Tag Archives: Health Care

The Future of Medicine.

So I gave my thoughts on health care reform, now some quick thoughts on the future of medicine. (I am a science-fiction writer after all.)
Three basic scenarios in my opinion. All of these are looking at the state of medical science about the year 2050.

Scenario One: The Conservative Nightmare.
Financial crash due to bloated spending and regulatory overload kills innovation and development. We haven’t progressed much beyond where we are now. Very little research being done as nearly all medical science dollars are consumed in treatment. With or without healthcare reform the government is buried under a crushing load of debt and bills to care for its population.

Scenario Two: The Liberal Nightmare.
Breakthroughs lead of significant advances in health and life extension, but the costs are high. The processes can not be made cheaper by economy of scale or mass production and only the well-off can afford top-end care. For the wealthy life is very good. Disease and morbidity are things that happen to other people. As side from trauma, there is little to fear health-wise and maybe even aging itself can be prevented. For the poor and most of the world it’s a game of watch as the rich go on and on while you get sick and die. Expect vast social upheaval and disruption as this is not a stable system in my opinion.

Scenario Three: Medical Transformation.
The way computer sciences changed our world, advances in medical science make the world of 2050 as unlike todays as our computers are to roman numerals. Quick and easy genetic testing and treatments means that everyone get treatment and drugs designed for their unique genome. Treatment of disease is cheap and plentiful. Healthcare for all is taken for granted because it costs so little. People live long and productive lives without the infirmities and indignities of old age today. Our decedents look upon our medical treatments of today the way we look on witch-doctors and leeches.

The question is — which scenario will it be?

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Thoughts on Health Care Reform

I work in the healthcare industry in my day job. I help drug companies get their products to market. Some of you might read those words and think I work in some kind of advertising and you would be wrong. Most of my experience in this field has been helping doctors and patient get their drugs via their health insurance. Currently I help uninsured patients get access to certain medications. (I am not at liberty to say which drug companies I work for or which products I assist with, but I only bring it up as background on my experience with the subject.) Continue reading →

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Wait a minute Mr. Stewart…

Last night (Monday July 27th) Jon Stewart had Bill Crystal editor of The Weekly Standard on as his guest for The Daily Show. This promised to be a lively show as Mr. Crystal is a big supporter of Sarah Palin and is often credited with bring her to the attention of the McCain campaign. (So you can curse or praise Mr. Crystal as you see fit.)
The interview was long and it was lively. In fact they have placed the entire interview on-line as it would not fit within the time constraints of the program.
After the expected Palin back-and-forth Mr. Stewart and Mr, Crystal got into health care. Jon Stewart was in favor of a public option for health care, that is government run health plan, and Mr. Crystal was against the concept.
During the back and forth the military’s health care came up and Mr. Crystal basically agreed that the health care enjoyed by our military is top-notch health care. Jon Stewart leapt for the kill like comic-con fan on a copy of Action Comics #1. It seemed, Stewart pointed out, that the government can< run a top flight single payer health-care systems since it is already doing that for the military. Mr. Crystal tried desperately to get away from the point, going so far as to say the American people do not deserve the quality health-care system that the military gets. This of course is the wrong counter argument entirely. Naturally since neither Mr. Stewart nor Mr. Crystal have served in out military they do not understand how it's health-care actually works. It is free and it is very good. (Oh there are horror stories and I know a few personally, but those are the exceptions and not the rule.) But it removes all freedom from the patient. I'm not just talking about choice in doctors or hospitals or even treatments -- though all those decision are removed from the patient -- I'm talking about how the patient gets to live their life. In the military they can make you lose weight if they think you are too heavy. They can make you exercise if they think you need it. They can ban activities that they think are a cause if injury. (Such as motorcycle ownership.) The trade-off for such an expansive health-care system is the loss of freedom. This is exactly why I do not like the idea of a single-payer health care system, and why I am against the Public Policy option being debated now.

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Reason being unreasonable

REASON If you look at the political links and blogs along the right hand side of my site you’ll see that there is representation of the Right and The Left. I read from both sides of the isle because I like to be informed when I make a decision and I do not feel either side has a lock-downed perfect version of what works.
If I had to select a political philosophy that most matched my own it would be libertarianism. I have a passionate belief in individual rights and treating all persons equally. Sadly the Libertarians can go too far in the their quest for a pure philosophy and pursue ideas that simply are unworkable in the real world.
Continue reading →

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Another Reason the GOP is in the wilderness.

There are lots of reasons why the GOP is out in the political wilderness. There’s the war in Iraq which did not go as expected, there’s the wild spending spree, there’s the apparent incompetence  at running the government, and there’s being on the wrong side of social issues as they big to change. All of this has contributed to the downfall of the Republican party from having a lock on the entire government (2005) to being locked out of the government (2009).

Here is an example of another reason why the Republicans have taken the fall, they listen to people like MIchelle Malkin. Ms. Malkin is not part of a lunatic fringe on the right, she is an example of a right-wing commentator, columnist, and frequent talking head on Fox news.

Commenting on her blog here’s is what she had to say about a recently announced deal between pharmaceutical companies and the government.

The drug companies have cut a deal with President Obama to help fund his government health care takeover.

In other words: They are subsidizing their own demise.

I have no sympathy for industries willing to collaborate with their own worst enemies.

Don’t come crying when Obama limits your salaries, fires your CEOs, and interferes with your ability to innovate and make profits.

You deserve what you get:

There is no substantive critique of the deal in this post. There is only the concept that the Administration is the enemy. She doesn’t look at the details or comments on them. She doesn’t consider that the Drug Companies themselves might consider it a good idea.  She doesn’t propose a counter measure that would tackle the problem of low income seniors and access to medication.

Nope it’s you dealt with the enemy, nothing about working the problem at all.  This sort of obstructionism will play to the base, but it isn’t going to play to the public. Calling people names and ignoring problems will leave the GOP in the wilderness for a long long time.

BTW I am not saying this deal was a good one, but I am not calling people traitors and enemies for disagreeing with me.

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