A girl and her lung

Please take the time to read this story, written by a little girl's parents, about the reality of serious illness in our country. Try to see health policy from the experience of a family living with major health care problems. And remember that you never know when that circumstance will occur for you.

I know that people who work for and lead health insurance organizations are doing their level best to perform their jobs well. I am not insisting that they are evil. I am persuaded, however, that the business model of American health insurance is a failure and that those who work in or with this industry are wasting tremendous resources without providing society (the customers at large) with value. It is time to end the wasteful practices of private health insurance.

We, Americans, in the vast majority, will agree that providing this little girl with the care that she needs is essential infrastructure for our society. We will pay enormous taxes (on average, $5000 per person) in order to make Medicaid (and Medicare and every other government health program) happen. The rules of that game, however, are not benign. They reduce our national productivity and our individual family wealth. Those rules exist because of the private insurance business model. The denial of coverage that this little girl had is a direct result of this same business model. This business model simply makes insurance profitability inevitable at enormously wasteful administration cost while shifting the cost of care to the rest of us anyway. We must free ourselves from this ridiculous business model.

Read this story. Then re-read it. Then help me stop this nightmare in Utah.

Best,

Dr. Joe Jarvis
http://www.utahpatientspac.com/