There are many interesting ideas in this world. This blog is dedicated to pursuing them wherever they go. Politics, philosophy, religion, environment, and anything else that captures imaginations and leads to healthy discussions. Never take the world for what it is, there's always a better way to do something.
Reading some of Dean Baker’s work exposed me to an aspect of US health care coverage that I haven’t seen discussed much: protectionism for medical professionals and its impact on health care costs. According to this MNT article (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/77635.php), physicians are in short supply. This raises some interesting questions. How does the supply of medical service effect the cost of care and the salaries of medical professionals? Why is the supply short in the first place? And on the cautious side, could there be negative consequences of having a more saturated job market?
In recent history, trade agreements such as NAFTA have expanded the ability of US countries to invest in cheap imports produced by foreign workers. This has typically been referred to as “globalization”. While it has an impact on the market for manufactured goods, it has not applied to skilled professional services including medicine, law, academics and journalism where we in the United States seem to retain protectionist policies.
This is despicable. The woman is in a vegetative state, her husband has to quit his job to care for her, and guess what.. her health insurance (Blue Cross) doesn’t want to pay. I worked both as a nurse assistant in the past, and yes I’ve been attacked too. I feel so sorry for her and her family. Not only does she get injured while doing her job taking care of others, but now her family has no way to pay for her care. To me it doesn’t matter whether her stroke was related to her workplace injuries.. she should not be denied care, she should get both health insurance and work compensation benefits.
Her attorney is holding a press conference later today, where he will call on the state board to expedite their decision. I hope and pray that the insurance provider will be forced to pay for her medical needs. I also hope and pray that this doesn’t happen to anyone else again.. although we know that’s a lost dream. Maybe a government option would prevent things like this from happening.
