So the question is, moving forward, what will the healthcare delivery system be for the majority of Americans?
The Out-of-Pocket Model--the Frightening New U.S. Model of "Uninsurance" Is Close to Third-world Countries
The out-of-pocket model (or "out-of-your-pocket" model) is becoming the predominant model in the United States as 50,000,00 Americans are already uninsured and more are falling into that category every day. In this model, the rich pay for the best healthcare in the world. The middle class fall into debt. The poor stay sick or die. This is the model for healthcare for the approximately 150 poorest countries in the world. And--increasingly--for the US, arguably the richest country in the world.
As many as 40 industrialized nations have an organized healthcare plan that has universal converge. Contrary to popular opinion, we do have universal healthcare for a few. In the U.S. veterans and people over 65 have a national healthcare system. The rest of the U.S. may be a part of some healthcare system or not. If they are not, they go to the emergency room and hope they get treated.
Our fractured healthcare system is unfair, expensive, and often fails.
What about European countries?
In the UK, healthcare is provided and financed by the government through tax payments, just like the police force or the public library. In Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Japan, and Switzerland healthcare comes from the private sector, but universal coverage is government mandated. Canada has a national health insurance model that uses private-sector providers, but payment comes from a government-run insurance program that every citizen pays into.
U.S. Healthcare: Next Steps?
The controversy is swirling and will continue to swirl. Here are some points of tentative agreement that may be emerging:
No one believes our present system works. I don't know of anyone who believes that U.S. healthcare works reasonably well. Compare a person in Europe who has to deal with a cumbersome system and then compare that person to someone in the U.S. who can't get healthcare because of a previous condition, has preventative procedures denied, and has to fight to get the approval of claims with no real recourse.
There must be a central coordinating organization. One point that Clarke Heidrick agrees with is that there must be a central organization that coordinates a person's lifelong healthcare. Preferably, that entity is not the federal government. It is preferably an organization like a health insurance company, but one whose mission is to keep its customers healthy.
Every person must have a national healthcare number. A national healthcare number, like a social security number, follows the person for their entire lives. The number, in fact, could be built on a person's social security number, as is the case with Medicare. This number will allow the healthcare system to track treatments, procedures, and medications for the first time.
Healthcare must have a national database. Having a database that tracks treatments and puts together our fractured healthcare system will improve the health of our population and extend life in this country. The left hand will once again know what the right hand is doing.
Every citizen must be covered. Health insurance companies presently cherry-pick their customers to find he healthy ones and eliminate anyone with a problem. The more healthcare you need, the more inadequate the coverage you will get. Under the current system, you will live if you can pay.
People like Clarke Heidrick and many others have led us through the seemingly impossible task of coordinating regional healthcare. Now we need men and women who will champion a national healthcare system that works for all.
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Clarke Heidrick is an attorney with the firm of Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody where he has practiced law since 1977. He served as President of the firm from 1993 through 1997 and currently serves as Chair of the firm's board of directors. He specializes in general business law, mergers and acquisitions, corporate and securities, real estate acquisitions, banking and finance, and tax-exempt organizations.
Mr. Heidrick is involved in a variety of community organizations,
including serving as Chairman of the Board of Shivers Cancer Foundation, Chair
of the Foundation for Religious Studies in Texas, Vice-Chair of the
Board of the Rebekah Baines Johnson Center, and a member of the
Headliners Foundation. He previously served as Chair of the Board of the
United Way Capital Area. Mr. Heidrick was the recipient of the United
Way Capital Area Community Champion Award in 2005, the Neal Kocurek
Award for Healthcare Advocacy in 2005 from People's Community Clinic,
the David Walter Community Excellence Award in 2007 from the Austin Bar
Association, and the Byron Cox Community Caring Award in 2008 from The
Care Communities.
Mr. Heidrick was reappointed to a four-year term to the Board of
Managers by the Travis County Commissioners Court in August of
2005, which expires in December of 2009.
