Most of us tend to operate and respond to strong, emotionally charged topics.
Healthcare, is certainly an emotionally charged topic that can separate friendships, and evoke visceral responses. The Affordable Care Act is just a recent example of the ongoing administration.
As you can surmise there are more...
HIPPA, (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) , is ostensibly present to protect privacy. There were rules in place prior to this legislation. So what was the point of HIPAA?
It creates a database.
Any medical information relevant to you; medical diagnoses or even misdiagnoses, prescription medicines filled and so forth. Anything related to your medical history is accessible to outside 'researchers'.
Who is interested? Life insurance underwriters, healthcare coverage providers, essentially anyone who wants to verify answers you may have provided. HIPAA also creates large fines if a healthcare provider should leave a stray record on a desk or send a fax with personal information to a wrong number. Bottom line it is a DATABASE; but what about CONFIDENTIALITY?
Confidentiality is often misunderstood.
Individuals tend to think confidentiality means anonymity. However, confidentiality only means limited or restricted access; not off limit access. Anonymous means no access, because generally there is no record of an encounter; no paper or digital trail. With HIPAA you maybe surprised that someone has access to the anti-anxiety medicine prescribed to assist in muscle relaxation may be seen as a suicide risk to a life insurance underwriter. The gentleman who requests an erectile dysfunction medicine for recreational sex may be seen as a cardiac or diabetic risk to an underwriter. The result is businesses are protected, but individuals; not so much.
Healthcare coverage is not necessarily Healthcare insurance.
Healthcare insurance is virtually nonexistent! We have HMO's, PPO's and a lot of other acronyms that we generically refer to as insurance. These are NOT insurance plans! They are more accurately called healthcare coverage. Since they are not insurance plans; they are either not regulated or poorly regulated. Individual state's Insurance Commissioners have no power over them! As an example, "Epi" pens were not the only prescription that increased in price ten fold; many of them did; seeing $30 dollar antibiotics rising to $300 is the rule, not the exception!
Why?
A. Because they know they can charge exorbitant fees without any real, negative consequence!
B. Because they are greedy bastards!
C. Both of the above.
Healthcare is a business!
It's designed to create a profit. In my days of playing Doctor/Physician you would often hear a mantra, "Procedures pay more." You are seen at times not only as a patient, but as the means to make a profit. The business has a vested interest in keeping you dependent on prescriptions to "Treat (not cure)" your chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and so forth.
Medicine is not proactive!
See the above response for the motive. Western medicine is designed to be reactive; not preventative. YOU need to conduct your own due diligence to find health; the current climate is to maintain disease!
Western medicine's forte' is putting catastrophically broken bodies back together. Surgeons and trauma teams do that well. But who wants to be in that position? The day to day afflictions that many encounter do not benefit from the strong suite!
