Welcome to the Mad As Hell Doctors web site.
We hope to share with you our passion that America must achieve sustainable high quality health care for all as soon as possible.
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A long road travelled and a long road ahead.
Since returning to Oregon from our road trip to D.C. last fall, we have been following the events inside the beltway with dismay. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, signed in February by President Obama, is neither bringing us true Universal Access nor controling spiraling costs. We still have a lot of work to do!
The work involves studying the relevant literature, listening to others tell of their experiences with our health care system, and then passing this information on to friends, family, civic groups, journalists, and legislators, urging them to action.
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Educate yourself and your neighbors.
What is a single payer health care system? For a video answer go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAvy9jew9dM. Please use our Literature References tab under which you will find links to peer-reviewed literature that can help you evaluate the US health care system and compare it to the systems of other countries such as Canada. The references are invaluable for supporting your conversations and presentations about health care reform.
Check our “in-house” analysis on our Posts page, share with your friends and family, and comment to keep the discussion going.
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California Tour 2010.
Mad As Hell Doctors are planning another tour for next fall, this time through California. Between September 23 and October 12 we expect to take part in 25-30 rallies in 20 cities starting in Arcata on September 23, heading down US 101 to the Bay Area, Los Angeles, and San Diego, and then traveling north through the San Joaquin Valley to reach Sacramento by October 12.
Our purpose is to collaborate with California health care advocates in rallying public support for single payer legislation which is likely to reach the Governor’s desk this fall. Governor Schwarzenegger has vetoed similar legislation twice in the past three years and is likely to veto this year’s version of the bill.
We want to be part of a public force that either changes his mind or influences the next Governor.
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Collaborate, educate, and organize.
In the mean time we’re speaking with civic groups in the Northwest and trying to keep abreast of legislative developments in Washington, D.C., Salem, Olympia, and Sacramento.
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Thank you for your interest.
YOU ARE INVITED TO JOIN THE BLOG CONVERSATION BELOW. NOTE THAT THE NEWEST COMMENTS ARE ON TOP!
Do you want real health care reform? Here’s a thought. Let me grow my own medicine (cannabis) and end this stupid Drug War. The Obama bill was nothing more than a bailout for the corporatists in the insurance industry and Big Pharma? If doctors were free to suggest alternative medications instead of whoring themselves to Big Pharma and letting them control the marketplace, maybe we would not be in this mess.
I’ve been a medical MJ patient for a few years and the quality of my life is a 100X better than dealing with the dangerous and addictive drugs peddled by the Big Pharma dealers.
To learn more about our “system” and how health care is provided in a number of other countries, all of whom pay much less for care than we do, I highly recommend two PBS documentaries available on Netflix. The first is “Frontline: Sick Around the World”. A veteran journalist with a chronic shoulder ailment traveled to several other countries to see how his problem would be treated. He interviewed patients, doctors, hospital administrators, insurance company execs and government policy makers to find out how their systems work, and how care is paid for.
The next film is “Frontline: Sick Around America” shows the dire straights of our “system”, and how it results in premature debility and death, financial ruin and anguish for millions, and what a terrible price our country is paying on all fronts. A real eye opener.
Anyone who claims that in the US we have the best health care system in the world is either deluded, or works for an organization that is part of the vested interests in the status quo. We can do better. As someone who has had two different st 4 cancer diagnoses, and went over a year without health insurance while enduring the 29 month wait for Medicare eligibility after qualifying for Social Security Disability, the current landscape is cruel to millions of our citizens.
I like the post very much.
Oh, and Peggy, in response to your comment, ” Healthcare doesn’t behave like other markets” That is because value for health services in healthcare is artificially set by Medicare rather than true market forces… hence spiraling costs. Read Clay Christensen’s Innovator’s Prescription for Healthcare for the full story… Our platform enables consumers to validate pricing, and enables 80% cost reductions for our model.
Natalie Hodge MD FAAP
http://www.personalmedicine.com
Just heard about you from my friend in Dallas Chris from Doconomics. Very nice. There is disruptive innovation happening in healthcare along the fringes now. Hope you will join us at American Academy of Pediatrics NCE in October In San Francisco. Disruptive cost curves for physicians are attainable now with Utilization of technologies as PHR, Ecommerce, Wireless and the Mobile. Would love to have your feedback on our User Interface for Patients at http://www.personalmedicine.com Keep up the good work! Natalie Hodge MD FAAP
I appreciate that this might sound nasty, but I honestly don’t agree with the title Mad As Hell Doctors . I believe it is a awful disgrace to human kind. I believe you should definitely be more tolerant next time. Nonetheless I have to admit, that your writing style is excellent. Yours Sincerely, Raul Gerrity
And I am a member of PNHP
Peggy,
Thank you for your challenging comment. In response, I can only say that health care is not like other markets. The laws of supply and demand are upside down and, unless we are willing to let people die on the doorsteps of our emergency rooms, we are all paying for everybody anyway. No other “market” behaves in such a way.
As a physician who observes, feels and responds to the perverse incentives built into our non-system, I assure you, it is more broken, inefficient and corrupt than you can possibly imagine.
“Competition” in medical insurance means insurance companies manipulating the marketplace (and the rules) so that they only have to get paid (well, often with hidden taxpayer subsiies) to cover the healthy inexpensive people while the taxpayer pays for 100% of the rest.
