Healthcare Some More
February 23rd, 2006There is a great discussion about health care from March, 2000 over at the Washington Monthly between Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Gopnik. I was particularly moved by this:
The crucial point is, I think, the difference in social tone between a society in which universal access to medical care is taken for granted and one in which it is something that weighs constantly on all of us, even though some of us are lucky to have good insurance, and becomes an omnipresent preoccupation to the lower middle classes and to the working poor. It’s enormous.
I think I side mostly with Gopnick, but Gladwell raises some interesting points via some spectacular thinking. There needs to be more of this kind of discussion around healthcare.
The full text can be read here.
(source: kottke.org) o
February 23rd, 2006 at 2:18 pm
Sorry, I don’t have time to comment because I’m on the phone with my health insurance company trying to convince them to pay for the eye surgery my husband had last December before the doctor, anesthesiologist, and hospital send their goons over to break my knees.
SG (off to take a Xanax before making the next phone call)
February 23rd, 2006 at 2:51 pm
That is a truly fascinating article; it’s a shame it’s from six years ago, because I’d love to know if Gladwell still feels the same way. Based on that piece, I kind of want to shake him very hard, but his recent New Yorker piece on health care seemed closer to my way of thinking.
February 23rd, 2006 at 4:48 pm
hi jon,
thanks for continuing the discussion on health care. i thought of you guys today when i was trying to figure out what kind of coverage i can get when i quit my job next month. i cannot stand to be at work anymore, but suddenly i have to have these doctor appointments, so i have been stressing: do i stay at a job that sucks the life out of me for the insurance that will allow me to take care of that physical life? or do i quit to save my sanity and hope to god cobra doesn’t bankrupt me? i’m still looking into all my options. and it makes me sad and very angry that i have to, just so i can have some medical care. this should be easier. and affordable. and good lord, accessible to all. not much to add to the discussion, but wanted to extend my appreciation for your post and for writing on this issue.
ps. completely unrelated, many thanks to you and heather for taking us all along to amsterdam. i love the photos and recaps and felt like i took a little trip every day. you know, while sitting at my desk in this place i can’t stand.
February 23rd, 2006 at 4:56 pm
This one statement made me stop reading that article:
*MG: Right. They don’t get shot, and they’re not involved in multi-car pile-ups at 2 a.m.*
That guy is flat out a moron. I live in Las Vegas, and just this year alone, there have been 5 deadly crashes on Blue Diamond road, with only one of them before 2am. All of them involving women. 4 of those dead. In the past year, same road, there have been 21 fatal crashes, with half of those fatalities women. Women also DO get shot at.
As for the healthcare issue, I’d much rather have Canada’s system, or Frances. It’s a joke how much out of pocket I have to pay. I don’t have medical/prescription insurance. Can’t get it either. WHy? Because I’m caring full time for my 81 year old father, and I don’t qualify for anything! I’m a crack baby, so to speak. And the quality of care I get, paying full price, is a joke! I’m still treated as though I was just a number, only get 5 minutes of my dr’s time because he’s too damn busy taking care of the insured patients. Our health care system is a joke, and we all know it.
To boil it down to a men vs. women commentary is insulting, to both genders. ALL of us want affordable and quality healthcare. Period.
February 23rd, 2006 at 5:09 pm
Have you read Gladwell’s books? Fascinating. I’ve only read “Tipping Point,” but “Blink” is on my list. They strike me as something you would really like.
February 23rd, 2006 at 5:34 pm
I work with adults with developmental disabilities (autism, fetal alcohol effect/syndrome, Down Syndrome etc) and the type of healthcare system Adam Gopnik is speaking about is available to the population that I work with, at least for now, through Medicaid. So… That sort of system can be done in the US. We all ready have, if not, THE MODEL as least A MODEL in Medicaid. This isnít to say that everything is always wonderful, there are screw-ups, some times we really have to fight to get our guys what they need and, yeah, sometimes needs go unmet. But, for the most part, the system works.
I think that a 2 tiered system would work well in the US and would limit the kind of problems that Gladwell spoke about. A federally funded, state administered program (public insurance, private doctors) with a sliding fee scale based on income could take care of basic health needs: kids ear infections, my sinus allergies etc and take care of catastrophic care costs: the 2.00AM car crashes, AIDS. Stuff that would bankrupt private insurers. And you would still have the option of buying into a supplemental plan to help pay for the more, ìlife styleî end of healthcare issues, the trick knee that is more annoying than disabling, treatments to cover-up acne scarring, getting an MRI now V. next Tuesday when health isnít at risk.
With basic health needs and catastrophic care covered supplemental insurance programs wouldnít be all that expensive and could be offered fairly widely.
February 23rd, 2006 at 10:13 pm
There needs to be more discussions like this (via more spectacular thinking) about everything. I love Malcolm Gladwell, no matter his healthcare opinions. He can make the most mundane and dull subjects become incredibly fascinating. Blink is very good. And if you like Gladwell, read Freakonomics by Dubner and Leavitt.
February 24th, 2006 at 2:55 am
Gladwell has just launched his blog and one of his first posts is to recant his position in that old article.
http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/2006/02/gladwell_v_gopn.html
February 24th, 2006 at 7:28 am
Matt, thanks for posting that link!
February 24th, 2006 at 8:20 am
hmm.. about those peach-skin lips Jon.
February 27th, 2006 at 2:01 am
Oh my God Malcolm Gladwell I THOUGHT I loved you. No, I do not love you. And Adam Gopnick always annoyed the hell out of me although I can’t deny he can turn a phrase.
I better read the whole thing but already MG is bugging the shit out of me.