Labor Day

Missing Labor Day at the Point. Kind of feeling that I am just treading water right now while making no progress as far as classes. Still have yet to make a decision on which lab to work in. Need to work on my patience. Almost lost it in the middle of a class this past week. My bad. Spent yesterday with my great aunt, my aunt and cousins and was asked at length what I think of the healthcare bill in depth. It is kind of funny to me that now that I am going to a college of medicine that all of a sudden my input really matters. Was not used to having so much attention being paid to how I felt on the subject but it really forced me to come up with a concise answer about my ideas. I do think the healthcare system is broken the way it stands but I don't believe socialized medicine is the way to go. I have been around hospitals and those who work in the hospitals right around the Canadian border where Canadians are coming down to pay out of pocket for their healthcare because they can get better direct access to the care they need and don't need a government write off. I think that one step towards working to fix the system to work for everyone is to put caps on malpractice awardings. It is maybe a hard thing to think about but medicine is not 100% guarenteed success, just like anything else. I fully believe that if there has been negligence that the patient has every right to file a lawsuit but when the patient is being negligent about their own health and going against the advice of their medical professional, I don't believe that they should be able to sue because what the doctor told them would happen if they continued their lifestyle did in fact happen. Malpractice insurance is insanely high which causes the hospitals and clinics to increase prices to be able to cover the insurance costs. These higher costs in services cause health insurance companies to up their premiums to cover the care. If malpractice insurance goes down, cost of service should go down, which in turn should lead to a drop in health insurance costs. I do think that health insurance companies rake in way more money than they should and their profit margins are out of control but I think that is a harder challenge to tackle. I also believe that we as Americans have to choose health. Care for the ever increasing obese populations puts a strain on our healthcare system by not only needing treatment for the weight issues itself but also the laundry list of problems that come from being overweight. Yes, the people we have elected are battling this out behind the closed doors of the Nation's Capital but we too can make moves to better the system for all. Those are just my thoughts. I am sure someone much wiser than I has a better solution.