In America, Illness is Still Big Business
What’s the Latest Development?
Government-subsidized healthcare remains the standard in most developed countries, and while Obama’s new health care legislation is a step in the right direction, the American drive for personal wealth has resulted in bizarre healthcare priorities, says author Jennifer Sky. She, like many others who have experienced single-payer systems in foreign countries, laments the rise of private doctor co-operatives. “For a mere 100/200k a year you can buy into a doctor, or a group of doctors, and they will be available to you whenever you get sick. Let me repeat that: Doctors who will be available when you get sick.”
What’s the Big Idea?
When Sky had major surgery in the US, performed by a nationally known and respected surgeon, too little attention was given to her rehabilitation. The product being sold was surgery, and once it had been sold, the transaction was complete. “Our doctors are no longer communicating with us as living, breathing, hurting beings because the medical-industrial complex rewards them financially from medication prescriptions, from surgeries preformed, and not on the quality and thoroughness of care. Private industry long ago figured out that to truly succeed is to sell more, more often.”
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