Private doctor and patient relationships

Dr. Maulfair and so many doctors across this nation have spent a lifetime in a career they love.  They love helping people improve their health and avoid bad outcomes.  They can do this because they understand functional medicine and they wonder why people have symptoms so they look for underlying causes.  Not quick to use pharmaceutical drugs they keep their patients safe and healthy.  When you remove the impediments to good health you help people for real.  It takes longer, the visits are longer, the relationships with patients are more extensive but it works.  They even talk to their patients about money and their patients know the charges because many of them pay out of pocket.
If health care is changed to restrict the practice of medicine you will loose these doctors because they will not fit in the pattern and you can’t have that in a system run by someone other than the doctor and patient.  Take a look. The problem with the current system is the middlemen making money off the patient and then off the doctor.   I think these lawyers, rather lawmakers, in DC should try this government run health care system in the form of a  pilot program on the legal system first.  Let’s develop mandated insurance programs for legal troubles and then the insurance programs can work like malpractice insurance.  The insurance company decides outcomes.  How about that?  Why not let them try this on their profession first.  Let the companies set their fees and then pay them less each year and start to tell them how to defend their clients or go after the offenders.

I remember when freedom and personal responsiblity were important.  I worked in the insurance industry when it first took over health care.  I remember the early days of the “going rate charged” in an area.  The company would only pay the customary allowable rate.  Flat playing field for all but the “flat” part was not designed by the players but the payors.

Find an independent physician and watch your health improve and the actual costs go down.  Use health savings accounts with high deductible insurance policies and you will have more say over your care and you will save money.  Avoid anyone outside the exam room telling you what treatments are best and what you need, do your own research and find treatments that avoid the health robbing effects of pharmaceutical drugs.

On Health Care Reform-Another Problem

There is clearly much that can be done to improve health care both in the delivery and financing.  We have been blogging about many aspects that are clearly a problem.  Actually, they are frightening; if you have ever had a serious illness or been in a serious car accident you know why we recommend you have a family member with you and advocating for you as much as possible.  There is more to consider now.
We are used to insurance companies telling doctors what they will pay for and what they will not pay for.  It seems so silly to me that anyone gives them the last say.  Doctors should say to their patients, “this is what they will cover, my best advice to you is to do this even though it is not covered and appeal their decision not to pay for it, we will advocate for you as much as we can.“  Let the patient decide.  So often the conversation does not give the patient choice, doctors just assume the patient would not accept care that isn’t covered.  Not true.  Here is a new idea, whose body is it?  Who deserves the choice?

This will become a very important in the months to come because the health care legislation has created a real problem for doctors.   Treatments will be dictated by a board at the federal level AND the insurance companies.  Doctors will work within those frameworks.  What happens when someone sues the doctor?  That’s right.   The doctor takes the fall and he was following the treatment plans of a commission and under the guidance of the insurance company.  He will be the one sued.  That is why doctors will leave in droves if something is not done with tort reform.  The federal government will not be sued, people on those boards are immune to suits, insurance companies are protected.   What we have is a system of medical care paid for by people who are not in the room, who do not know the patient, who make decisions based on advice from vested interests.  Drug companies give very bad advice, they do not even acknowledge that the body needs nutrition to be healthy or that the body might have a nutrient deficiency of such magnitude it causes a symptom.

Be independent and find doctors who are, it will be far cheaper in the long run.  It is pretty easy to afford a catastrophic health plan and take care of routine tests and care yourself.   It is more important than ever now.

Currently nothing was done to fix this problem because most legislators are lawyers.  They protect the interests of lawyers and we would not want to cut into the big business of malpractice lawsuits would we??!!  Those poor patients who were harmed need to be defended by the best.  We agree.  What is ruthless and nasty is the fact that doctors are ruled by medical boards, insurance companies and now the feds.  If a doctor does not provide the “standard of care“  they are risking law suits and loss of their license.  The standard of care is established by the group, advised by drug companies and financial types.  It is a brave doctor that practices by his own judgement apart from the “group think”.  Rare.  You can find such a doctor by going to aapsonline.org, or icimed.com, or medical-library.net.

Health Care Disarray

We will endure many more months of uncertainty and confusion on the health care front.  As employers decide how the new law will affect them, and doctors decide what they are going to do, we will feel the unsettling aspects of this disorderly and ignorant legislation.  If you are interested in various aspects of  government health care our views are clear in our blog.
We know people have already been turned away from conscientious care in hospitals if they are medicare patients and “old”, “you have lived a good life” is the refrain.  Individual choice and family wishes are neglected.  He who pays says.  It has been true for years that covered drug rehabilitation is not rehabilitation, it is substituting a prescribed drug for a street drug because it is cheaper; it costs more to provide real help!  This and so much more will be routine and you will find treatments reduced to the cheapest, pharmaceuticals.  We will be an inactive, drugged nation in a few years…unless..

The only personal path is to stay healthy so you can escape all these pot holes of “choice” in your own care.  Being as healthy as you can will be the responsible path.  You know, we need to be working until the day we drop  so our taxes can pay for others.  The only way to fight back and escape the apathy that can set in when you lose your freedom is to do what you love and just keep being interested and active.  In the meantime do yourself a favor and study up on paths to excellent health and follow what you find.

For me that means taking my husbands’ advice and exercising more.  He tells me to slow down when I eat “because your stomach does not have teeth!“   A diet high in organic, nutrient dense foods is a must.  What we put in our mouth determines our health and it needs to be well chewed to digest properly.  Avoiding exposures to toxins is smart.  I will increase the frequency of my chelation program so I am continuing to remove the metals causing high blood pressure and more.  So join me in taking good care of yourself and your family and we will avoid visits to the doctor altogether.  If you find you need a doctor, seek out one like my husband who knows how to help you without pharmaceutical drugs.

Health Care Reform Moves Forward

With or without us federal health care reform proposals will continue and some news indicates there may be end runs around opposition to the current proposals with slick administrative moves.  Currently in hospitals and care centers some of the measures most disagreeable to me are being implemented without legislation.  It is becoming acceptable for someone other than yourself and your family to take measures to limit your care and the type of care needed to overcome your health crisis.
Health care savings accounts, private contracts with physicians and  a good defense by knowledgeable family members when you are unable to defend yourself are needed.  So is your voice.  What ever your opinion is regarding the role in government interference in private lives and health care decisions you need to make yourself known and heard by your representatives, federal and local.

Make sure you have someone with you at all times in hospital settings to advocate for you when you cannot do so yourself.  It  is clear you need someone standing by you 24 hours a day to monitor what is happening.  There are good hospitals and care centers you can trust but how will you know?  You need to be very active in finding people  you like and trust before you are sick or injured.  Make your preferences known before you need to implement them and it may be important to become more educated about the health issues facing you and your family.  Few of us think or study cancer treatments until we are faced with our own problem, then we are sick, scared and in need of some time to study and think about the best path.  Gather some resources ahead of time, when you are prepared  you seldom have as rough a time.  It can make all the difference in the outcome.

Coleen Maulfair