Interview with Ricki Waltz

Questions,
1)What are the strengths of our health care system?
The experience of the doctors and nurses and the experience of the system itself. Also, the medical advancements that have been made make our system strong.

2)What are the weaknesses of our healthcare system?
People not being able to access it.
Not everything is covered by health insurance, there co-payments and premiums are a bit high.
Some great opportunities aren't an option for some people because of their income level.

3)Are there are any parts of our healthcare system that is failing?
It isn't so much the care that is failing but the access and coverage is hurt.

4) What can you think of that should be changed in the healthcare system?
The delivery of the care should be changed.
The insurance companies need to give more bang for the buck.
///Since I mentioned that my blog was about Socialized Medicine, Mrs. Waltz put her opinion of it in here, she believes that it isn't the American way to do things. She believes there is no money in Socialized Medicine and people would stay away from it because of that, therefor people wouldn't be as inclined to go into the business. She believes that since we will always have to take care of people, so people will always be kept cared of. She has a very conservative view on the matter.

5) Does everyone have adequate access to proper healthcare?
In short, no.
Many needs aren't meant.
She mentioned that distant is a huge factor, especially in places like rural Maine because of people needing to travel to physical therapy but it would take around 2 hours. That becomes a major problem when you are low-income.

6)If no, why?
The way people live their life. Some people only go to the doctors or hospital when they are having a crisis.
Sometimes, doctors fill-up their time slots in a day or week, so they can't see people at all.

7) What can be changed do you think to fix that?
The client needs to be more educated.
To fix the problem of rural areas, a nurse practitioner could work in that area and see to the needs of that area, if it is too small to draw a doctor.
Stop with unnecessary test and procedures. Do one test and continue on from there.

8) Do we provide healthcare to people who can't provide their own?
Yes but it what happen is that they have to pay much more because they wait till they need to visit the emergency room.
People wait till it's bad that they see a care provider and they need to pay more because of that.

9)Is there enough education about prevention?
NO!!
It's there but not enough.
We as a culture are very disease-orientated, not prevention-oriented.
Example is dental care, you go twice a year and rarely get dental problems. You used to just go to the dentist when you had pain in your teeth.

10)Do we as a culture overuse healthcare?
Sometimes yes.
Before insurance, it was expensive, so people didn't go as much. Then insurance co-pays came along and you could go to the doctors for just five dollars or so, so we began to just go because it was cheap.
People overuse it because people can't miss work. They think they will lose their job. We have based a lot of fear into missing school and work, so we pop a lot of pills to get better.

11) (I found this question irrelevant after the fact, so I am taking it out)

12)Do you high school kids get enough care?
No, they don't go to the doctors office enough.
They only go when they are sick.
There is plan till they are 12 years old then they stop going. Only kids who play sports go for a physical.
Teenagers generally are pretty healthy, so there's really no reason to go and spend the money.

13) As a nurse, do you have kids and families who use you as their main healthcare provider? Do they use you for stuff they should go to a doctors office for?
Yes but they try to get them to go to a doctors office.

14) What do you think of the President bringing back stem cell research?
It's good.
Being able to giving someone a pancreas so they can live their life without diabetes is fantastic.

Response #11:Responce to:Article #11: Shot in the arm for digital health care

This article is about digitalizing medical records, which I agree with. It uses Dennis Saver and his practices an example of how good digitalizing records is. Saver was able to get rid of thousands of of manila folders and cut his record staff (hopefully they got better jobs). He is able to call up prescriptions, test results and oodles of other information that are saved in his computer. Normally, a doctor would have to have to go look for that information or have someone on hand (on the payroll, presumably) to go fetch that bit of information for him. That time could be spent with the patient. Time saved is money saved.
Obama wants this done with every doctor's office. This would practically eliminate mistakes and it would save money in the record department. It would eliminate mistakes by taking out bad handwriting out the process and misplaced x-rays. If a picture or test result is misplaced, the whole procedure or test needs to be done again. If everything was digitalized, everything would be saved on a computer and backed up. Obama plans to have this by the end of the year but that is unlikely because of everything else that is going on. The amount this will cost is 19 billion dollars. There are many questions like who should be able to see the records and what they should look like.

I really like when they compared this system with auto repair.

