tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32278625933593910492024-02-08T07:50:55.018-08:00My Thoughts of the History of Health CareAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-49219565345335550852014-04-25T22:16:00.002-07:002014-04-25T22:16:01.824-07:00Brasfield Pt. 1<div class="MsoNormal">
I really enjoyed reading this book because it is laid out
more like a textbook. It is easier to understand because in the first part
Brasfield gives information on things the reader needs to know to fully
understand the rest of the book. He includes graphs and charts to visually
depict his ideas. All of this makes the book more enjoyable to read. <o:p></o:p></div>
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I found one of Brasfield’s statistics particularly
interesting. He says that health care expenses have grown faster than inflation
for a Half-century. I believe that this is due to the fact that technology is
expanding therefore creating new and more expensive procedures. This could also
be due to the fact that health care providers are requiring to be paid more.
Regardless of the reason, the more health costs continue to rise, the more
people will have to spend to stay well. It surprised me when Brasfield said
with the rising health care costs, people will have to make decisions between
paying for health care or buying consumer goods. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Brasfield also brings up the question, “If we as a public
are spending more on health care for other people, does that mean our society
is moving closer to socialism?” I believe that is a good question. This
question was the reason why many people opposed the Affordable Care Act.
Therefore we must be careful with what reforms we make so that our nation does
not become totally socialized.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-40260821653461730282014-04-25T21:57:00.001-07:002014-04-25T21:57:10.575-07:00Altman - End<div class="MsoNormal">
Altman begins Chapter 19 with what Obamacare can do for
primary care and preventive health. According to him, Obamacare will use
efforts to provide primary care to many individuals. Primary care physicians
are the most underpaid specialty. Yet, it is the most important specialty
because these doctors are typically the first doctor a person sees. My mother
is a primary care physician, and even though her twelve hour shifts and part
time at chiropractor’s office jobs pay the bills, she still does not make as
much as other specialty doctors do. But it was her choice because she knew that
her job would be one of the most important ones in providing good health care.
The Obamacare will provide incentives for those who wish to become primary care
physicians. There will also be a 10 percent bonus for those providers who serve
Medicare and Medicaid patients. Altman describes the future of health care
reform as “cost control”. This definitely true because the parts of Obamacare
implements some cost control benefits that have tried to pass before with many
other political leaders.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-58426106346438993402014-04-25T21:40:00.003-07:002014-04-25T21:40:58.510-07:00Altman Part 2 and 3<div class="MsoNormal">
Why Many Health Care Reforms Didn’t Pass<o:p></o:p></div>
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Altman says that the wealthier tended to be healthier, while
the poor tended to be sick. That is because the wealthy people could afford
private insurance, while the poor either were not covered by Medicaid or could
not afford a private plan. Even though there were efforts to change this,
conservative republicans refused anything that meant the expansion of federal
government. . This is still the case
today. There was much opposition to the Affordable Care Act because this meant
the government’s involvement in purchasing health care plans. I think that it
is interesting that even southern democrats supported the republicans because
they felt that if any health care reform was passed then they believed that
they would be forced to integrate hospitals. It still baffles me every time I
read that page I despise the Jim Crow rules of the 60s. Others opposed health
care reform because it meant an increase in taxes for the working middle class.
The people who needed health care the most had no means to pay for it. But once
Medicare and Medicaid is finally passed many people are happy because they are
finally insured. <o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-50222904802394125992014-04-25T21:13:00.001-07:002014-04-25T21:13:39.305-07:00Altman .Part 1<div class="MsoNormal">
I do not particularly like this book due to its memoir
nature. I found it sort of difficult to read because of this. However, Altman
made very interesting points in the beginning chapters. His introduction opened
up his discussion of government based insurance versus or for profit insurance
companies. Even though Nixon and Clinton had plans to expand health care for
everyone, taxes were going to increase no matter the plan proposal. People
already can barely afford health care. There were different proposals during
Altman’s time that tried to benefit the people but for various reasons they did
not work.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-89820991872857308402014-04-25T20:52:00.002-07:002014-04-25T20:52:34.251-07:00Hoffman Ch 6 - End<div class="MsoNormal">
I like the fact that this book gets into the explicit detail
of the how many insurance plans ran during this day. For instance, on page 105
the author describes the way the policyholders paid for the services. Insurance
plans were set up in such a way that discouraged people from going to the
doctor for just a cold or the flu. It was all because the insurance companies
were “rationing”. If you ask me, health care should be the last thing you ration.
It is how a person stays healthy. Later on, in the 1960s, the government
created Medicare to supplement the Social Security Act. The government also
enacted Medicaid to help out poor people. With these two systems still in place
today, there are still some families that are not covered by any type of health
insurance. Hoffman makes it clear that there are still some changes to be made.
