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Paul Geneson
Correspondent
|  In the ancient world, the Gordian Knot was a nearly unsolvable puzzle. Trying to resolve and find consensus on the issue of health care reform, similarly, produces a wealth of different opinions. Last month, Southwest Senior talked with three local senior physicians to get their thoughts on a few topics related to health care reform.
On Medicare
Dr. David Taber, 70, doesn’t mince words when he says that the doctors he talks to generally don’t want health care reform. In his talks with seniors, Taber reports similar findings and says he thinks seniors would be underserved.
In the face of the recent government bailouts, Taber worries that this foray into the health care industry “smacks of big government takeover.”
More than that, he has real concern for the future of Medicare.
“There will be $500 billion worth of cuts in Medicare,” Taber said.
He foresees Medicare, currently having problems staying afloat, going belly-up in 2016.
Along with his fears for Medicare, Dr. Taber frets about medical problems becoming the business of the federal government. For example, he says for someone needing an operation, he can see the government denying coverage.
From there, Taber predicts things will devolve into “rationed medicine.”
Medicare reimbursements, he reports, have been steadily diminishing every year.
“More physicians are no longer seeing Medicare patients,” he says, noting that he can see that issue getting worse with further drops in doctors’ payouts. He also sees a new system costing more and more money in a country where the national debt has been spiraling up and up for years.
“I think it’s a tragedy -junking something that’s worked for years,” Dr. Taber said.
Upgrades needed
Dr. William Pitchford, 78, likes to compare the current medical system to a fine luxury car.
To the contention that health care today is in crisis mode, Dr. Pitchford says, “We have some spark plugs that need to be changed. We don’t need to junk it – just tweak it.”
His feeling is that reform would replace a very workable machine with one that copies the model of state-run medicine in places like Canada and Great Britain.
He points to a failure in Canada’s system: Thousands of bypass patients were unable to get treatment in their country for lack of facilities. Eventually, Vancouver brought many of these patients to Seattle to give them adequate care, which ultimately saved their lives.
It’s the attitude behind the health care push that unsettles Dr. Pitchford.
“There’s no free lunch,” he says. “You don’t deserve anything. If you don’t earn it, you don’t get it.”
He asks if people who can’t afford a certain commodity on the market expect someone else to help pay for that item.
Okay for some
Dr. Joe Mendoza, 73, has a whole different take on this issue. Confronted with the idea that the system is like a car, Dr. Mendoza rejects that comparison.
“We’re dealing with human lives, not oil,” he says.
Acknowledging that “90 percent of doctors are conservative,” he argues that we are already paying to subsidize emergency rooms, which is where those who have no insurance, or deep pockets are forced to go these days.
“The present system is not in bad shape for those with insurance. For others, it’s a catastrophe,” Dr. Mendoza said.
One way to go, he believes, is to allow those without insurance access to regular checkups and doctor’s visits.
“If we practice preventive medicine, we could save billions,” he says.
For example, he talks of women who lose their benefits after their pregnancy and can’t afford regular follow-up appointments. Or older patients who must choose between a doctor’s appointment and an expensive prescribed drug. Then there are those forced to cross borders - North and South - to get treatment or medicine that are too expensive here.
While dismissing cutbacks in Medicare as “scare tactics,” Dr. Mendoza looks to the coming of a new day in health care as a boon for the economy.
“You create health care reform, you create a lot of new jobs,” he says. “(Expansions will bring) a need for new doctors and new nurses.”
Comments or questions about this story? E-mail swsenior@elpasoinc.com
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