Pure Common Sense

There has been a lot of discussion about the topic of healthcare in the news these days.  The President seems to be taking a somewhat different approach to the issue than his former rival for the high office and others on that side of the aisle.  Obama has spoken out in favor of nationalized coverage.  This is seen as a step toward the socialized coverage in Europe and Canada that has many people shaking in their shoes.  But the deficit spending of the past eight years has not left us in a favorable position with regard to anything, let alone healthcare.  If we’re running out of money now then we have no business spending trillions more on healthcare.  The truth is that our healthcare system has been in trouble for much longer than any of us can remember and we need to correct some critical mistakes if we want to get back on track.  Here are three easy actions we can take.

1. I would not say we should completely ban all malpractice lawsuits, but it has become clear that when doctors have the bejeezes scared out of them by the possibility of being sued, they take fewer risks and there is less innovation in the field.  This does seem to conflict with my strong adherence to Personal Responsibility, which is an important subset to the notion of Common Sense.  However, while punishing doctors who make real mistakes with real consequences is something that most people do and should support, the amount of malpractice lawsuits is out of control and many of those cases penalize doctors who by-and-large are qualified and make right choices.  If those doctors have more wiggle room, who knows what they might be able to accomplish. Read the rest of this entry »