I definitely agree with this because my mom used to work as a doctor in an
undeserved community in North Charleston. Many of these people either had no
insurance or were covered by Medicaid. My mother would come home complaining
about how sick her patients were because they would wait until they absolutely
had to see a doctor.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-32720130157157870362014-04-25T20:32:00.003-07:002014-04-25T20:32:45.411-07:00Health Care for Some - Part 1<div class="MsoNormal">
You would think that during the Roaring Twenties that health
care would improve. In some ways it did. But when the Great Depression came
around, every aspect of the United States suffered, including health care. Even
though during this time period, health care was seen as a right, many poor
people were not able to be seen because they could not pay. The doctors did
want too many charity cases because times were hard for them too and they had
to pay bills just like everyone else. But at the same time, doctors did not
people who could pay for their services to go to free health clinics because
that would mean a loss in money too. The opening of the book makes you realize
the seriousness of people’s die-hard situations during the Great Depression. A
young girl died because of a burst appendix. She could have been saved if the
doctor would have appropriately prioritized his patients based on the urgency
of their condition. But the doctor did not want to see her during “regular
business hours” because the family could not pay for services. The Great
Depression really showed who was rich and poor because the rich lived fine
while the poor died of treatable diseases.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-34736056910761743032014-04-25T20:17:00.000-07:002014-04-25T20:17:13.132-07:00Marrow of Tragedy: Ch. 4 - 6The Sanitary Commission was responsible for the hospitals having as much order as they did. Without them, hospitals would have been total chaos during the Civil War. Since it was ran by mostly women, the women were able to think about the items and procedures that the men wouldn't typically think about. Furthermore, women had more experience in taking care of people, so their knowledge was most useful during this time. Even though the Sanitary Commission tried to provide as much help as they could, they were still criticized for the work that they did. Many people were uncomfortable with the charity work that they did. This situation can be related to how very conservative people now do not necessarily like giving welfare to people who desperately need it. Women at this time were always being criticized for the work that they did. But some how nurses were able to stick through the criticism because we still have them today. Back during the Civil War, nurses were new to the scene. They were all part of the forever changing health care system of this time.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-35304936581117813802014-04-25T20:05:00.002-07:002014-04-25T20:05:59.485-07:00Marrow of Tragedy 7 - Afterword<div class="MsoNormal">
The set-up of the hospitals during this time resembled many
other institutions that cared for others. For example, some hospitals were made
to run like prisons. There were strict rules, and roll was called twice a day.
This is interesting because one always hears something being military style,
but in this case the hospitals were run in prison style. I guess this was the surgeon general’s way of
keeping orders around the hospitals. It is also interesting that the hospitals
were required to provide services to the black employees of the hospitals. One
would think that during this time, the blacks would be neglected, but the
hospitals were indeed required to reserve two to three tents for them. It is
sad to think of how unprepared both sides of the war were. The confederate
hospitals were the most unprepared; they did not expect as many people to be
sick and hurt, and therefore it was extremely difficult to take care of all the
soldiers who needed help. There were times when there were troops sent out and
there was so much war destruction that it became impossible for hospital
supplies to get to the needed hospitals. Therefore, many patients suffered,
some even died just because of the lack of supplies.<o:p></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-78895910561901070102014-02-25T21:38:00.001-08:002014-02-25T21:38:12.326-08:00Marrow of Tragedy: Intro - Ch. 3I enjoyed reading this book. Humphreys takes an interesting approach to describe the history of medical care in the Civil War. She chose to include the effects that women had in medicine during that time. I think this is unique because this time period we typically only focus on the impact of the men in the war. Humphreys describes the role that women had in chapter 2. Before the war women typically only worked in hospitals and in health care in general as servants. There also very few female physicians. But once the war began, more and more women began to transition from a job title as "servant" to professional nurse. I did not realize how important women were during the war. They were responsible for some of the organizations that provided relief for the injured soldiers. They also help implement hospitals. At this time, hospitals were a new idea, and it was difficult to get them up and running smoothly. Women were able to help because they had a better idea of the logistics behind taking care of someone. Humphrey also goes into detail about medicine and surgery tatics that were used during the war.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3227862593359391049.post-62698256396649386522014-01-08T13:04:00.003-08:002014-01-08T13:04:44.151-08:00Health Care Before the 20th CenturyIt is amazing to see how much health care has changed in recent years. But it is even more interesting to evaluate the way health care existed before the 20th century. Doctors and health professionals did not have as much scientific knowledge as they do know. This effected the way that people were treated when they had diseases. Say for instance, a man was found to have polio. This person would basically be doomed to have an awful rest of his life living with this paralyzing disease. Today, polio has almost been completely eliminated in the United States because of vaccinations and early treatment. It is also hard to imagine having some type of injury instead of a disease. Injury usually means pain, and before the 20th century doctors had a whole different method of treating pain. The Lortab that today's doctors prescribe for you did not exist. Instead, doctors were using home remedies to try to eliminate the pain. A soldier in the Civil War who had a gun shot wound to the stomach probably did not receive much alleviate the pain. Most of the doctors focus would probably be fighting a nasty infection. Today, science has changed so many things including medicine.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18224251149454285814noreply@blogger.com0