The one site that was immediately disregarded Essays

The one site that was immediately disregarded Essays The one site that was immediately disregarded Paper The one site that was immediately disregarded Paper To begin evaluating the available sources for a discussion of health care reform or socialized medicine, an internet search for organizations purporting to support health care reform was conducted. As expected, there were hundreds of to the topic. Below are four of the top 25 websites listed. Some are potentially interesting, but their information would need to be verified with additional sources because of the inherent bias in the site. One was completely unusable. The other three websites will be used as initial research â€Å"jumping off points† and will be supplemented by peer reviewed articles found in the J-STOR database of science and social science literary journals.   In addition, the American Medical Students Association has published a position paper explaining their call for socialized medicine which will be incorporated into my future research. The one site that was immediately disregarded as a potential source is called the â€Å"World Health Education Initiative†. At first this site is deceptively interesting, calling the American medical system the third leading cause of death in the United States and advocating reform in medical practices, insurance companies and health care delivery systems. It is only upon deeper inspection that one discovers that the â€Å"Initiative† is an effort to create an on-line medical school which replaces traditional medical educations. The site is operated by a company which creates online learning products and which argues that the reason health care costs are so high is that the cost of a medical education is so prohibitive. While at first this argument seems appealing, it loses it luster when the site’s author argues that the problem with medical schools is that they don’t teach doctors anything other than the ability to memorize information for tests. The site argues that medical education could be done online with few, if any, tests and that the cost savings for a medical education would then be reflected in costs of health care.   Aside from the fact that this website is clearly designed to promote business for the parent company, it is flawed in its logic. This website presumes that the cost of doctor education is the only factor driving rising health care costs. While this is certainly an issue, it is not the only one and quite possibly not the predominant one. In addition to initial education costs, doctors face the expenses of medical malpractice insurance and rapidly expanding technology expenses. Though not every doctor’s office will require the ability to offer patients a PET scan, every doctor does need to be equipped and medical technology is not inexpensive. In addition, like any business, doctor’s must factor basic overhead into their expenses and therefore into their prices.   Initiatives like HIPPA, the Health Information Privacy Protection Act, have cost medical professionals thousands to implement and that cost is ultimately passed on to the patient. This website fails to consider any of these other contributing factors. The second website considered is entitled â€Å"American Health Care Reform†. This site is strictly in favor of a one-payer health care system. I was not surprised to discover this, but found it interesting that the great majority of sites I visited looking for information about health care reform went immediately to the single-payer model. Like many others,   this site points to the world models, arguing that the United states is the only industrialized nation in the world without socialized medicine. This particular website seems useful as it includes anecdotal testimonials about problems with the current system and links to resources including Congressional hearings on the issue. It also has links to major news stories about health care innovation and reform across the country including California’s attempt to get health care for all Californians.   Though the bias in favor of a one-payer system is evident, it is at least a known bias and can be accounted for in the discussions. The third website reviewed was the â€Å"Alliance for health Care Reform†. This organization claims in its mission statement to be a non-profit, non-partisan look at the American health care system. The site calls the health care system â€Å"a work in progress† and regularly holds educational forums attempting to present a balanced view of the health care issues of the country and the potential solutions. The alliance claims to have no political agenda and does not lobby for a specific solution, according to the mission statement. This could be a very valuable resource for the upcoming discussion.   The site provides valuable links to current initiatives regarding health care reform and policy briefs which explain current situations and proposed solutions. Finally, I examined the website entitiled â€Å"health care Reform: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly†.   Initially, I was excited about this website as the author of the lead article is or was the director of the Georgia Public Policy Intitute and the academic bent to the website seemed to lend it credence. Then, I saw the date. The lead article was written 15 years ago. Though I think this site can provide some perspective on the length and continued cycles of the debate about health care reform in the United States,   I am inclined to believe that its data will have to be seriously updated or will be insignificant to a debate on the current status of health care in America and what needs to be done to fix it. I may still use this website as a starting point as it has good information from the time and may follow up to see what actions have resulted from the debate in 1992. There are many health care initiatives taking place in the United State right now. In Massachusetts, the state mandated that every adult have health insurance beginning July 1. In Illinois, the state has created a sort of single-payer cooperative with insurance companies to create the â€Å"All Kids† program, allegedly designed to ensure that all children have adequate health care coverage. In California, debate continues about the governor’s call to provide health care for all Californians.   I think one of the most interesting parts of this discussion of reform versus socialization will be to look at the varying attempts at reform and evaluate their successes.   WORKS CONSULTED â€Å"Alliance for Health Care Reform† allhealth.org/, July 17, 2007. â€Å"American Health Care Reform â€Å" http://americanhealthcarereform.org/index.html, July 17, 2007. â€Å"Health Care Reform: Attacking the Root Problem† World Health Education Initiative health-care-reform.net/index.htm, July 17, 2007. Tanner, Michael. â€Å"Healthcare Reform: The Good, the Bad and The Ugly.†   Cato Institute, November 24, 1992. cato.org/pubs/pas/pa184.html ,   July 17, 2007.