Newspaper Page Text
I
1*80.000,
UNINSURED
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CARE COSTS
Well, I'm a failure as a reporter. I went out to the (anti-)
health care rally in Oconee County Saturday morning, finding
the small crowd looking to be evenly divided between those
who are opposed to efforts to fix health care and those who
say it needs fixing. Things got started with a long prayer
by the preacher who is the former chaplain to the Oconee
County Republicans, in which he told God how much he loves
His amber waves of grain and purple mountain majesty, even
though some folks don't. Then we of course had the pledge of
allegiance, and then we sang the national anthem, a song that
never fails to stir my heart and make me see through Francis
Scott Key's eyes that "our flag was still there." I got a little
antsy during the karaoke, with a former city councilman sing
ing along to "God Bless the U.S.A.," and then the preacher
came back to give us his own views of our president and his
proposals. The preacher pointed out that he is not racist in
opposing Obama, because the president is "as much white as
he is black."
When I realized that Congressman Broun was a no-show and
that Rep. Bob Smith was the only politician slated to speak, I
began to lose enthusiasm. As Saxby Chambliss' representative,
a retired career Army officer on his staff, lectured us about why
the government should stay out of health care, I asked myself,
do I really want to know what Bob Smith is going to tell us
about the "Democrat" health plan? Feeling that the Oconee
Democrats were holding
...the trend for doctors
to treat medicine as a
; J, • .
revenue stream rather
than as a healing art...
their own, I slipped out.
When I got back
home, former Oconee
Countian Ed Wilde was
channeling Dr. Atul
Gawande again, once
more drawing my atten
tion to a health care article in the New Yorker I had missed.
Regular readers of this column will recall that I recently men
tioned Dr. Gawande's Jan. 26 New Yorker piece explaining how
universal health care developed organically in Britain and
France and cautioning that any American healthcare overhaul
has to begin with what we already have, like Medicare and the
Veterans Administration coverage.
This time, in the June 1 New Yorker, Dr. Gawande tries to
figure out what causes health care costs to be so much more
in some places than in others and not related to better qual
ity care. The conclusion this doctor draws, after consider
able examination of the most expensive place in America for
health care, McAllen, TX, is that the trend for doctors to treat
medicine as a revenue stream, rather than as a healing art, is
causing burgeoning costs and lessening quality. Dr. Gawande
compares the cash-cow approach with places like the Mayo
Clinic that have come up with a model which fosters collabora
tive teamwotk with the emphasis on the patient rather than
the patient's insurer's pocketbook. He says that more places
are adopting the maximum medical revenue approach than the
Mayo model, and that unless this is changed, it doesn't matter
who writes the check, costs will continue to rise and quality
will continue to fall.
Wonder which model prevails in the Athens medical
community?
7 : V. •.' ' :V«’ • V i v:' : v'.' ■
PeleMcCommonseditor@flagpole.com
THIS WEEK’S
NEWS & FEATURES
City Dope 5
Athens News and Views
We may not know who stole the Daily Co-op's carrot sign, but we sure know schools back in session...
Comment 8
Health Care Reform and the American Apocalypse
Extremist right-wing paranoia is seeing a resurgence, and this is all about far more than health care.
ARTS & EVENTS
The Reader 9
Damn Townies...
For an Athenian, The Ingenious Edgar Jones reads like a 19th-century story of town-gown conflict.
Book Review 11
True Indie
The indie label that got big and stayed small” tells its story, 20 years in.
MUSIC
Pros and Cons of the Kickstarter Model
Who Needs a Label When Fans Fund Your Recording?
Paying for an album after it comes out is so pass£.
Killick Is Just Happy to Be Alive
The Inspiration Behind Exsanguinette
A near-death experience inspires Killick’s most upbeat work to date.
- ‘ Y*
COVER DESIGN by Kelly Ruberto
featuring artwork by Mathew Sugarman
on display at the Lamar Dodd
School of Art
SAVE
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LETTERS 4
CITY DOPE 5
CITY PAGES 6
CAPITOL IMPACT 7
COMMENT 8
THE READER 9
GRUB NOTES 10
BOOK REVIEW 11
MOVIE DOPE ...12
MOVIE PICK 14
THREATS & PROMISES 15
RECORD REVIEWS 16
KICKSTARTER 17
KILLICK 18
PRETTY LIGHTS 19
THE CALENDAR! 20
BULLETIN BOARD 28
ART AROUND TOWN 28
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REALITY CHECK 31
CLASSIFIEDS 32
EVERYDAY PEOPLE 35
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VOLUME 23
ISSUE NUMBER 35
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