This is an Atlantic article from nearly eight years ago in which columnist Matthew Miller got Rep. Jim McDermott, long the Democratic standard-bearer for socialized medicine, and Rep. Jim McCrery, one of his conservative Republican counterparts on the House Ways and Means Committee, together to talk about how to fix the health care system; much to everyone’s surprise, they ended by thrashing out a rough approach to doing exactly that. Unfortunately, while there was real hope in the room that conditions were right to address this problem, circumstances (chiefly, I expect, the disputed end to the 2000 election, followed by 9/11) intervened to scuttle that hope. Still, it’s an excellent discussion, and I think points the way forward out of our current, increasingly unworkable situation.
Being a life-long democrat [my family wouldn’t vote for Jesus on a Republican ticket] one place I part company is the idea of socialized medicine, in any of its forms.
Members of my congregation work at and use the VA system and if anyone wants to see government medicine at it’s best that is where they have to start. It’s pathetic. The vets who do so ALWAYS use private care.
I’ve got tech who was told that they had to push more patients through with less over all hours and NO overtime. And this includes recent increases to the budget for the VA.
It’s pretty sad when a 50 something Vietnam vet doesn’t get the help he needs because he’s sick of having to wait months on end and then being misdiagnosed
Alan
As a member of a military family, I know exactly what you’re talking about . . .