Forest Fires, Earthquakes, the Titanic, and Healthcare

By Deane Waldman

Henry David Thoreau wrote that "[a]ll perception of truth is the detection of an analogy." Let's use analogies to comprehend the seemingly incomprehensible: healthcare in the U.S. Below, the word "they" refers to power brokers in Washington, on both sides of the aisle and in the White House. They are concentrating on one vein on one leaf of one tree, while the whole forest is ablaze. They remain intensely focused on a tiny germ under a microscope while an earthquake is destroying the lab. They have precisely lined up all the deck chairs on their magnificent new "unsinkable" ship -- the Titanic. They are applying anti-acne cream to a patient with a brain tumor. The truth in these analogies seems obvious to you and me, but apparently it escapes people who work within the Beltway. The "doctors" for the critically ill U.S. healthcare system -- our representatives in Washington -- are altering financing and expanding regulations, apparently without any understanding of why the patient, healthcare, is sick. As a result.... (Read Full Article)