I was asked to comment on what I thought about Nationalized Health Care in the United States. Well my thought is that it is coming whether we like it or not. When? I do not know but it is moving in that direction. I believe that once big business gets behind a Nationalized Healthcare system it will become a reality. Big business wants to know if they can save money by buying into some type of a government plan or their current health insurance plan. The insurance companies on the other hand are still making a good chunk of money in the health insurance arena and they will fight hard to keep those profits. I hate what we currently have it is so inefficient and cumbersome that I am amazed that it has not come crashing down upon us already. It is just a terrible system. You never hear of insurance companies going belly up because they are still making gobs of money. They raise premiums and lower doctors fees and make a killing. I think it is close to like being in the mafia. Medicare on the other hand is a pain to deal with but we know what we are dealing with so it is not as bad as private insurance. I cringe when I think of the government taking over healthcare but our options’ are very limited right now. Also you hear of very few senior citizens complaining that they have Medicare. Sometimes I think the insurance companies realize that we are going to be socialized medicine and they are trying to squeeze every penny out of the system that they can before the government takes over. The current system is a complete mess. Today my practice is mostly a cash practice since the major insurance company in the area has chosen not to cover cost effective chiropractic care (there is alot of politics involved in these decisions). They would rather pay $30,000 for a lower back disc surgery than inexpensive chiropractic care. Maybe that is why we are in the shape we are in right now?

Chiropractic Care for the Military

I had the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. in the early 1990's to see chiropractic begin its journey for inclusion in the military health care system. There is a history of chiropractors serving there country in non-official manners in the military as far back as WWII. During the first Gulf War I knew a Chiropractor who was a Major in the Air Force reserves. His military duties were as a trauma nurse and when soldiers found out that he was a Chiropractor in civilian life they swamped him for requests for chiropractic care. He was so busy he had to move out of his officers tent because treated patients there was interfering with the other officers sleep. He had a chiropractic table built and was set up in the Moral-Welfare tent. This doctor made the soldiers sign in name, rank, and serial number. He keep this list and he was seeing 20-40 people after duty hours. The military health care system could no longer ignore that Chiropractic was an important part of the system during war time. We currently have civilian Chiropractors stationed at military bases around the country and now chiropractic care is available to VA beneficiaries. Our last hurdle with the military health care system is to get chiropractic care available for the dependents and retires. This can be accomplished by having your local Congressperson co-sponsor H.R. 484 here is a link to email your member of Congress about this important issue.



http://vocusgr.vocus.com/grconvert1/WebPublish/Controller.aspx?SiteName=AMCHRO&Definition=ContactLegislators&IssueID=4285



I think it is time for our Government to do the right thing and help these families and retires out.