Health-Care vs Driving Rant

The health care situation pisses me off. I want a health care system that keeps people from getting sick or injured in the first place, not a sick care system that abuses the clients and service providers alike. The specialists, ordinary doctors, nurses, and various support staff are all in this together. They've got to work together better than they are now. Why not let nurses open an office in a strip mall to provide baseline medical services that typically now fall on the GP? We don't need a doctor to give an annual medical exam when a nurse can deal with the routine stuff and advise the patient on preventative measures. Should some elements of the routine exam fall outside normal parameters, the nurse ought to be able to pass the patient along to the appropriate place in the medical system. Let's de-bottleneck the system. Once we've made the investment in expensive equipment like MRI machines, we should also invest in the people to run them, 24 hours a day if there is sufficient demand. It's inexcusable to have equipment sitting idle while people wait in line.

I talked earlier of keeping people from getting sick or injured. Right now traveling in an automobile is the single most dangerous activity for a Canadian. We must find a way to reduce the number of injuries from traffic accidents, since almost all of these are preventable. I had to attend an work-related advanced driver training course and was surprised at how much things had changed since I first learned to drive 26 years ago. The vast majority of non-commercial drivers, and many of the commercial drivers could benefit from such a course. Why not allow people to deduct the expense from their income tax?

Most people now understand that driving impaired is a stupid and dangerous thing to do. "Have one for the road" has been nearly expunged from our language in the last 20 years. But impaired driving cases still come into court. It appears that we are down to the hard nut drunk drivers. They can't or won't stop. Whack them! Three strikes and you're out. Jail them if that's what it takes, because they are a menace to the rest of us. We have some of the best roads in the world, the most modern vehicles, and most of the time, not particularly extreme weather conditions. There is simply no excuse for many of the "accidents". Not buckled up when you have an accident? No Alberta Health Care funding for you. Warn people that traffic enforcement is going to start, then do it. Big time. Multinova and red light cameras? Go for it! People always act in their own self interest, so hit them in the wallet. They'll get the message sooner or later. I've no complaints about stupidity being a cash cow.

Why is using a cell phone so necessary, and so difficult for so many drivers? Must they make that call while trying to shift gears as they dodge pedestrians while turning a corner downtown? If pilots can cope with a conversation containing specific and complex instructions while flying an airplane, why can't drivers cope with what is usually routine conversation? This is a situation crying out for legislation.

Many of the factors that lead to spending time in a hospital are prevented or mitigated by sensible diet and exercise. Circulatory disease is far and away the number one killer of Canadian men and women. Lets find a way to reduce the taxes paid by a fit person. Perhaps each person should receive an annual statement of the medical resources they've used. Not an invoice, simply a statement so they know how much has been spent on their behalf. As a Puckish suggestion, maybe the average cost should be included. The way our system works the public doesn't know how much medical treatment costs. Some people say that cost is not important, that everyody should get all the medical care they need, free and right now. This is nonsense. In an economic sense, there is infinite demand for medical services. Why shouldn't the specialist check out my daughter's sniffle, just in case? Someone has to pay for all the expensive equipment and even more expensive education for the practitioners.

Righ now there is a great deal of light and noise about our medical system and little real discussion about reforming it. "Two-tier", and "Americanization" and "privatization" are hot buttons that trigger emotions. We need to examine our system and find the most effective ways of spending our medical dollars. My vote is for a much larger chunk to prevent people from getting sick or injured in the first place.