In which we reflect that it really is important to see the right physician

One of the consistent themes at InsureBlog has been the inadequate participation of physicians in setting health policy, for lo! these past 40+ years. See here and here and here and here.

I ask you – what do you truly prefer? Medical policy guidance from physicians ? Or from Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Max Baucus? Insufficient physician participation over the years created a policy leadership vacuum. Nature abhors a vacuum. And just look what rushed in – Pelosi, Reid, Baucus, et al.

Yes, most physicians are kinda busy with other important stuff.

But here is just one illustration of what I mean by inadequate participation: ModernHealthcare's 2010 list of the “100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare”.

The top 50 in 2010 include 8 physicians – 16%. There is exactly 1 physician in the top 10. There are 5 politicians in the top 10, including the top 4 in the entire survey – the aforementioned Pelosi, Reid, Baucus, plus of course, the President.

So it is no surprise that PPACA - "health care reform" signed by the President - is a political instrument rather than medical reform; is power-driven rather than public health driven; will spend a trillion dollars, not save a trillion dollars; and creates bureaucracy but does not create ways to help physicians and hospitals reduce their cost. As Pelosi predicted, we are finding out what is in this law. And we are rightly appalled.

IMO, too few doctors have been constructively engaged in the health policy debate. As a result, the nation relied on the wrong “doctors” - - who made the wrong diagnoses and wrote the wrong prescriptions. In these circumstances, the patient's prognosis ain't all that rosy.