A dinner with Sen. George McGovern
I had the pleasure of joining 10 other people for dinner with former Senator George McGovern. I had just seen the movie Gonzo, so George’s face was fresh in my mind. George said that Hunter Thompson was brilliant, he just used a lot of substances, as we all know, that made his moods erratic.
The dinner was organized by a spitfire named Darla who is angry enough at the cost of health care to be very active in building a solution. She and the others were and are strong advocates of a single payer plan. Senator McGovern is also in favor of universal coverage, he likened it to Medicare, where the government pays for health care.
I invited my colleague Dr. Ian Nesbitt, and we were there to keep naturopathic or alternative medicine, in the conversation about coverage. Ian asked George if naturopathic medicine was covered by his current personal policy and he answered no. All retired senators and congressmen have a salary and health insurance for life. However, being that it is the government, they have not yet been enlightened as to the benefit of covering naturopathic medicine and other modalities in the “alternative” category.
In addition to hearing a couple of wonderful stories about the life of George McGovern, the conversation was about how to gain influence where it counts, in order to ensure universal coverage is where health reform emerges.
I am not necessarily in favor of this nor am I opposed. My perspective is that the health delivery needs to have a new format, in a new up-to-date paradigm. The current system is obviously an albatross that has and is causing a multitude of problems, both financial and healthwise. Why keep funding this 37th rate system?
My solution: See next blog entry.
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