#universalhealth #2020Election #healthinsurance
As the 2020 election approaches, there is talk about Universal Healthcare and Free college tuition from most of the Democratic candidates. For me and my family, neither one of those topics had any real immediate impact (eventhough we supported them). I say had, because recently something which had never affected me before, did. My husband and I have always been insured through our jobs. So we’ve never had to carry the heavy burden of getting insurance for ourselves. It has always been heavily subsided by our employer. Also, in all of the time we’ve been working, only twice, have we had to change insurance providers and only once PCPs. So either through luck, or divine intervention, we’ve enjoyed the same PCP for a long time.
However, recently that changed. Not long ago I had to change insurance providers and PCPs. And as I’ve gotten older, I’ve began to appreciate the impact this will have on my and my family’s overall health. The relationship with our PCPs is more important than knowing each other’s name. It goes much further than that. It is about my physician knowing my family history (without having to look at the chart or my having to remind them). It is about remembering that procedure I had and how successful (or unsuccessful) it was. It is about providing healthcare guidance with my family needs in mind.
Instead, the way healthcare insurance works, it is my responsibility to keep track of anything that could possibly affect me or my health. It is my responsibility to think about, and ask, the right questions to best assess the solution for me. Our relationship with our PCPs has become transactional. I have an issue, he/she provides a recommendation, and I keep track. And if we lose anything in the shuffle, so be it, that is the cost of doing business. I am not suggesting I should have zero responsibility in my healthcare. Instead, I’m suggesting there is tremendous value when that responsibility is shared (accordingly) between myself and my PCP.
The promise of Universal healthcare is the possibility of maintaining this PCP relationship long-term. Yes, I realize that PCPs can change (either by choice or otherwise), but by eliminating the constant of employer-based-changes, there is a stronger possibility we can go back to a healthier healthcare system.
