A patient recently sent me the following question: As a doctor who has been working in the system even before Medicare Medicaid, are you for this final draft of the health care bill?
Here is part of my answer:
To answer your question, yes, I very strongly favor this bill — because I believe that once it is enacted it will progress to a much stronger bill, which I do not think can get passed at this time.
There is absolutely no question in my mind that Medicare and Medicaid made a huge difference in the lives of people who are generally not powerful and not very loud voiced. I actually wrote about some of the period of transition from before Medicare to after in my first book, Guarded Prognosis (now out of print.)
In case you didn't guess, I also have very strong feelings about Roe versus Wade (or about the availability of abortion). I also began my career before abortion was legal, have many (ugly) stories to tell, and I never want to see that time come again.
Health Care Reform Bill