Case Against Universal Healthcare

Case Against Universal Healthcare 

By Ramana Annamraju

"We only have empty pockets when it comes to the morally right things to do," Conservatives and Democrats are equally caught off guard by this hard-hitting congresswoman.

Her crazed critics and equally stupid Television pundits invented 40 trillion dollars ( Totally fake number) for "Medicare for All" and demanding this 28 yr old congresswoman to come up with a balance sheet on the fly. They are trying to send her on goose chase on a made-up number. It is like demanding to search for a black cat in a completely pitch dark room, knowing that there is no cat in the room in the first place. She figured them out fast and exposed their hypocrisy and fake numbers.. She got these mansplaining guys by balls.

Indeed Alexandria Cortez 's "Healthcare for all" is a noble intention, but she mingled that idea with the "Medicare for all" a government-run insurance plan. 

Here is my criticism of "Medicare for all"…which also goes with another name, "Universal Healthcare"

Proponents of Universal Healthcare with all their good intentions argue the Universal Healthcare is the magic wand that solves the healthcare crisis in the United States. Healthcare is the central contentious theme of every election. One of the Universal Healthcare features is based on a single-payer system without the need for any insurance companies.

On the surface, it looks very appealing model but it is riddled with severe flaws and pitfalls.

Any healthcare model to be successful, the following three critical features need to be satisfied, 1) Access 2) Cost 3) Quality

Access: I was supposed to meet a friend for lunch (12 noon) right after her appointment with her doctor. As I understand it is just a routine refill visit. It should take no more than an hour at best. The doctor came an hour and a half late, after his rounds at the hospital. Then with some other minor emergency walk-ins, it took another hour and a half before he gets to see my friend. By the end of her visit to the doctor's office, she is exhausted and went home. The lunch was canceled. She is certainly not an isolated case, but it is a very common occurrence across the American healthcare scene.

If Universal healthcare is implemented, you are adding 30 more millions of uninsured to the roaster.

Now can you imagine adding another 30 million people to a system that is already stressed to the limits? Millions of people will be waiting and waiting in doctor’s offices around the country. It will completely flood the hospital Emergency rooms for non-life-threatening emergencies.

Universal healthcare does not address the additional infrastructure investments that are needed to meet the demand. If everyone has given equal access, the sick and old are mixed with the general population that results in catastrophe. It creates a serious crisis.

Another stress point, the doctors, deep in debt with medical college loans, can not afford to continue their profession with salaries from the government. Universal Healthcare without new infrastructure, and proper transition for personnel in place, it is deemed to fail.

 The idea of Universal Healthcare gives access to healthcare for everyone sounds like a wonderful idea, but in fact, it defeats the very purpose it is created, the “Access” itself.

It is like dumping cars without paving the streets in India and China. Traffic Nightmares! Stuck in traffic for hours and hours.

So, Everyone got a car but no places to go!

 Every one got insurance but you got no appointment!

You are denied or delayed, “ACCESS” to care!

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Cost: I came to America as a student in the 80s. Calling my mother to India, used to cost $4 per minute. Yes, Telephone call Per minute. I heard it used to cost only $3 per minute in the previous year. A tricky salesman came up with a clever argument “see the costs are going up every year, I can give you a great deal …Just $1.00 per minute if you sign a contract for the next 10 years. It seems a fantastic deal. It looks stupid to lock that contract with an amazing deal. In reality, it is the most expensive proposition realizing it came down to 0.01 cents per minute in less than two years. But if you live in those times $1.00 per minute seems to be a very lucrative offer, right? That is exactly what happened. Long-distance carriers like At &T and MCI bilked the new immigrants billions of dollars with those types of contracts in the 80s and 90s.

Universal Healthcare is no different. It is a deadly Bermuda Triangle. The Hospitals, Pharma companies, and Government Bureaucrats, the patients will disappear without a trace. Healthcare production and Healthcare delivery service contracts will be locked with big vendors at exorbitant prices. It is an invitation to corruption and influence. Small vendors will be crushed and ignored.

Between the Congress, government bureaucrats and lobbyists, the Iron triangle has an interest in maintaining the status quo and eventually will swallow the medicare funds with a never-ending appetite.

