Universal Healthcare From a Real Doctor's Perspective

  

The debate of universal health care has been running rampant through many campaign attack ads and has been discussed in almost every debate this year. This issue has been spotlighted mainly from a political point of view, thus leaving out a doctor's perspective on how they will be affected. Ron Paul, being an OB doctor offers a very interesting and refreshing perspective with regards to health care. 

Should this bill pass through the Supreme Court, there will be drastic changes in how doctors will treat their patients. Many quite routine procedures may be getting the axe and an estimated 45 procedures will be getting regulated and greatly limited under the new health care legislation. Some of the limitations include breast cancer screenings and E.K.G.s, standard procedures such as these that could save lives will now be regulated by the federal government. Dr. Paul agrees that over testing occurs and that it can definitely be an issue, however it happens due to fear of lawsuits. When someone is admitted to the emergency room, the patient is incessantly tested throughout their visit just to ensure that all bases are covered for fear that should the hospital miss diagnose or overlook an issue, they will be the ones being sued for negligence.

 Dr. Paul's solution is to take the government and the insurance companies out of the equation to eliminate the drastic price increases in medicine and health care, and instead let the health care decisions be between the doctor and their patient. This legislation almost seems to insinuate that the government knows what is [medically] best for patients, when indeed, that is what we are paying doctors for. As Ron Paul made the accusation during his interview:

“The insurance companies are very much in bed with the government. When negotiations in Washington, whether it’s prescription drug programs or health care … the insurance companies are very much involved...It was never thought the Supreme Court was to have control over every piece of legislation. Just look at the power of one Supreme Court justice. One justice can make all the difference in the world on this” (Ron Paul Addresses Government Controlled Health Care, the Dangers of Judicial Review and America’s “Intellectual Revolution”).

Dr. Paul has a long and unwavering libertarian record with regards to his ideology on health care legislation. In 2009, he introduced a legislation that allows a patient and physician to opt out of the electronic medical record system that was set up by the federal government. This legislation protects the privacy of the patient by refusing to release patient's records to a third party. Several other important pieces of legislation that Dr. Paul has voted on includes:

• Supports creating tax credits and deductions for all medical expenses, exempting terminally ill people from paying the employee portion of payroll taxes, providing a payroll deduction to workers who are caring for a spouse, parent or child with a terminal illness.
• Opposes caps on awards in medical liability cases.
• Endorses a new tax credit for "negative outcomes" insurance bought by patients before medical treatment so they can be compensated for medical mistakes. Says it would reduce “the burden of costly malpractice litigation."
• Supports allowing insurers to sell across state lines, as well as association health plans.
• Wants to expand high-deductible health savings accounts (Serafini, 2012).

Many may view Ron Paul's view on health care as heartless, but is it? Is he not abiding by the Constitution? Should the view on health care be black and white or should it be colored gray with the injection of emotion and "doing the moral" thing? I believe that question is the true debate here, and it is a question that will never be answered because it is a very multifaceted issue.  

              

                                                              
                                                                     Works Cited                                     

Paul, Ron, perf. "Ron Paul Addresses Government Controlled Health Care, the Dangers of Judicial Review and America’s “Intellectual Revolution”." Dir. Neil Cavuto. Your World. Fox News: 4/4/2012. Web. 7 May 2012. <http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/04/04/ron-paul-addresses-government-controlled-health-care-the-dangers-of-judicial-review-and-americas-intellectual-revolution/>. 

Serafini, Marilyn. "GOP Presidential Hopefuls: Where They Stand On Health Care ." Kaiser Health News. Kaiser Health, 3/8/2012. Web. 7 May 2012. <http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/stories/2011/august/26/gop-candidate-health-care-platforms.asp&xgt;.