Analyzing Healthcare - Installment #1

This is the first in a series of posts looking at healthcare and healthcare reform in the USA. This material is not a proposed solution to the healthcare situation. It is an effort to clarify some of the factors and dynamics driving the situation in order to enrich the dialogue about improving the current state of affairs. Hopefully, it gets at some of the "why" behind the many divergent points of view. It does have opinions imbedded in it as well as plain facts and observations. Whether you agree or not, if this expands your thinking, it has served its purpose. Some of the points are self-evident but are included to provide a fuller framework for the discussion.

Frames of Reference

Failure to see others points of view leads to dead end dialogue. In the debate on healthcare, it is easy to see the situation and seek a solution from a purely personal frame of reference. That reference is influenced by our own personal health experiences and expenses.
If a person has enjoyed good health and lived responsibly, it is probable he believes individuals are responsible for their own health care and should not be propped up by taxpayer programs. An individual who has suffered poor health brought on by forces beyond his control may see the benefits of having care provided through government programs because there is no other affordable alternative available.

Seeing the situation from various perspectives can open up territory for exploring mutually acceptable solutions. From shared values can come common goals. From common goals can come common strategies and tactics. To find common ground means sharing the same frames of reference. Each topic that follows is an attempt to help increase our personal frame of reference. The central points that emerge repeatedly deal with: economics (cost), who gets free healthcare (compassion), how much do they get (content), who makes medical decisions (control), and who pays for it all (contribution). These five "Cs" can define a frame of reference.

Health is Priceless

Health is unique among all aspects of life since it affects life itself. Without good health, little else matters. Thus, the price we will pay for it is high and the market reflects this. In addition, it becomes difficult to view it from a strictly rational point of view when confronted with very personal circumstances.

The two objectives of affordable and universal healthcare are grand and difficult for anyone to deny. The crux of the problem is whether or not such goals are truly attainable. The devil is in the details and the current debate mixes grand visions with pragmatic problems without highlighting the difference. It appears that the people with the vision cannot complete the details to achieve it. The people who know the details see no way to achieve the vision. Debate teeter totters back and forth on this impasse. Because healthcare is not free, it becomes an economic decision as well as a medical and moral one.

More posts to follow each day.