I liked this article and it showed where the the healthcare industry needs improvement.

Article #11: Shot in the arm for digital health care

-Only one fifth of doctors use computers
-Dennis Saver uses a computer more than his stethoscope
-He has organized medical histories, test results, prescriptions and lots of other data that once took up space in a cabinet.
-The system his practice uses is what President Obama is what wants to do with the healthcare of America
-This idea is call "Health IT"
-If it comes to be, it will help prevent prescription mistakes, prevent unnecessary tests and identify proper treatment.
-The auto repair industry uses this kind of system to check up on cars but doctors still have to go through lots of paper work.
-19 Billion dollars is what Obama plans to spend on this.
-There is still the question of who should be able to see the information and what it should look like.
-End of the year is the plan for this
-Dennis Saver's practice was able to eliminate thousands of manila folders and reduce the record staff from 7 to 3.
-Practices that have this in place are able to check up on procedures and the such much easier because it is all in one place.
-All of the systems need to be the same because everyone's system needs to be compatible with each others.

Final focus; further research needed

When I wrote the analysis to my blog, I discovered that I needed to find information HR 676. I have decided to make my blog and presentation in that direction. The problem with this idea is that I may not have enough time to center my presentation around HR 676 because it was put in front of Congress in late January, so we may not hear a lot about it by presentation time. I will still make my presentation about HR 676 but mostly what the bill is about, not any news on whether it passes or not because of the time issue.
New questions that have come up to me is that why just socialize the health insurance but not the actual medicine? If HR 676 passes, the government will pay for health insurance. The government will not run the hospitals though. I have thought of a few answers to the question, one being that if the government ran the hospital, the freedom to choose your own doctor may be revoked. I personally feel apathetic towards not being able to choose my own doctor but from what I read, there are many people who want to be able to choose their own doctor and with HR 676, they will be able to. I also came up with the answer that no one has found fault with the hospitals yet in how they do things and all the healthcare reform needs to be in the insurance business, not the hospitals, so what would the point be to reform how the hospital runs when it really isn't necessary.
My final focus for the last month of my blog will be on HR 676. I would really like to find out more information that will show whether or not this will pass, that is my main concern. I will also further my research into HR 676. What I will do for my interview is someone who works at a hospital and ask what they think about healthcare reform and whether they think it will be a good for America or not and why.
What research I need to do is into HR 676 because it will become my main focus for my presentation. I need to also think of an idea for my presentation that will present my blog and make it interesting. I am thinking to make posters and the like with information on it that I can refer to and people may look at while I am talking. To make sure that I can center my presentation around HR 676 I will do another blog article about it in order to gain more information for it. I need to also find some information that I can put on a poster that will look good and make sense that it is on a poster.

Response #10: Response to:#10 National Healthcare Act worthy of public support

I like this article because it went into more detail than the last article I had on HR 676. The last one just briefly went into it but this one looks like someone took it and looked more deeply. The only issue I had with it was that the person writing was biased towards passing the bill. An example would be "as part of its funding, calls for a modest increase in payroll taxes to replace insurance premiums". They don't explain what modest increase is, which I wish they would because I want to own how much higher the tax will be.

I was able to find some quotes that I liked. One was about how many people would like a publicly paid insurance plan. The article had many sources siting the percentage of people who wanted the healthcare as well. The other quote was that many organizations endorse this bill and hope it passes.

This article was a good help and further cemented my hope that HR 676 comes to be.

#10 National Health Care Act worthy of public support

-This is another article about the HR 676 and it has more information than the early one
-HR 676 will allow people to choose their own doctor
- It would save billions by eliminating the profit of private insurers and high overhead cost
- It would save us about 1.1 trillion to eliminate the profits of private insurers
- That would allow us to spend much less but still provide the same care
-Medicare would be extended towards everyone but doctors would stay in private practice
-You could still choose your own doctor and hospital
-"HR 676 has been endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Physicians for a National Health Program, 480 union organizations in 49 states including 118 Central Labor Councils and Area Labor Federations and 39 AFL-CIO’s (including Montana)."
-It would be payed for by an increase in payroll tax to pay for premiums
-It is estimated that business owners and everyone else would pay less.
-the National Federation of Independent Business found that a majority of business would prefer a payroll tax funded system than the current system
-"Large independent polls also find a majority (64-65 percent) of Americans support a federally funded single payer approach to health care (AP/Yahoo, CBS News/New York Times, Harvard School of Public Health, and CNN, 2007-2008)."

