When I re-visited Ayn Rand recently I realized the relevance of her writing with respect to US Healthcare. Those struggling with trying to fix it, know what I am talking about.
“When you know that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing, when you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods but in favours, when you see that men get rich more easily by graft rather than by work,
and your laws no longer protect you against them but protect them against you, you know that your society is doomed.”
Ayn Rand
In it’s simplest form, the cogs in the wheel – Physicians, healthcare providers and us, receivers of care have absolutely no say in what happens to us, around us, how we get cared for and how much we pay for it. So, these two critical constituents (in my view, the only constituents that matter) have constantly been squeezed.
- Doctors’ reimbursements continue getting lower
- Patient’s (each and everyone of us, except the privileged sitting in DC) insurance premiums continue rising.
Is society doomed as Ayn Rand says?
I am not an expert, I am not a politician, but I as most of you is a concerned citizen and a concerned patient. What bothers me most is that when any attempt is made to change status quo, there is a revolt, there are false accusations thrown precisely by those that benefit from keeping things the way they are. Those that produce nothing, those that get rich by ‘graft’ than by work.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
So, instead of embracing change, they resist and fight back. I do not say change is perfect, but instead of opposing any change, it would be better if those grafted people work to change, see what is not perfect, and architect more change to make it better.
But, what we are seeing is the constant chant of ‘repeal’ the change – rather than ‘lets’ try to identify weaknesses and fix it’.
…otherwise, our society is indeed doomed.