Governments have neither interest nor incentive in cost containment with the Universal Healthcare System.

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Quality: The quality of healthcare is measured in the following

1) outcomes 2) patient perception 3) organizational structure

. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates 2 million people in the United States fall ill with hospital-acquired infections, resulting in more than 20,000 deaths every year.

If you go for pinkeye to a hospital for treatment you are at risk of catching MDR ( Multi-Drug Resistant ) bacteria which is extremely hard to treat. Hospital-acquired infections are deadly. Under Universal Healthcare Government-run hospitals and clinics will have a better outcome than what we have is a highly suspicious claim.

Patient Experience: 

Whatever the reasons are, the healthcare system ignored patient experience for a long time. At this infancy stage of Electronic Medical Records with the limited data available, we can say, at least 30% of patients were extremely unhappy about the care they receive. If we go for Universal Healthcare, you can expect longer wait times for elective procedures, The patient experience is going to get any better with Universal Healthcare is beyond a joke.

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Organizational structure. :

The organizational structure of the Universal Healthcare system is reminiscent of centralized Soviet governance. A bureaucrat will have power over your health is the antithesis to American values. All the studies show consumer-driven healthcare is the ultimate solution where you put the patient in the center of care.

Universal healthcare takes you further away from this patient-centric model. Former Athena healthcare CEO Jonathan Bush agreed with me on this comparison.

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America VS Rest of the world 

One argument you hear again and again from universal healthcare proponents about Canada, France, Germany … for their success in healthcare delivery.I have an antidote story to tell you.

 CV Raman was born in India in 1888 and made a groundbreaking discovery in science that is named after him "Raman effect" for which he won the Nobel prize. Raman discovered when simple light falls on objects most of it reflects but a tiny tiny fraction of it interacts with the object and reflects with the inner details of that object.

That is the last of him we heard about his discovery in India. India ignored and forgotten about him and his greatest scientific achievement.

On the other hand, America funded and expanded his discovery to several fields that include medical imaging. With the "Raman Effect" you can learn exquisite details about the cells and it functions like no other modality. Eventually, this could lead to detecting cancers by using simple iPhone Thanks to America's commitment to investments in basic sciences and technologies.

This is true in most cases. When did you see last time a discovery from Canada, China or France? To be more blunt, without America they would still be practicing voodoo medicine. America made enormous investments in the discovery of drugs and innovations in medical devices. These countries ride on the curtails of America and brag about their healthcare systems without putting substantial investments.

The universal healthcare system squarely goes against the American Spirit and American ingenuity.

Onset universal healthcare is emotionally appealing but from the practical point of view, the system is not that promising. In a way, we are implementing a failed Soviet-era centralized system with mega healthcare bureaucracy with centralized authority.

Healthcare for all: ( Health is Human Right) 

But Hold on.. this is not a free pass for mean people who refuse to give healthcare to their fellow citizens. I passionately believe healthcare is right not a privilege

The debate about Right vs Privilege should be rephrased as right vs wrong.

Don’t mistake about it, if 

It is the women who are the most recipients of healthcare services are sending an unmistakable signal that healthcare is their biggest issue. The richest country in the world can not provide a pregnant woman an ultrasound is nothing but shame. Asking an idiotic question like " how do you pay for it?” shows the ugliness of a nation's character.

Some section of society does not deserve healthcare, falls below every decency of being human. In a democracy, anyone who thinks healthcare is privilege has lost their mind. Not Democrats, not Republicans fear millennials who are sending an unequivocal message against racial, class and gender discriminations.

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Alternatives to Universal healthcare: 

I am simply making a case against universal healthcare model, but not against providing care to everyone. What I am arguing we should explore other options that are technology-based, much cheaper, more efficient models. It is not a farfetched idea that a simple health checkup visit should not cost more than $10 and an MRI scan should be less than $99.

We witnessed this kind of transformation.

We spent millions and millions of dollars on Drunk Driving related education, and like ”Don’t Drink and Drive” slogans without much effect. But the millennials came up with the most effective and most innovative solution without getting into preaching, which is called "UBER" !!!!!!

Thanks to millennials!

In my next post, I will explore the alternative models of “Healthcare for All “, the Silicon Valley way!