Editor’s Note: Dr. Tom’s Prescription
By Bob Keaveney “It’s time to admit that the system isn’t working,” says Tom Coburn. “It’s broken — and we didn’t break it.”
By “we,” Coburn means the physician community, of which he is a proud member, not elected officials. He is one of those, too, less proudly. Indeed, the OB/GYN and conservative Republican U.S. senator from Oklahoma blames Washington for the mess healthcare is in, and warned colleagues at the AMA’s annual political advocacy conference in April that healthcare will only get worse for them the more government is involved.
“We’re liable to have all healthcare run by the government,” Coburn told them. “If you really like the compassion of the IRS and the efficiency of the government response to Hurricane Katrina, you’re gonna love government-run healthcare.”
Dr. Coburn’s diagnosis: American healthcare is riddled with too many government and private-payer bureaucrats standing between physicians and their patients. And it’s saddled with perverse incentives that reward unhealthy lifestyles, encourage defensive medicine, and bloat administrative costs pointlessly.
Well, sure. We all know that. But his treatment plan is radical — in its ambition, if not in execution. Continued...
