Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Because You Need More Evidence That Our Healthcare System Sucks

I watched Frontline last night: their special, "Sick Around America." I continue to be baffled by opposition to healthcare reform, particularly when you look at it from an efficiency standpoint. Even if you have no moral qualms about the suffering of some unfortunate soul who didn't have the proper virtue and forsight not to be uninsured, can you really argue that it makes sense to spend so goddamned much once people get so sick that they require immediate medical care?

I mean, they profiled a woman who suffered from lupus and who spent years bouncing around trying to get coverage. Consequently, she received no regular treatment to allow her to keep her disease in check. Ultimately, she wound up receiving better than half a dozen surgeries before she finally died. The cost for this futile treatment was close to a million dollars. How stupid is that?

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