As we all know, the health care system in the United States is broken.
We need a single payer,Medicare for all model, there's no question about it.
We have nurses quitting in droves because for profit hospitals or
intentionally understaffed, in order to maximize profits.
We have Americans going bankrupt due to medical emergencies.
We have elderly individuals,
who are in retirement going bankrupt as a result of medical emergencies.
Losing their homes, losing everything they have.This is not a model that works.
However, there's a little glimmer of hope.Within this for profit healthcare
model, there happens to be a public program that has worked really well.
And if we can expand it, and if we can inch closer and
closer to a single payer healthcare system, we could be in good shape.
Now, we by the way, might be short as many as 55,000
primary health doctors in the coming decades.
So by 2033, the association of American medical colleges
estimates that we will be short 55000 primary care physicians.
And part of the reason why, is because primary care physicians have to take
out a lot of money and loans in order to get their education.
And unlike other specialists for instance, primary care physicians are not
compensated as much that they don't make as much money.
So it ends up becoming a deterrent for
anyone who might consider being a primary care physician.
And then here comes Jonathan Michaels over at Jacobin with a program that's
already been implemented.
That could be expanded and could mitigate what we're experiencing right now with
a shortage of primary care doctors.
In March of 2021, when he signed the American Rescue plan, President Biden
directed $1 billion to a program called the National Health Service Corps.
Unfortunately, not many people know about this even though it's actually been around
since 1972, and I will admit I didn't know nearly enough about this.
But it's a successful program, that should be expanded.The N H S C commissions,
medical nursing, dental nurse practitioner and physician assistant students.
To practice primary care in designated underserved areas both in rural and urban.
So in return, NHSC recipients receive student loan reimbursement or
financial assistance to pay for college.
Additionally, members of the N H S C are primed to take
a leading role in the Medicare for all movement.
So think about it.These are people who are interested in becoming primary care
physicians, because of this government, this publicly funded government program.
They're able to get their education without taking out massive loans and
then in return they serve in underserved areas.
So it's really a win win situation, and
it shows what our healthcare model really could be, if we moved away from this for
profit broken model to something that actually serves all of us.
Both the individuals who are interested in being doctors, and
the individuals who need care.
So more than half of all N H S C providers serve in a federally qualified health
center, where patients are seen regardless of their ability to pay.
One study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that federally funded community
health centers served nearly 26 million children and adults.
Roughly one in twelve Americans in more than 10,400 urban and
rural locations.Nearly half of all patients receive Medicaid.
In some areas, these health centers are literally the only place
people can go to get the health care that they need.
Important healthcare procedures, things like vaccinations by the way,
pap smears for women, again, this is preventative health care.
It's also very important for our health care system to ensure that people
are getting the preventative health care they need.
So they're not ending up in emergency rooms,
with highly expensive medical conditions that are more difficult to treat.
The program not only helps the patients, as I mentioned, it also helps the doctors.
So one of the main reasons, American medical students do forego careers in
primary care is the exorbitant cost of medical school tuition.
N Y U Medical School eliminated tuition in 2018 in the hope that more students
would opt to work in less lucrative areas of medicine like primary care.
The N H S C, goes a step further by directly placing providers in
the communities where they are needed the most and
it doesn't rely on the charity of rich donors.
I love that it's funded by the public and for the public,
you know, where they actually use this model and
it's actually ended it ended up being very successful in Cuba.
In Cuba, they have more doctors and nurses than they know what to do with.
In fact, they have so many qualified health care professionals,
that oftentimes what Cuba does very different from the United States.
Instead of using war to make everyone else bend to their will,
Cuba uses a diplomatic approach.
By sending its doctors and nurses to various countries around the world to help
out when there's a medical emergency,if there's like some outbreak or
some virus, it's really interesting stuff.
It's great to see not only that,
it's a worked in a place like Cuba where they're obviously under resourced,
but that we have a little sliver of that program here in the United States.
And it actually bonds well for both the healthcare professionals and for
underserved communities.Now, imagine if we could expand this.
In fact, imagine if this was our healthcare system,
if there wasn't a profit motive, if people were actually placed in
were considered a priority over profits, it's possible.
We've seen it succeed in in a small way here in the US,
let's expand it to the point where we can finally inch closer to Medicare for
all because I think that's the ultimate goal.
If we really want to help people economically,
if we want to keep people healthy and alive, that's the only real solution to
what continues to be a broken for profit healthcare model.