Healthy citizens don't need doctors...
Bottom line up front (BLUF): Yes, there is a cure.
Individually and collectively, without the assistance of the government, there is a cure.
This part works for both categories of insured and uninsured citizens.
Sure, it's complicated but...on the surface, maybe we have more control than we think...it isn't easy and requires both discipline and effort.
But humans are naturally built to find great reward and thrive under discipline, hard work and effort. Climbing Mount Everest, winning Gold Medals or building a successful business doesn't happen by sitting on the couch and asking others (least of all your government) to do the work for you.
It hurts at times...but it's worth it!
Lazy, entitlements-based humans who refuse to contribute to whatever society they land in certainly do not thrive nor do they generally feel personally rewarded by their life.
There are some who land in rough circumstances or who are physically unable for any number of legitimate reasons...THEY are who the system was designed to care for...for whatever season might be required...but THEY are also the exception.
Able bodied citizens should contribute--to the greatest extent they are able--to whatever system they find themselves within.
I digress...
THEORY: If less people need to see the doctor, then both individual and cumulative health care costs will go down (easy math).
THEREFORE: If individual and cumulative health care costs go down...this reduces the likelihood that an overcrowded, over-burdened healthcare system remains unable to properly manage patients (easier math).
It seems to be a strange, long forgotten, often publicly denigrated principle: personal responsibility.
Get healthy:
1. Drink more water.
2. Intake less calories.
3. Exercise to match your metabolism and calorie burn rate.
Those 3 actions are not 100% guarantee of perfect health.
There isn't one of those (guarantees of perfect health)...although many will try and sell you one.
The principle is sound:
AUTOMOBILE:
IF you take good care of a car, the odds are better
that it will last a long time and cost you less money.
HUMAN BODY:
IF you take good care of your body, the odds are better
that it will last a long time and cost you less money.
NOTE: I didn't say to not eat ice cream (my weakness), drink Coca-Cola or buy chocolate chip cookies...just show moderation.
**When you eat more than your body can naturally burn...turn up the burn rate (exercise more).
There are indeed humans who by genetics and birth are exceptions to the rule--that's why we need and have doctors...but, for the vast majority of us, a healthier lifestyle will reduce any real or perceived healthcare cost or crisis. AND there are all kinds of other POSITIVE second and third order effects that come with taking better care of yourself.
It's not all about water, calories and exercise. There are 1,001 ways humans can take better self-care and reduce the need for doctors and over-burdened health care systems. Some are free and some are not.
Does our healthcare system need reform? Yes.
Is the entire system broke? No.
There are many really good doctors and many really good hospitals.
Do pharmaceutical companies have way too much power and make way to much money? Yes.
Are all prescription drugs bad? No.
We often need important prescriptions...and some of them often quite literally save lives.
Is there a better way? Yes.
Are doctors and hospitals incentivized (to over prescribe) in the wrong direction? Yes.
Is the United States of America an over drugged nation? Yes.
Will our system always need reform? Of course!
Build a perfect system...a noble aspiration. Put humans in charge...not perfect anymore.
My mantra about "the system": If you don't like it--join it (run for office), vote for it, or leave and find a better one.
BUT, if we--as a country (or any nation)--lived and maintained a healthier lifestyle...one could argue that health care would be less of a crisis.
If doctors had less patients, it would follow that the quality of most doctor's visits would go up with more time to spend during appointments.
Don't wait for Washington, D.C....get healthy...and THAT will fix health care quicker than any set of politicians at the national, state or local level.
...
About the insured vs. un-insured...it's complicated for sure...
I tend to be of the following general persuasion:
That in general...
Life is hard. But rewarding if you choose it.
Life is often not fair. But this is still a cool planet.
That if you contribute to the team (your family, your job, your country etc...) ...in the end, the team generally ends of contributing right back to you (karma).
That if you lie, cheat and steal just to get ahead because "I'm going to get mine"...then
in the end, you are generally going to get "got."
Not everyone is entitled to live like Bill Gates just for showing up on the planet.
And in general...
1. There are exceptions to every rule.
2. Running a country of any size, let alone 324 million people isn't simple. It's complicated. Always.
3. The United States of America was built upon some measure of an ideal...that you could make it or break it here...make your bed and lie in it...for better or for worse. **But at least you can have that shot at the dream.
3a. That's something along the lines of personal responsibility.
4. That minimum wage jobs were never intended to be living wage jobs.
5. That if I make more money but everything just costs more, have I gained anything? No. I've often lost more than I gained in the first place.
6. That benefits and remuneration of any kind are generally most appreciated and best understood when they are earned not given.
7. That many people who cry "equality" don't really understand what that means nor are they really prepared to sacrifice the % of their hard earned $$ that would be required to achieve the levels of equality they believe others (who don't contribute to society) should be entitled to have just for showing up.
8. That there are some small % of people with wealth and power (often both) who really aren't interested in progress or the betterment of society, because for example, they prosper when people stay "sick" and over-medicated (keep the people dependent)...or for example, they prosper when conflict abounds (keep the people afraid)...or for example, they prosper when the full truth never quite makes it to the light of day (keep the people ignorant and mis-informed).
9. There are exceptions to every rule. But they are exceptions and NOT the rule.
...
What if it Just Started Raining?!
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