Hello everyone, My name is Erin Havel and I'm in the process of having a book edited about my experience with health care in America. It's title is The Malformation of Health Care. I was born with a vascular malformation (AVM/VM) and ten days after I turned 30, I was also diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Health care is a huge part of my life and I think too often those of us who require care go through more of a battle to receive that care than fight the ailment.
This blog will contain pieces of my book, information I'm finding in the news regarding health care, and hopefully positive ideas on how to help others going through struggles within our current system.
I have a Facebook group you're welcome to join if you're interested (http://www.facebook.com/groups/352009698155992/)
hello erin, let me first say this was a wonderful blog to read through. you appear to be a passionate individual who also recognizes the benefit of considering many perspectives on an issue. i agree, as a subject vital to life and death in this country, health care reform is nothing to ignore.
ReplyDeletebut i'm wondering what your take is on the libertarian prescription for reform? i don't mean to offend, i simply derived from many instances in your blog that you believe a lot of the fault lies in free market capitalism, and/or lack of government regulation in the industry.
i didn't think it would be polite for me to address those moments in each of your blog entries, but i would like to recommend some literature on the subject if that is not too bold.
it is from a source that can be considered biased, as the cato institute is staffed by a great many austrian-school economists, fiscal conservatives, monetarists and libertarians. however, the information you can access at cato.org is not simply editorials and opinion pieces, but rather case studies and truly informative articles citing impartial data-collectors and internationally-respected economists and historians. discourse such as your own and others is invited and encouraged, and you'll find even the staunchest opponents are met with reason and respect.
if you would, please follow the link to the article i've listed, and if you are interested use the search tab to better elaborate our interpretation of the health care issue and proposed solution. you might find it interesting that even before mandated-care was a forefront issue, the u.s. health care industry was one of the most heavily regulated in the nation, along with banking and insurance. it gives one pause to consider how, despite the firm presence of govt in these sectors, each of them holds a bitter memory in the minds of today's americans. but you might not see it that way, and that is perfectly fine as long as we're each searching for truth and justice. if nothing else, for reading into free market economics (and not the lip service variety espoused by politicans, we don't have a free market in america) you will possess a stronger conviction for your beliefs and will be that much more a contributor for reform.
thank you for devoting your time to that reform, erin, and i hope i haven't offended.
http://www.cato.org/health-care
selected articles:
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/5-ways-solve-health-care
http://www.cato.org/publications/white-paper/new-health-care-laws-effect-state-medicaid-spending-study-five-most-populous-states
http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/costs-more-covers-less
http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj29n2/cj29n2-7.pdf
http://www.cato.org/research/healthcare/rl-healthcare.html
Hi Kevin Felding- I'm not offended. I think there is no easy answer to reform. Each way of trying to fix a broken system is just that-- trying. Personally, as I've written, I think if we, as individuals, were more honest and less greedy that would translate into our business world. We don't have to run ourselves out of business, we just have to pay attention to our surroundings and do what is healthy for us and our community. Unfortunately, the way our culture is set up, there is a constant drive to "have more" even when we have too much. Thus my thoughts on regulation. However, even those that regulate us don't always have it "right." I can't really speak to the politics, because I don't necessarily believe health care should be a Libertarian, Democrat, or Republican issue. It's a human issue and what we're struggling with in this country is a confusion of conscience.
DeleteI did take a look at the websites you provided and I can see the good in some of the points, and I can see major red flags in others. Medicaid is something I worry about a lot. I don't know anyone who really wants to be on Medicaid, they end up there based on their health, or income. I have nothing but compassion for those in our communities who are suffering and doing the best they can just to get by. I think too often these people are treated as freeloaders. It scares me when politicians start talking about allowing each state to do something different, because I don't believe someone's elderly Aunt who needs a nursing home should suffer in Tennessee when she could thrive in Arkansas. We're the United States for a reason. I feel like education needs to be more consistent state to state as well. I simply don't think we can say we want the best for every American if we only offer "less' to an entire state.
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