The truth is, I trust my care to doctors in this country wholeheartedly, but I am one of the lucky ones that has good health insurance. So when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer two years ago, I didn't have to worry about receiving high quality care for my disease, or excellent follow-up afterward. Many Americans aren't so lucky. A recent 60 Minutes report really brought that message home to me. Watch it here. Imagine a program started to help those in the third world gain access to health care and dentistry, now turning away hundreds of people it can't serve right here on American soil!
It doesn't matter how good our quality of care is if only the wealthy can afford it. During the October 8th, 2008 Presidential Debate, the candidates were asked if healthcare should be sold as a commodity. Neither one of them really answered the question. I strongly believe that healthcare as a for-profit enterprise is failing in this country. It's serving shareholders of pharmaceutical and insurance companies to be sure, but what about the rest of us? Even my oncologist was commenting during my visit the other day about how little he actually gets for the services he provides - the insurance companies get most of it - and how he considered leaving his practice as a result. I have to say, I was shocked!
We all assume that physicians in this country are among the wealthiest citizens, but that is not as true now as it was two or three decades ago. Average salaries for family practice doctors in the U.S. are around $150,000. Some specialists, especially those in oncology or cardiology can make $250-500K a year. While that may sound like a lot to you and me, when you factor in the specialized knowledge required for their work, and the amount of the loans to train them for their jobs OR compare these salaries to those of most Fortune 500 CEOs, it really isn't that much. Throw in the number of hours many physicians work, and the amount of stress they deal with, not to mention the high cost of malpractice insurance, and you begin to get a clearer understanding of the picture.
Consider that CEOs of some of the nations biggest health insurance companies receive compensation in the multiple millions with stock options and bonuses. Michael B. McAllister earned $3.33 million as CEO of Humana according to Forbes 2006 Executive Pay list; John W. Rowe, who has since left Aetna, earned $22.2 million according to the 2004 Forbes list; and the SEC investigated United Healthcare's stock option practices when Bill McGuire had options worth over $1.6 billion at the end of 2005 ("SEC Investigates UnitedHealth over Stock-Options Practices," Bloomberg News, December 2007; MichaelRegan, "Business 2006: Who Won, Who Lost," Associated Press, December 26, 2006).
Small business is also being hurt by the rising costs of health insurance, and entrepreneurs are in dire straights because they often can't afford to insure themselves. It is a sad commentary when health insurance becomes such a prominent factor in American's career paths. We should be basing career decisions on finding work that is fulfilling, or allows us to spend time with family or that pays us well - not on whether and what kind of health insurance is offered! Many, many people are staying in jobs that they don't like, or for which they are no longer productive because they can't afford to lose their healthcare. How is that good for our economy?
We have to take charge of educating ourselves, of taking care of ourselves and of standing up for ourselves. The healthcare industry has no incentive to keep you healthy - not when they make so much money treating the multitude of illnesses we have created in our modern society. My cancer treatment cost in excess of $150,000, and my treatment was minimal compared to most cancer patients. When chemo is billable at $11,000 a pop, what incentive is there to prevent or cure cancer? It's a cynical view, I know, but it's time we woke up, and started demanding the most basic human right - the pursuit of health.
