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Campuses Come Together to Unpack Healthcare Issues

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Some of the most contended issues in the nation — concepts of healthcare, medical care access and coverage — were debated yesterday evening in Goldwin Smith Hall at an interactive discussion led by Dr. Arthur Garson, executive vice president and provost of the University of Virginia.
Garson previously served as the dean of UVA’s School of Medicine. A cardiologist and author of Health Care Half Truths: Too Many Myths, Not Enough Reality, Garson dissected many “myths” surrounding the institution of healthcare providers.

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Obama's Rookie Mistake on Healthcare

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President Barack Obama made health reform a pillar of his campaign and he has issued some broad guidelines as to how he might proceed. In a surprising moment of specificity, however, President Obama made a statement regarding a specific policy he might like to implement. This policy entails third-party billing for veterans’ healthcare. This is common practice for conditions unrelated to military service, but now President Obama is considering allowing the VA to bill third-party, private insurers for services resulting from injuries received as a result of combat.

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Incremental Change We Can Believe In

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During the presidential election the domestic policy of most concern to voters, other than the economy, was healthcare. President Obama ran on a campaign of implementing sweeping healthcare reform aimed at improving both efficiency and access. House Majority Whip James Clyburn has been quoted as saying it is better for reform to occur, “incrementally, than to go out and just bite something you can’t chew,” to which Speaker Pelosi had to rebut. While the current financial crisis may offer an opportunity to move towards universal coverage and an overhaul of the U.S. healthcare system, it is more likely that Obama’s first term (at least the first fiscal year) will be witness to incremental reform.

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Don’t Forget About Entitlements

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Short-term profits, irrespective of potential long-term catastrophes, have pushed the U.S. economy into recession and the financial markets in to a standstill. In response, the Obama administration along with the 111th U.S. Congress is designing a stimulus package in the amount of $800 billion. While the nearsightedness of the financial industry has caused this mess, the Obama administration must not be so quick as to forget this lesson. Spending on healthcare as a whole is currently 16.2 percent of GDP, while Medicare alone is approximately 3.2 percent of GDP. As the economy slows, however, expenditures on healthcare seem to consume an ever-increasing percentage.

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What Are We Voting For?

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The polls show that Barack Obama will likely be the 44th President of the United States. John McCain has fallen prey to a struggling campaign with a continuously changing message, a running mate who leaves much to be desired and ultimately an opponent who has run a superior campaign. Yet, for all of the debates, media coverage and hoopla surrounding the presidential election, many Americans are unclear if not down right uneducated about the candidates’ actual policies. At the very least, voters owe it to themselves to read through the candidates’ policy proposals. Are we voting for merely a competent person, or are we voting for a proponent of policies that will effect positive change?