ObamaCare – How Did We Get Here

How It Used To Be

My grandpa was a Physician & Surgeon. He was born in 1886. He was home schooled , worked on the family farm and took another job in town at age 11. He hired a tutor and worked and studied for 5 years. He entered Barnes Medical College in St. Louis at age 16. He graduated in 1905 at age 19, Summa cum Laude and was named Professor of Internal Medicine, which he performed while doing his surgical residency.

Grandpa’s practice was largely house calls; he also treated patients at his office and occasionally in one of the hospitals. He maintained a charity practice for poor farmers every Saturday until his death in 1962. He would buy and bring whatever medicine they needed and he was paid with bushels of crops, live chickens and whatever they raised and grew. This charity practice was in Prairie du Rocher, Illinois, his home town.

How It Changed

Until the 1970s, most hospitals were either county hospitals or hospitals owned by the churches and charity organizations. Many hospitals were taken over by for-profit corporations and costs started to rise. Medicine began to embrace the use of expensive equipment to test, diagnose and treat illnesses. By the 1970s, home healthcare all but ended. Everybody went to the hospital or clinic for everything.

It Took a Wrong Turn

At some point, some politician decided that all hospitals should admit everybody, even if they couldn’t pay for the treatment and it was over. Up to that point, those without money went to the county hospital. This put a strain on the private hospitals that has resulted in the high cost mess we’re in today.

This took place in large cities and not so much in rural areas. Rural communities took care of their own, but when the city hospitals caved, the rest of the country followed suit.

It was Preventable

The private hospitals simply could have said NO. People who need cars, but have no money don’t get cars. That actually would have worked.

It’s not too Late

We could say that even now. All it would take is for private hospitals to join together and make their case. It’s a political battle worth fighting.

Home Healthcare Revisited

Isn’t it odd, that home healthcare is becoming more popular. The brutal costs of hospital care have forced this exodus from the hospitals. It’s a good trend. It’s how it used to work.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader