160 yr. later, still striving for U.S. healthcare

[3rdcareerRN]

We approach what many think is a new era of healthcare (with a new President, the unsustainable Federal approach to healthcare, physician unrest in regard to compensation, and consumers demanding less complexity and cost).

I think it is fruitful to look at the situation 160 years ago to see whether we've made any progress, or whether the proposed solutions are similar to those of that old era.

From the Shattuck Report http://www.deltaomega.org/shattuck.pdf

"WE BELIEVE that the conditions of perfect health, either public or personal, are seldom or never attained, though attainable;

- that the average length of human life may be very much extended, and its physical power greatly augmented;

-that in every year, within, this Commonwealth, thousands of lives are lost which might have been saved ;

-that tens of thousands of cases of sickness occur, which might have been prevented ;

-that a vast amount of unnecessarily impaired health, and physical debility exists among those not actually confined by sickness ;

-that these preventable evils require an enormous expenditure and loss of money, and impose upon the people unnumbered and immeasurable calamities, pecuniary, social, physical, mental, and moral, which might be avoided ;

-that means exist, within our reach, for their mitigation or removal ;

-and that measures for prevention will effect infinitely more, than remedies for the cure of disease."

Any thoughts?

[OC_An Khe]

An extremely long but interesting read, thanks for the link.