In February of this year Pediatric Neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson gave a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in front of President Obama and Vice-President Biden. His speech ranged from quoting scripture, telling of his impoverished upbringing, education, taxation and healthcare in America.
With this blog the ‘Health Policy Institute’ I am constantly
looking to find different healthcare leaders who are talking about Healthcare
Policy and how they feel it should be improved and how these improvements should
be accomplished.
Dr. Carson is one such person. He understands how important healthcare is, saying ‘It’s
the most important thing a person can have. Money mean nothing, titles mean
nothing when you don’t have your health. But we have to figure out efficient ways
to do it.’ He continues stating, ‘we spend a lot of money on healthcare, twice
as much per capita as anyone else in the World, and yet not very efficient.’
Dr.
Carson then briefly lays out what he sees as the most effective way to handle
healthcare in America. ‘Here's
my solution: When a person is born, give him a birth certificate, an electronic
medical record, and a health savings account to which money can be contributed
-- pretax -- from the time you're born 'til the time you die. When you die, you
can pass it on to your family members, so that when you're 85 years old and you
got six diseases, you're not trying to spend up everything. You're happy to
pass it on and there's nobody talking about death panels.
Number one. And also, for the people who were indigent who don't have any money we can make contributions to their HSA each month because we already have this huge pot of money. Instead of sending it to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care.
Number one. And also, for the people who were indigent who don't have any money we can make contributions to their HSA each month because we already have this huge pot of money. Instead of sending it to some bureaucracy, let's put it in their HSAs. Now they have some control over their own health care.
And what do you think they are going to do
they’re going to learn very quickly how to be responsible. When Mr. Jones gets
that diabetic foot ulcer he’s not going to the emergency room and blowing a big
chunk of it. He’s going to the clinic and he learns that very quickly. Gets the
same treatment- in the emergency room they send him out, in the clinic they say
now let’s get your diabetes under control, so you’re not back here in three
weeks with another problem. That’s how we begin to solve these types of
problems. It’s much more complex than that and I don’t have time to go into
that all but we can do all these
things because we are smart people.’
I
think it is important to look at any and all solutions to improve the
healthcare system in America. And while working together on these healthcare
policies we can improve the nation and the people of this nation’s health and
strength.
(The full
speech has been posted on this blog.)
Tell
the Health Policy Institute what you think?
Do
you agree with Dr. Carson’s idea of a Health Savings Account? Do you think a HAS
would cause people to live a healthier lifestyle? Would you rather keep the
system we have currently?
Thank
you to Baylor University Healthcare MBA for advising its students to see problems
as a potential opportunity to become creative.
Sources:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2013/02/07/dr_benjamin_carson_addresses_national_prayer_breakfast_criticizes_obamacare.html
