Boston Globe columnist Kevin Cullen has written an engaging column about the ironies of healthcare reform in an environment where the cost of insurance for municipal unions and their retirees threatens the financial solvency of many cities and towns in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
From the patient’s perspective, he details how our deep economic recession forces people to make horrible choices — to pay the rent or purchase healthcare coverage — and the maddening consequences that can occur in a state with universal coverage.
My 30+ years in healthcare has led me to one important conviction: The answer is NOT a single payer government system. That may help access, but it will not improve service, quality of care or reduce costs. It most assuredly will be subject to the corrupting forces of powerful political special interests.
I am still waiting for the wonderful creative forces of political compromise to kick in to produce a reform bill that will not destroy our healthcare industry in an effort to solve the very real challenges we face.
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A system that hurts us all – The Boston Globe