The chicken or the egg?

As I am driving to work this morning I usually think about the things on my “to do” list. I am a serious list maker both in my head and on paper. But before I get too far down the page the thought of the true cost of medical care comes to mind. I start to ask myself the age old question, the chicken or the egg…..or rather, the doctor or the insurance company.

So, which came first, the doctor’s charges or the insurance company?

It is a complex issue that began a long time ago. Doctors used to take chickens and trade goods for their expert medical treatment but as doctors got more advanced and the science of medicine more difficult to both learn and practice, doctors needed to charge more for their services. 50 years ago most of us just died from a heart attack rather than taking a pill everyday for prophylactic measure.

Insurance companies enter the scene around 1929 with the birth of Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Americans were shifting from at home remedies to more scientific methods of treatment around then but needed a way to pay for expensive treatment. Doctors began to explore new medicine and the birth of prescription drugs enters the market. Penicillin begins widespread production in 1946. People are getting advanced treatment for syphilis, polio and x-rays come on the scene.

But where is the disconnect here? Are Americans so strapped for cash, or so unwilling to pay for services to save their lives that they skip out on paying their doctors? Did doctor’s graduate from medical school with the intention of becoming rich or with a mind to practice the science of medicine? When did insurance companies start telling doctors and patients what to do? Did consumers who bought an insurance policy think that their premiums would cover everything that their doctor wanted to do to them? And when a consumer was harmed or felt that they were harmed, when did the lawyers get their piece of the pie?

I don’t fault anyone for making money at their profession. Doctors’s, insurance company sales, drug reps, and lawyers are all a vital part of the health care debate. If all of these professions could come together and work on a solution that provides all of us with sound medical care, drug advancement, reasonable rates for income protection and law suit reform I think that we could lead the world with the kind of American spirit that made this country great. It is time to stop pointing fingers at each other and work on a private market solution that doesn’t harm any ONE profession-but benefits the American people.

I think I hear Kumbaya in the background,

Misty B.