I don't usually blog twice in one day, but Kali, over at Mother Earth Health, had an article that had math. You know me--I like math. Numbers are good.
Unless, of course, they're not. For instance, Kali came up with a figure from the Institute of Medicine saying that 60 people every day die in the US from lack of healthcare. That's a pretty horrifying number, in fact.
President Obama wants to give Americans universal healthcare by the end of his first (and hopefully not last) term. Which is a great idea, but how exactly would that happen? Well, Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a writer on healthcare issues, took a look at some other countries and how they got universal healthcare. According to his thought processes, two good ideas would be mandating private insurance for all, with heavy subsidies for the poor, or expanding the VA medical system to include non-veterans.
While they both sound like viable plans, there are problems with privatized healthcare and the VA Health Administration has had a heck of a lot of horror stories told about it, though it looks like things are looking up at the VA.
What can we do?
Learn as much as you can. I've given this link before, but I'll give it again: www.DividedWeFail.org. It's the AARP website for action on healthcare issues, and it's got a lot of great information. Also, Universal Health Care Action Network is a great resource and a fine place to start if you want to get involved.
And I really hope we all want to get involved.
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Thanks for the post, Peaceable. I didn't know about the Universal Health Care Action Network ! Anything can happen when people just start talking and caring. I don't expect to change the world. But it may be possible for all of us together to bring heath care to everyone.
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