His knee and health politics

Posted on | December 2, 2009 | 3851 CommentHis+knee+and+health+politics2009-12-02+09%3A43%3A10Laane

After the knee surgery his knee took far too much time to recover, so today he went back.

His motivation was the pain, that kept him at home, interfering with my daily chores and commenting on far too many things.

He was quite nervous, so I told him to prepare for a shot in his knee and physiotherapy.
That he got exactly that was no surprise.
They won’t put a new knee in someone who isn’t older than 60, let alone someone who is 51.

When he came back the pain was less, he had an elastic stocking and had already made an appointment with the physiotherapist.

He went there this afternoon.

It’s pity though that none dares to say something about his weight, because I think that’s one of the main reasons his knee can’t deal with daily activities.

Those, especially republicans, who want to and already oppose the plans President Obama has for the health care system, have told that the system in The Netherlands consists of long waitinglists, should reconsider the lies they are spreading.

The longest waitinglist was for surgery and it was not even two weeks before he was admitted to hospital.

I think we can save costs here by individualizing treatment plans and skipping protocols at times.
This knee will cost healthcare a lot, unless they review his case after the physiotherapy sessions.
When it doesn’t help they should replace his knee, so he doesn’t need extra care anymore.

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Category: health and medicine, politics
Tags: health > politics

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385One ResponseHis+knee+and+health+politics2009-12-02+09%3A43%3A10Laane to “His knee and health politics”

The BoBo (1 comments)
December 3rd, 2009 @ 3:39 am

But – over here – if you need a new knee – it doesn't matter what age you are – you get it. Health care at this time is not rationed in the U.S. If we get Obamacare – it will indeed be rationed care and your post proved that socialist medicine is indeed all about rationed care.

I have been in healthcare for 18 years here and I'm working on my Ph.D. in Public Health Epidemiology. I have studied the BHS, Canadian Health System, and the Cuban system – in every case – every health minister has explicitly stated the health system would never survive unless they rationed their care.

Why would America want to ruin the best health care system in the world by socializing it? It doesn't make sense. Besides – the way our constitution is written – this current bill being debated is unconstitutional. Our government cannot force the citizens to purchase any consumer product – which is what these bills do.

Sure – we do have issues – but – it is a problem created by our government. We are not allowed to negotiate with our physicians as we were able to before 40 years ago. Government stepped in and created fee schedules and started putting doctors in jail who didn't charge the rates the government set.

The real problem here is ACCESS to affordable health care. We could drive down costs if the government would get out of the way and let the free-market forces work. If citizens could negotiate and shop around their physicians as we do any other service or consumer goods – prices would naturally come down and we wouldn't need insurance. In addition – we need tort reform. For every 1 legitimate medical malpractice case out there – there are four frivolous suits filed hoping the physician's insurance company will settle. The government regulations and fee schedules coupled with attorneys are what makes our access unaffordable to many.