Response #9:Response to:#9 Bill Aims To Subsidize Health Care For Laid-Off

I liked this article very much. I heard about it on the radio a week or two ago and was interested though I was busy at the time that I was hearing, so I didn't get to listen to it much. I am glad I found it.

It is about a plan called COBRA that will help pay for health insurance for people who have lost their jobs. It has been in place since 1986 but still hasn't been used a lot since then because it is very expensive. A family had to go without insurance because the mother lost her job and the husband got sick. The medical bills stacked up very high and are silll very much unpaid off.

What Congress wants to do is to pay 65% of the premiums for COBRA. The family that couldn't afford COBRA when the mother lost her job would have had to pay 800$ a month but with the 65%, they would have only needed to pay 300$, which is very affordable and could have helped them out very much.

I hope this passes.

#9 Bill Aims To Subsidize Health Care For Laid-Off

-This article was from NPR
-COBRA is a bill that allows emplyees to keep their emplyers insurance for up to 18 months
-They have to pay full premiums
-When you are employed, you recieve subsidies for the premiums
-These premiums can be very high for people,
-a family of nine lost their insurance and hoped they wouldn't get sick
-but they did
-and it was bad
-very bad
-COBRA is very expensive but a new bill will hopefully fix that.
- Congress has a bill that if passed, will pay for 65% of the premiums for the first 12 months of unemployment
-The Senate also has a bill very similar but only for 9 months.
- That 65% would bring down 800 dollars to aroud 300 dollars, which is much easier to pay then 800

Response to 8#: 8# Conyers To Introduce Universal Healthcare Bill Today

I really like the sound of this. I think this is what the country needs. It would allow employers to not have to pay for their employees insurance. This would allow that business to grow faster and hire more employees. I think this will help improve the economy get better.
The biggest problem, I think, with something like this is going from private insurance to the government base insurance. The switch I can imagine will be pretty big, and I hope will happen quickly, if it does actually happen.
some of the giant The fact that this will put out private insurance companies is a great thing. This would take awayCEO's who are making lots of money of this and it will hurt the lobbyist that are getting paid by the CEO's to smash stuff like this down.
I also like how this plan could provide unemployment benefits for the former employees that lose their job due to the switch.

8# Conyers To Introduce Universal Healthcare Bill Today

- John Conyers is a Michigan Democrat
- He is submitting a bill that will pretty much extend Medicare to everybody
- It is a very popular bill among single-payer supporters.
- This plan will put out private insurers
- The plan would be to hire the former private insurers employees to work for the single-payer system
- The former workers could be given up to two years of employment benefits
- This program will provide everything to run hospitals

Alex Hadik- In Class Reponse

Chauncey-
Perhaps I am going crazy but I could not find your last (#6) article. Maybe I just missed it. Regardless, this blog good but could perhaps use a little work. For one, it would be good to have all of your posts on one page. It makes it harder to read as it is now. Also, maybe you could develop a side-bar. One that places your citations on the side rather than at the bottom. Also, and this is very important- if you're going to have advertisements on your blog, make sure that they aren't in the way of you text. I couldn't read the top article due to two little advertisements floating around on top of it.

Response to: Cheaper drugs make a difference

This article was pretty short but it brings up the point that drugs are much cheaper at Big Box store. The savings are pretty big and I think that people should go to Wal-Mart if they need to. Some people are ashamed to shop at Wal-Mart because they find it demeaning or whatever but that can save you a lot of money. I think that the government should take over the pharmaceutical industry. It would be hard to do that but it would give cheaper drugs to everybody. In Cuba, drugs are super cheap, unless you are under 16 or over 64 or don't make enough, then they're free.

Cheaper drugs make a difference

-A writer takes five prescription drugs
-He compared the prices of the drugs he bought from five random pharmicies to Wal-Mart
-For a 90 day supply from the pharmacies, it cost 88$
-from Wal-Mart, it cost around 50$
-That is a savings of 38 dollars

Kelsey Weber's Response to 4 5 &6

Chauncey, you've got a lot of great information on here. I liked the article that compared the US to countries with socialized health care, and of course I liked reading about what Obama is planning to do. The only thing I would say to improve your blog would be to fix your colors, otherwise good job.

