Have any of you seen the commercial in which the patient is being instructed by the doctor on how to perform his own surgery? Well, that is more than afforded a grandmother over in the UK who couldn’t get a dentist to pull her teeth. From the story:
A grandmother performed her own tooth extractions in despair after being turned away by 12 dentists. Elizabeth Green, 76, was in agony with two front teeth and after a fruitless search for an NHS practitioner, resorted to DIY. Her case is the latest of many to highlight the dwindling availability of NHS dental treatment.
There are lessons here for the USA as we strive to find a way to expand coverage, without sinking our own boat. One lesson is that any nationalized system will have to be sparse. If we try to cover everything, we will, in the end, cover very little. Moreover, it seems clear to me that a robust private sector component will be crucial to reforming our health care system. Indeed, to me the privatized prescription benefits under Medicare are a good model.
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