Brasfield 6-10

I enjoyed how the book compared a bunch of different health care systems to each other from other countries. To see how other countries run when it comes to health care, can help understand health care systems as a whole. It also can show strengths and weakness of different health care system strategies. The countries plan I was interested by most was Germany. Just like ours, some health care is paid for by taxes, but I like that there is a standard amount that everyone pays, unless they can't afford it then it is covered by welfare. Throughout the course we have asked "Is health care a right?" I think it is in the sense that if someone cannot afford a health care policy, they should not be punished by having no health care at all. Budgeting will always be the center of the problems because distributing money fairly is hard, but denying certain people health care is just cruel. I think we should take ideas from other health plans and incorporate it in our own in a way that provides everyone coverage without changing too much of the money budgeting, if not even reducing costs in certain areas. Overall, it'll take a very long time to find the perfect and ideal health care system, but I'm hoping with all the knowledge out there that one day we will figure it all out.

Brasfield 3-5

When looking at chapter 5, and even the health care system alone, a big focus is on money. There seems to never enough. Health care systems are a necessity and we need to find more funding for our current technology and medicine and well as fund for research and new and developing technology so that treatments will become more advanced which could result in many lives saved. The US spends the most money on health care per capita than other countries, while on the same chart, we have lower life expectancy (though not by much). If we aren't living longer, where is the money going if its not keeping our people alive? We also have fewer doctors and nurses, but we have more surgeries and we pay doctors more. So the question everyone, even Brasfield, is asking: How do we reduce costs? To keep our health care system alive, it has to have money to keep it going. One answer he gives is to reorganize the system. I bet when people were forming the health care systems, they did not think it would become so pricey. Maybe if we did just wipe the slate clean and some how start over and distribute funding and costs in a more effective manner, then we would have a better and stronger health care system.

Research Paper Reflection

My paper was on the problem of malpractice in anesthesiology. The topic interested me because I want to be an anesthesiologist, and the idea of malpractice has a big impact of health care systems, which is what this class is all about. It took me awhile to come up with a thesis statement for which direction I wanted to go for my paper, and after my research I decided that my thesis should be a question: can malpractice be stopped? Finding research and information on the history and current study of anesthesiology and malpractice wasn't too difficult. Finding personal accounts of malpractice suits was a bit more difficult unless I looked on lawyer's websites. For my thesis though, technically I could not have a definitive answer, but when I put all my research together and look at outcomes, I could say that if anesthesiology and its methods are done properly 100% of the time and the education matches new and rising technology, then malpractice in the field should be at a very small minimum. Tying together all my ideas for my paper was kind of difficult because the paper could have went in so many different directions, but I think the way I argued the sides from the patients' perspective, the doctors' perspective and the medicine and technology itself, I think it flowed well to serve my point of answering my thesis statement with a logical conclusion. The majority of my sources were very reliable or educational and I think it all fit well into my paper and it ended up being the perfect length of not too short or not too long.

Brasfield Ch.1-2

I never thought about how health care cost was distributed. When looking at the chart about concentration of Health Care Spending, I see that the "healthy half" or the bottom 50% of the nation only used 3% of all of the health care money. Looking at the percentages, I was truly shocked. 22% is used just on 1% of our nation. A question could be is it fair that people pay increasing health insurance when the most insurance money probably doesn't go to them? Another question could be is there a way to fix this? Why should everyone pay so much money when about 80% of the health care spending goes to only the top 20% of the nation is reference to sick people? I don't think people really think about how unequal the distribution is because insurance is just a thing every thinks they need and just pay for like any other bill and thinks it gives you equal coverage. It will be interesting to see if and how the percentages will change over time as insurance rates increase.

Altman Part 4

One of the reasons that the book says that Obamacare has been the more successful of the plans because it was the one who wants the least amount of change. It was the one plan that was considered "a near universal plan". When it came to insurance policies, I'm glad that it expanded to cover more things at a cheaper cost and it keeps children on their parent's insurance plan longer. There are many more benefits on the Obamacare plan and it really does limit the amount of change that happens. It also provided a chance for more people to get insurance who were previously uninsuranced, which benefited doctors and hospitals because now they have insurance companies to pay them rather than treating people with no way to pay the bills. Hopefully this plan continues to improve and maybe even become a truly universal plan.

Altman Parts 2 and 3

This book is extremely hard to blog about because there are just so many points and plans brought up in each chapter, so its hard to choose one and expand on it. One of the questions from the notes was "What is the proper role of the federal government", and I'm assuming that it is referring to the government's role in health care plans, and since this book is all about politics I would like to expand on that. After reading all these chapters, it is clear the government is unclear about what should be in health care plans. President after president have changed the health care system trying to find the perfect balance. When it comes to the idea of a universal health care plan, I think the role of the government should be greater than if a person is getting a separate health care plan. If the government is backing up and paying health care plans, like medicare and medicaid, then they should have a more important role in determining the boundaries and guidelines of each plan. But some people require a more specific health care plan, and I don't think the government should be as involved in that, rather the specific insurance company or even the state should be more in control because the country is too big with too many people for the government to try to fit everyone's need. I hope that after all these failed attempts, a universal health care plan can come about that will fit the majority of people's needs, that is cost effective, that benefits the patients and doctors, and that covers all the important aspects that an insurance plan should, but it seems like the government have a long way to go on providing the ideal universal health care plan.

Altman Part 1

Looking at this book, seeing the differences in the plans of different presidents was very interesting. Each plans had its benefits and its imperfections. I don't think there will ever be a truly perfect health care plan that will cover everything everyone needs, but making the best one possible would be very beneficial to our country. I like many aspect of Clinton's proposal. I liked the fact people could choose there own plan rather being stuck with a plan they did not want or need. Clinton had the idea that these plans would make it so taxes would not increase. Money is such a huge factor in hospitals, doctors, and health plans. The government and its people pour so much money into the health care system, adding more money to that puts everyone at risk. We need to find a plan that everyone can benefit without breaking the bank of the government and the hospitals clients.