Alex G's 3rd responce

I think your topic is really interesting to read about. Everyone deserves to have health care and should have it. I like the stuff about Obama, and all the little interesting facts, like how children should have health care, there just not signed up for it. I think that's pretty interesting. Most of your articles were a different shade of color which confused me a bit, so just make sure there all the same color. Keep up the good work!

Samara's response to articles 4, 5, and 6

Chauncey, Your topic is interesting as well as important. Everyone should have health care. Your articles are informative. Just please make sure your notes are all the same color as well as your responses. You have five colors going on and it's kind of confusing. Other than that you're doing fine. Keep up the good work!

Aimee Response Reflection

Chauncey, you have found a lot of article, which is good. I like how you included children and the fact that you have your own opinion on how you think health care should work. Personally, I think that all children and families with children SHOULD have health care. I also noticed how one of your notes was in a different color green then your other notes, you might want to fix that. Your tittle of the blog is "universal healthcare" Health care is two words not one! Good job, it can also help me with my subject, because you included some information on Obama!

Response to: Diagnosis not great for health care in 2009 in U.S.

This article offered a look at someone else who is in government but is not President-Elect Obama. Tom Daschle is the US Department of Health and Human Services and believes in Universal Healthcare. He will bring a liberal side to the reform plans. This article says to expect more access to healthcare but hospitals will need to run more efficiently. I see no problem with that. Due to the economic depression, Congress doesn't have a lot of money to put into healthcare. The 1 trillion dollar plan that is under-going work now is too high as it is. Another thing that isn't looking good is that Congress may not be able to look at any sort of reform until Fall of 2009. This is bad for people who need help now and for my I-Search.
The article also said that there are a large amount of children out there who are eligible for for free healthcare but are not enrolled.
Obama's plan calls for businesses to have to provide insurance but it is hard for small business to provide healthcare. It is the second biggest cost, next to payrolls, in running a business.
I thought that this article had good information and gave me more insight than I had before and hope to find more articles like it.

Diagnosis not great for health care in 2009 in U.S.

-Tom Daschle, US Department of Health and Human Services is a big advocate for universal healthcare
-People say that he will put in a big push in Congress that will be liberal, but not socialist
- The reforms that should expected will allow more access but will make hospitals and doctors to run more efficient
-Congress will not be able to put a lot of money into healthcare reform
-Marc Neely says that small-groups will focus on wellness.
- Medicare or Medicaid will not be affected
-Many children are eligible for insurance but aren't signed up
-Reform plans may not be in front of Congress till Fall
-For small businesses, healthcare is the second biggest cost next to the payroll
- It is very hard for a business to give employees good healthcare

Response to: Time to deliver on healthcare promises

This article was nice to read. The only way that America is to get closer to Universal Healthcareis that Obama tries to fix the problem when he is in office because he will have the most power when he first becomes comes into office.
This article also had pros and cons of a socialized, government based healthcare program. This article, like many others that I have read, states that many European countries give their population superior healthcare to what the US gives at a fraction of the price.
A conservative columnist says that Universal Healthcare would restrict freedom. Freedoms like ability to choose your own doctor or make your own medical decision.
I hope that the Obamas memory of his mother can prompt him to change the healthcare problem that America faces now.

Time to deliver on healthcare promises

-People are trying to convince Obama and his administration to prolong his healthcare reforms till things settle down with the current recession
-Obama is showing signs of going right into though
-It would be excellent for people to not fear losing their healthcare even if they lost their job
-Unemployed are canceling medical procedures and prescriptions to save money
-Elective surgery is going down
-In medical outcome, the US is nowhere near countries that have Universal Healthcare, like Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
- Conservatives in England did nothing to "do away" with socialized medicine. Like other socialized, fire, police and sewage, it becomes a permanent fixture.
- Obama may take healthcare reform slowly because he and administration have excellent healthcare already.
-A columnist said that a government run program would limit freedoms like choosing your own freedom or to make personal medical decision.
-Obama said that because his mother had to argue with health insurance companies when she was dying of cancer