Chapter 5. Perfect Health Care --- A Lament
- May 5
- 3 min read
From... Fixing United States Health Care --- Citizen Letters
T Michael White MD
Chapter 5. Perfect Health Care --- A Lament
“Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune.”
Walt Whitman
July 4 th
Fine Citizens hello.
As I, the ancient, wizened, academic, administrative and clinical physician, decently,
gently and kindly step forward with a harsh (perhaps not harsh enough) message --- health care in America has become a certifiable, cataclysmic, catastrophic, chaotic, unaffordable hot mess --- it is reasonable for you to conclude that I am disenchanted with, possibly even harmed by, my personal health care. Au contraire, mon ami. Each day, I celebrate my perfect health care.
How can my intense concern for the state of United States health care and my personal experience be so far apart? The reason is that I am among a minority of citizens who have access to wondrous affordable, basic/necessary, compassionate - safe, timely, efficient, effective, equitable/just, patient-centered care (ABC-STEEEP). As I sit in this health care catbird seat most citizens do not. How can this be? What are the reasons for my good fortune…
Having brilliantly chosen my ancestors well, I have inherited basic good health;
Another stroke of brilliance --- I have had the good sense to age into Medicare eligibility;
As a physician, I am well informed about how to preserve my health; when and why to seek care; and how to go about making a dysfunctional, non-system efficiently and effectively work for me;
Fortuitously, I have accrued adequate personal assets that enable me to comfortably
address quite reasonable (but ever escalating) Medicare out-of-pocket expenses
(premiums; co-pays; co-insurance; deductibles; and annual out-of-pocket maximums);
I have had the wisdom (OK, more blind luck): a) to live in a region in which a fine 5-Star health system offers superb health care; and b) to have enrolled in the expertly
administered, efficient, effective 5-Star Medicare Advantage Plan offered by this
ascendant 5-Star regional health system ( that meets my expectations for access to
STEEEP);
Provided my physician perspective, I have been adept at identifying and working well with a (truly) brilliant Primary Care Internal Medicine/Geriatric Personal Physician who is dedicated to assisting me experience ABC-STEEEP;
Importantly, I perceive that the care provided to me will, with dignity, accommodate my health care desires and wishes as I address late in life transitions; and most importantly,
I am confident that my ABC-STEEEP is devoid of abuse, bureaucracy, duplication, fraud, greed, inattention and waste --- providing me only my equitable fair share (addressing my needs versus my wants) and justly preserving resources for others in need.
All good --- except my perfect care inequitably applies only to the fortunate likes of me. Guilty as charged, anguished, I lament. This is an unjust circumstance that I cannot abide. Therefore, my quest --- privileged (to heal and be healed), I am duty bound to advance planned, tax-payer funded, single-payer, regional-provider infrastructure that provides all our fine citizens with universal access to ABC-STEEEP.
Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Mike
Please share your perceptions (your reality) about what I have right, wrong and/or omitted. I will be delighted to hear from you as your insights will significantly enhance my efforts. Importantly, if/when a message rings true, please forward it to those you deem may desire to know. TMWMD
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