- Joined
- Dec 7, 2016
- Messages
- 618
- Reaction score
- 1,514
It's all but a sure thing that both Ossoff and Warnock have won in Georgia. Democrats will have a majority in the house and senate with a sitting Democratic president for the first time since 2011. Republicans have cut public healthcare spending, failed to expand Medicaid, and introduced some very regressive legislature on healthcare (e.g. the AHCA), but their policies have, in general, been good for physicians' bottom line and have allowed certain industries/innovations to flourish (though possibly at the detriment to some of those paying for them). Democrats supported the ACA and reliably support increases in healthcare spending, particularly for the underserved, but we've also seen Democrats support NP practice rights in ways that appear outright dangerous. Democrats also have a sizable contingent who support single-payer healthcare, which I will not classify as good or bad.
I'm excited to see the possibility of changes that are long overdue, but I'm also apprehensive about what they might mean for clinical salaries, physician authority in the hospital, and the viability innovative but expensive therapies (e.g. CAR T cells, gene therapy). Another part of me wonders if these changes will be "enough" to take healthcare out of the hot seat. I wonder if more Americans are insured, and they no longer face the threats of massive surprise bills (e.g. out-of-network billing for hospital stays), will the debate simmer down, or do you think this will rage on until we have a single payer system?
I'm excited to see the possibility of changes that are long overdue, but I'm also apprehensive about what they might mean for clinical salaries, physician authority in the hospital, and the viability innovative but expensive therapies (e.g. CAR T cells, gene therapy). Another part of me wonders if these changes will be "enough" to take healthcare out of the hot seat. I wonder if more Americans are insured, and they no longer face the threats of massive surprise bills (e.g. out-of-network billing for hospital stays), will the debate simmer down, or do you think this will rage on until we have a single payer system?
