There are two major issues here, as I see it. 1.) Health care costs money, in populations which are aging and/or the possibilities of treatment are continually increasing these costs will increase. This is a basic fact which most politicians, whatever their political colour, are not prepared to honestly say. I'll go farther and say that good, universally available health care costs any society a lot of money. The real question is whether a society is prepared to spend this money in this way. Lots of other things cost lots of money too and there seems o b no problem about spending it - so-called "defence" budgets ar one example. And, as I have argued here before, money spent/redistributed in the health area remains relatively useful for the economy at large - it provides large amounts of secure jobs for people in all levels of skill and income (from cleaners to consultant medical specialists), thus providing strength for many local economies.
2.) Issues of distribution of costs and spending within any medical system are important; because they can help increase the efficiency of these systems. As such, the considerations addressed in the article linked by Don are legitimate - but only from a purely planning/ logistical point of view. The major problems start when such means of analysis are taken out of their proper logistical context and used as a foundation for defining goals and choices. Our problem is the increasing economisation of all aspects of human life - reducing every issue to a question of costs and then following the maxim that less costs are always preferable. The frightening thing is that this way of thinking so dominates our world that we frequently don't even question it any more. My general experience is that people (and this applies to individuals and societies equally) generally find ways to afford the things that are most important to them. The primary question we seem to ask is; how much does it cost? Maybe a better one would be; what are we worth to ourselves and each other? Francis On 4 Sep., 08:38, Don Johnson <[email protected]> wrote: > This is a very interesting article. I'm not suggesting we'll end up > with something like this but it certainly makes for chilling reading. > One major problem with current doctors(according to Dr. Emanuel) is > the Hippocratic Oath. It's all very coldly logical and would be very > effective in reducing costs I believe. If I got to keep the > sweetheart health care our law makers get I'd probably vote for it > myself. > > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020370660457437446328009... > > How 'bout you? > > dj --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/minds-eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
