Ask Bob

Ever since the debate (at least this go around) began over what to do with the health care crisis, I have had an undefinable churning in my stomach about both sides' arguments. I often have this sense of unrest and uneasiness about things until I find someone with a similar unrest but with the words to articulate it. On this issue, one of those people is my friend and cousin, Bob Lawrence. He is a man I respect greatly because of his passion for Jesus Christ but also because of his intellect and insight into issues that matter. He is a family medicine physician practicing in Nome, Alaska with his wife and four children. I recently Facebooked him to ask him his thoughts on the health care crisis. This is his reponse.

When you look at the details of what is being called reform, you'll see the parties are not talking about real reform of a system but of mere rescue of a failing system. I personally think it looks more like an insurance company bail out than any kind of re-forming of the way we provide health care.

Reform would mean going back to the drawing board. We would start with the center of health-care being the patient and the provider then we would re-build practices, hospitals, and services that guard the trusted relationship between the patient and the provider. If you peel away the layers of our current system you find that patients and providers exist only to support a business relationship between practices and third-party payers.

Regardless of where the reform discussion goes, remember that on the first day of medical school you married every patient that entrusts you with their care. Somewhere along the line, probably many times already, the third-party sirens of the insurance and medicare industry will lull your colleagues into an affair. Over the years, many docs find themselves trapped in a business relationship with these third-party payers wishing desperately they could return to their first love...the patient.

I personally think there is no good solution to the health care crises outside of Christ. The true problems result from greed in the hearts of men, and only the Lord can address that issue. This is why mission-minded hospitals, to the extent they stay mission-minded, seem to perservere.

Also remember that it really doesn't matter if we are more capitalistic in our heath-care system or more socialistic in our approach. In each case, someone will be discriminated against. A capitalistic system discriminates against the poor, but a socialistic system discriminates against those who cannot contribute to the society and therefore impoverished by status (the young, old, and handicap). In either case, a good government must ensure there are protections for those who cannot speak for themselves and would otherwise be discriminated against. In the absence of such protections, we must be the voice of the poor in policy discussions and keep an "option for the poor" in our practices.

More fuel for the fires of conversation that expose the darkness that envelops our world, our minds, and our hearts. Blessings...