How would you fix the healthcare system?

[A-Stark]

to say that We already have "privately funded health resources and facilities" and that this why physicians have overhead is not entirely correct. what we have is a mixed model system (like most countries) with 70% of health care cost funded by the government and 30% by private enterprise (stuff like dental and drug coverage). We have a largely publicly funded health insurance system with services delivered by private individuals who use public funds/billings to cover overhead. to say that because physicians have overhead and thus the system is funded privately is inaccurate.

 

Well, you're conflating public funding with public delivery. Physicians have overhead because they must cover things like office space and support staff out of their own (mostly) public billings.

 

When I talk about preventative medicine I'm more or less talking about the routine stuff that often does not get reported on early on because we don't GO to the DR. If we're required to have full blood panel and imaging done once or twice a year (yes, I'm making a trillion dollar joke here lol) then potentially we're going to spot problems as they arise or before they arise thus treatment for minor issues can ensue before they turn into much larger issues.

 

While it's true that some diagnoses are delayed because people do not seek treatment, the type of screening you advocate is unwarranted and wasteful. Screening programs are justified only insofar as they lead to an earlier diagnosis that would lead to interventions affecting the natural history of the disease. There are really very few examples where this is warranted. The other problem is that more investigations not only sometimes imposes increased morbidity (e.g. radiation from CTs), but leads to treatment which may be of marginal value. More care is not better care.

[Guest copacetic]

Well, you're conflating public funding with public delivery. Physicians have overhead because they must cover things like office space and support staff out of their own (mostly) public billings.

 

I never said anything about public delivery. what i said is that we have a largely publicly funded system with care delivered by private individuals. the reason its largely publicly funded is because we have a single payer (i.e. the government) for most services. by definition its publicly funded. doctors are not employees of the government which by definition makes delivery private.