dear president obama and congress

An old slippery friend called last night because he was dying to talk to me alone for the evening and our conversation turned toward the sawmill and how bad it sucks that the people who provide critical care like those of us in the lab get paid less than nurses with associate degrees. And how it's not right that doctors get to make big money as specialists who feed off of referrals from their primary care buddies in a "cover my ass" sort of way. In my opinion, the biggest reasons for the rise in healthcare costs are malpractice litigation, big pharmacy and student loans. There are acts of pure and reckless negligence that need to be compensated for, but the majority are frivolous lawsuits filed by ambulance chasers. And don't think that those pharmacy reps won't feed you lunch to get in the door and push their product. But of course ya'll all know how that works.

I say make the tuition for medical school reasonable and focus on primary care, then let the specialists weed themselves out by attrition. The ones who really WANT to help people and live like their patients do will stay in business. As far as I'm concerned the rest of 'em can cash in and move to Fiji. I subscribe to email from Doctors without Borders and I'm totally amazed at what is accomplished with so little by people who do it for the right reasons. How sad that our country can't adopt that sort of outlook on providing healthcare to its'citizens.

Several of the few industries that are hanging on in this town are cutting benefits, like health insurance, just to stay afloat. Yaya's bunch is off without pay this week. Everywhere you turn, people are struggling to make ends meet. Give us free preventive care on our insurance and watch how the healthcare costs go down. Focus more on quality end-of-life care rather than prolonging the inevitable. If Grandma is 98 and needs surgery on her gallbladder, just put it on hold and keep her comfortable instead of taking outlandish chances on things that won't contribute to her quality of life. Or any other invasive procedure, for that matter. Old folks have enough aches and pains without all that sticking.

As a veteran of the healthcare wars over the years I can honestly say that I've tried not to miss an opportunity to be one of those people who's not doing it for the money but for the greater good, a ministry so to speak. If my friend is up in that ICU you better believe I'm gonna run up there and see if she needs a hug. Compassion for the scared and weary family members is something that no amount of money can buy.

Please fix this mess.
Your friend,

The Poopster ^j^