of is a problem when we bill ourselves as "The Greatest Country in the World".
2) Competition only drives down prices when consumers have a choice, and usually that choice is made by their employer. Competition in this case is driving down costs, aka physician reimbursements and pharmaceuticals.
3) Not so fast

Your number 3 is a bunch of crap. Saying "incomes increased in 2005, and the average overall increase was 6 percent. The biggest jumps occurred in dermatology, gastroenterology, and cardiac/thoracic surgery; all tallied gains from 10 to 12 percent. For the most part, however, those specialists also significantly increased their production. (AMGA)"

Dude for the amount of production they increased the income should of been increased alot more then 6%, and they don't talk about all the decreases in compensation that have been going on for the past 2 decades pre-clinton/hmo era. The increases that article states are just a drop in the bucket compared to slashing of compensation that has been going on. These insurance company ceo's are getting rich.

 

[nu2004]

Your number 3 is a bunch of crap.

you're right, the author of the article and the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine have no idea what they're talking about.

not like that rag is particularly vetted in the first place...

 

[seansss]

i totally agree.... but you aren't going to change the way that primary care docs do their job so that it involves more preventive medicine....thats why there is a specialty called preventive medicine.


other than that...i totally agree...which is why i am interested in going into preventive medicine ....specifically workign with heart disease...the fact that is the leading cause of death in this country is unacceptable. it shouldn't even exist...and it doesnt, for most of the world.

even more f'd up is the fact that we know how to prevent it...we know how to reverse it...we have seen preventive therapies that work better than the drugs....that work better than the 50K invasive surgeries..... but we don't use them. its all about the "quick fix." give me this pill that will fix the heart disease that his been developing my whole life!!! ummm sorry...it doenst work like that.

and its more than just the docs and the drug companies who want to make the money.... its the patients who are unwilling to face the fact that their lifestyle is what caused their disease and that the only thing that will get rid of it is a CHANGE in that lifestyle.

exactly my thoughts! I know there are more issues that we face, but this one just really sticks out in my eyes. Other than this I would say what about the 40 million people, just in the US, w\o adequate health care? The billing system is also ridiculous. Unfortunately everything that people do is gonna have flaws, and medicine isn't a perfect science. But I think we could do more to fix some of the current issues.... Thats just my .02

 

[RySerr21]

exactly my thoughts! I know there are more issues that we face, but this one just really sticks out in my eyes. Other than this I would say what about the 40 million people, just in the US, w\o adequate health care? The billing system is also ridiculous. Unfortunately everything that people do is gonna have flaws, and medicine isn't a perfect science. But I think we could do more to fix some of the current issues.... Thats just my .02

you should read The Healthcare Fix by Lawrence Kotlkikoff....its pretty interesting, and only 90 pages. he breaks down what he feels are the biggest problems with the healthcare system (what he says is shocking and makes sense at the same time) and he also proposes a way to fix all of it. you may not agree with the way he proposes we fix it all...but hey its still a good read and is good to know all the possible solutions that have been proposed....

the one thing most everyone can agree on is that SOMETHING needs to change.

 

[nu2004]

the one thing most everyone can agree on is that SOMETHING needs to change.

well, we could start with the way people (mis)use it...

 

[seansss]

you should read The Healthcare Fix by Lawrence Kotlkikoff....its pretty interesting, and only 90 pages. he breaks down what he feels are the biggest problems with the healthcare system (what he says is shocking and makes sense at the same time) and he also proposes a way to fix all of it. you may not agree with the way he proposes we fix it all...but hey its still a good read and is good to know all the possible solutions that have been proposed....

the one thing most everyone can agree on is that SOMETHING needs to change.

I actually read that book earlier this year and did a paper on it.... Your right I didn't really agree with his "fix", but his intentions are good. I just finished reading better by Atul Gawande I really enjoyed that. I'm really interested in this kind of stuff mostly b\c of my father. He was an OBGYN and now he works for Humana (health insurance) so we talk alot about how the system can be improved.

 

[RySerr21]

well, we could start with the way people (mis)use it...

or we could start with........ or with....... or even......... why not with.....

 

[nu2004]

or we could start with........ or with....... or even......... why not with.....

great suggestions, i heartily agree

 

[katarzyna]

If I were a physician to an obese guy who doesn't want to change his lifestyle but only wants quick fixes and wants his meds right now, I'd tell him "I ain't givin' it to you until you change your lifestyle."

JK.

lol

No I won't ever do that. He would sue me.

Prevention! Prevention! Prevention!

It is what we need.

 

[RySerr21]

great suggestions, i heartily agree

the point was there are hundreds of places you could start. does it really matter which one it is? they all need to be addressed.

 

[RySerr21]

If I was a physician to an obese guy who doesn't want to change his lifestyle but only wants quick fixes and wants his meds right now, I'd tell him "I ain't givin' it to you until you change your lifestyle."

JK.

lol

No I won't ever do that. He would sue me.

Prevention! Prevention! Prevention!

It is what we need.

amen

 

[katarzyna]

and its more than just the docs and the drug companies who want to make the money.... its the patients who are unwilling to face the fact that their lifestyle is what caused their disease and that the only thing that will get rid of it is a CHANGE in that lifestyle.

well said.

another thing i hate is that some of these people are coming up with these frivolous lawsuits like suing MickeyD's.

 

[searun]

I think the major problem is all of these high school girls that are getting knocked up. So we need to figure out how to keep these teenagers from having so much sex. If we can keep them from having so much sex, it will benefit society in many ways. I mean when you see a knocked up teenager, what can you say?

 

[seansss]

I think the major problem is all of these high school girls that are getting knocked up. So we need to figure out how to keep these teenagers from having so much sex. If we can keep them from having so much sex, it will benefit society in many ways. I mean when you see a knocked up teenager, what can you say?

Titanium chastity belts FTW

 

[Tenk]

Childhood obesity.

 

[Bacchus]

I think preventative care is #1 and then physician compensation/tort reform (I'm from PA) is a very close #2.

 

[katarzyna]

I think the major problem is all of these high school girls that are getting knocked up. So we need to figure out how to keep these teenagers from having so much sex. If we can keep them from having so much sex, it will benefit society in many ways. I mean when you see a knocked up teenager, what can you say?

Ohhh yesssssss.

Abstinence FTW
and no i'm not being sarcastic.

 

[nu2004]

the point was there are hundreds of places you could start. does it really matter which one it is? they all need to be addressed.

my point was that i do think it matters where we start. it's impossible to design a system that can't be abused. i think that a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach will have greater long-term aggregate success.