2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)
2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)
2008 - Communication Across the Curriculum (CAC)
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from <strong>the</strong>ir insurance provider. As a result, people die because<br />
<strong>the</strong>y are unable to pay for <strong>the</strong> care <strong>the</strong>y need. Dr. Linda Pinot,<br />
former medical director for Humana, made a confession before<br />
Congress in 1996. She confessed that in 1987 she denied a<br />
man an operation that would have saved his life and <strong>the</strong>refore<br />
caused his death. She points out that no one has held her<br />
accountable for his death because what she did also saved <strong>the</strong><br />
health insurance company $500,000. When did we get to this<br />
point When did doctors and health care professionals become<br />
responsible for causing death through <strong>the</strong> denial of life<br />
Where do we go from here What is <strong>the</strong> solution for <strong>the</strong> mess<br />
that is our health care system One answer to this problem<br />
could be to dissolve HMOs entirely. Get rid of <strong>the</strong> middle-man<br />
and go back to <strong>the</strong> patient paying <strong>the</strong> doctor directly in order<br />
to generate competition and drive down prices. HMOs did<br />
not exist before Nixon’s presidency. He approved <strong>the</strong> creation<br />
of <strong>the</strong>se private enterprises that provide less care in order to<br />
maximize profit. However, I think <strong>the</strong> best solution lies with<br />
moving forward, and that is why I support universal health care.<br />
Opponents of universal health care, those health insurance and<br />
pharmaceutical companies that have <strong>the</strong> most to lose, have<br />
generated excessive amounts of fear. They have essentially<br />
scared many people into believing that universal health care<br />
will lead to communism and that overnight America will turn<br />
into Nazi Germany. This is ridiculous. There are many things<br />
in our society that are socialized: <strong>the</strong> postal service, libraries,<br />
police, firemen, K-12 education, and <strong>the</strong> armed forces. And<br />
personally, I’m glad for it. Many people complain that <strong>the</strong>se<br />
institutions should be better. And <strong>the</strong>y can be; <strong>the</strong>re is always<br />
room for improvement. But I know from being raised by a<br />
single mo<strong>the</strong>r of three, that if she’d been expected to pay out of<br />
pocket to privately operated schools, I wouldn’t have received<br />
an education.<br />
The scare tactics are nonsense. The idea behind <strong>the</strong> ideal<br />
operation of HMOs is that many people pay into a group policy<br />
and this creates a fund so that when someone on <strong>the</strong> policy<br />
does become ill <strong>the</strong>re is money to pay for <strong>the</strong>ir treatment.<br />
You pay in order to help everyone else, so that when your<br />
V o l u m e I V : F a l l 2 0 0 8<br />
S p e e c h<br />
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