Published: October 31, 2009 01:14 pm         

FLASHPOINT: Government created health care’s dysfunctional mess

This letter is in response to a letter you published as a “Flashpoint” piece in the Oct. 18 Tribune-Star. In this letter, Dr. K. Sproul made several statements and assertions that I would like to address.

I should first point out that Dr. Sproul and I are friends. We were partners in medical practice for 15 years and then went separate ways due to differing interests. I like Ken but we disagree on the issue of government control of health care.

He quotes the statement, “The American health care system is a dysfunctional mess.” I would say that most of the dysfunction has been caused by 40 years of government intrusion into the system. Our care of patients in the Medicare and Medicaid systems is always complicated by rules and regulations from the bureaucrats; rules and regulations that are not voted on by our legislators, just handed down from on high when one of them decides that’s the way it should be. It seems like every time one of these people needs to prove he’s earning his pay, he issues a new regulation and the entire medical “system” then has to adapt or not get paid. Every new regulation is accompanied by a massive outpouring of printed material and generates innumerable committees, meetings, revisions, repeat printings, amended instructions, more committees, more meetings, etc., etc., etc., and as soon as we all think we know how to comply, they then decide to add or subtract something and we have to start all over. There are many, many more ways they insert barriers between us and our patients, and most have the objective of denying or delaying payment to hospitals, doctors and all other providers. We all have to have extra employees just to be sure we jump through the hoops they put in the way. Stop for a moment and consider the gigantic industry this whole thing has become. Now stop and consider how bad it all would be if the government ran the health care of every man woman and child in this country!

Dr. Sproul goes on to criticize our life expectancy, infant mortality, high costs, and compares us unfavorably to the socialist nations. If we are so bad, why do people from all these countries want to come to the U.S. for the care they can’t get at home? One example: when colon cancer is found in one of these countries, the patient waits for months to see the surgeon and/or oncologist. He then waits more months for his treatment, be it medical or surgical, as all of these things have to be approved by bureaucrats. In many cases, treatment is denied. In Brazil, Ind., when I find colon cancer, I order X-rays and lab work that is done that day. I also talk to the surgeon and oncologist that day. If our patient needs surgery, we usually do it the next day, or within a week at most. That’s the reality of government vs. private health care. Dr. Sproul says he has been embarrassed to explain “the problems with our American health care system.” I’m not. We deliver the very best health care in the world and I’m proud to be a part of it! The “problems” in our system are mostly of the government’s making, with very large contributions from private insurance companies and the constant threat of malpractice litigation.

Dr. Sproul asserts that “the vast majority” of American doctors want a one-payer government health care system in the U.S. No they don’t. Unlike Dr. Sproul, I have been actively and continuously practicing medicine for 30 years and talk to many, many doctors of all kinds on a daily basis. I have yet to talk to a doctor who wants a government takeover of our medical care system. There may be some, but I haven’t run into them.

Dr. Sproul further states that “the vast majority” (there’s that phrase again) of people in the socialist states “love” their government systems. That’s not what I hear. He also says they are “very happy” to pay high taxes for “free” health care. Really? “Very Happy”? Free? Hmmm. . .

Kennard also thinks all of us in health care are too greedy and “charge much too much.” Even though he hasn’t practiced in a long time, he should know that it doesn’t matter how much we charge, we get paid a set amount. The medical profession and all other providers are so regulated that we are told by others how much they will pay, so the argument (made by many who are intent on clouding the discussion) that we charge too much doesn’t hold water.

While I’d agree with him that there are a few providers that overdo tests and procedures to generate income, I find these people to be a small minority. Most of us are honest people who would never compromise our ethics or our patient’s care with unnecessary things. Even though some — politicians, Medicare bureaucrats, etc. — seem to start with the premise that we are all crooks, most of us are just trying to do the best job we can for our patients and we know we’ll probably make a decent living by doing that.

I have issues with some of Dr. Sproul’s other statements, but will have to address those at another time. I would say though, that I also feel we need to require insurance companies to actually insure people and to drop their old stand-by, the “pre-existing condition” clause, among other things. Tort reform would subtract many more billions from our total than even the most optimistic estimates are now predicting.

— Dr. James E. Stephens

Brazil