That said, I will challenge your language. Calling those who are advocating a single payer system “degenerates” is over the top. Indeed we love our country. We love our communities. Without substantive health care reform that emphasizes health and efficiency, our people will suffer more and our government will be MORE likely to gather the debt that you fear.
be well. being otherwise is very expensive.
paul hochfeld
Please do not contact me. I believe in the free market and our great nation. We cannot afford the health care plan as designed by Acorn, SEIU and the rest of the degenerates out there that want to destroy this country. Unless we put in tort reform, and allow competition in medical insurance companies we will passing the horrendous debts of this program onto our children.
As a Primary Care Physician in Santa Barbara, CA, with the largest medical foundation clinic in the area, I have not realized an increase in my income for the past 15 years, while the cost of insurance premiums per person for our medical staff at the Santa Barbara Sansum Medical Clinic has more than doubled in the past 2 years, making layoffs and shorter work weeks necessary to support the rising cost. What is wrong with this picture? As a strong Single Payer advocate, I would be happy to participate in the MAHD program in Santa Barbara if you need a doc with 40 years of experience in the medical field, who has watched the advent of “for profit” health insurance nearly bankrupt our facility and keep patients priced out of affordable health care insurance. My wife, Lois, is the SB Chapter Leader for the Progressive Democrats of America, who are working tirelessly to bring Universal Single Payer Health Care to all Californians, since the national SP plan failed to even make it to the Health Care national debate!
Sign Me, One Helluva Mad As Hell Doc!
I just heard your panel discussion on local public tv regarding the benefits of single payer health coverage, etc. In the course of your discussion you mentioned the fight waged by Tommy Douglas in Canada for their single payor medicare system. I was born in Canada but have lived in the States for most of my life. I am intimately aware of the Canadian system for several reasons, however. My brother, who was a professor at UBC in Vancouver, contracted MS. His dream had always been to return to the United States for his retirement. Even though he was a veteran of the U.S. army, he determined he could not get the quality of care here that he received in Canada and he remained there for the balance of his life. The other reason I am familiar with the difficulties of enacting health care legislation in Canada was that Tommy Douglas was my uncle and I knew him very well. I recall vividly the Drs strikes, the death threats and other challenges he faced. Would that we had that kind of political courage here.
Right On!
7/18 – A poll was just released today, based on a several year study, gauging the level of happiness felt by residents of countries around the world. The top countries were European – Denmark, Norway, Finland – and the highest scoring countries in the Americas were Costa Rica and Canada. America was not mentioned among the happiest countries. Does anyone see any similarity between those happy countries? Could it be a health care system that is committed to serving people rather than private sector profit?
I was pretty shocked that someone thinks you can’t live on 100K. I manage on a LOT less in a very expensive area. Although my housing expenses happen to be low, I spend a huge chunk of my income(about 25 %) on medical care, prescriptions and long-term care insurance. One reason a French doctor can live on less is that he/she does not spend so much on medical expenses. Then too, university expenses cannot possible be a high as here. Plus Europeans don’t usually feel the need to live in a giant dwelling with huge utility bills.
Nevertheless, all the other industrialized countries in the world provide universal healthcare while spending roughly half as much, per capita, as we spend now on healthcare (even though millions of our capitae aren’t getting ANY of that healthcare).
How do they accomplish this, you might wonder.
Mostly, they take PROFIT out of the picture, and they limit the actual medical costs. They pay for medical school for the doctors, so the doctors don’t have to bill YOU so as to pay back their student loans. There’s a bit more detail in T. R. Reid’s THE HEALING OF AMERICA (8/09)…. The central fact is that this is a wheel which has already been invented. If we really want universal, affordable healthcare, all we have to do is ask any of a number of other countries how they accomplish this already.
It’s easy to agree that all people should have access to quality health care. The question is whether it is sustainable to offer and promise a high level health care to all people no matter what the circumstances in the future would be. Once given to people – hard to take it away later!
That was a really interesting post, I enjoyed reading it. You are dead right!
Its a good comparision between healthcare systems.
Dear Mad As Hell Doctors, I would very much appreciate your updating your comments about federal government health legislation to include the passage of the Health Care bill in March. It still includes private insurance, and a few words about why such a system cannot achieve health care for all would be helpful.
“actually DON’T sign Grayson’s bill if you haven’t.”…
Why not sign it?….
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2010/march/graysons-public-option-act-or-medicare-you-can-buy-into-act
actually DON’T sign Grayson’s bill if you haven’t.
I’m wondering if the 11,022 have mad as hell ribbons and wear them every day?
Something never discussed on the comparison of US vs Other Country health care is the level of provider income. Believe it was 60 Minutes or such who portrayed a French physician, living comfortably in Paris with a young family on $50 K/yr. Even if doubled, try doing that in most equivalent metro areas in this country.
A common retort among Republicans when one brings up the 3% Medicare overhead vs 30% HMO overhead is that Medicare does not have enough staff to sniff out fraudulent providers. They have a point. Overtesting, over proceduring, creative coding and outright fraud is certainly an issue and we are not saints. In 40 years of practice, I have seen countless examples (almost as long as the existence of Medicare) of the above.
The answer is obvious. Salaried providers. And no bonuses for productive billing rewards on the number of tests, procedures, etc.
Not surte how many on here are both working providers as well as seniors. As a member of both classes, I do not concur with the idea that Medicare For All is a Canadian knock off. Yes, Medicare (government) fixes the reimbursement fee fro the provider and then only goes on to pay (Part B) 80% of it. So the co-pay is either done thru an “Advantage” plan – wherein the taxpayer subsidizes the Private Insurer thru government provided benefits or thru traditional medicare which involves a middleman AARP using United Heal Care for the other 20%. In other words, to get full coverage over the age of 65, private health insurance has its hand in at every level.