This Monday I went to a talk given by Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal about rising healthcare rising costs. This event was about the exorbitant rising costs of healthcare and their impact on patients. Dr. Elizabeth Rosenthal detailed the ways in which our healthcare system in the U.S. differs from other systems of healthcare around the world. She also discussed the ways in which money is being used in the healthcare system for excessive comforts, such as coffee in the waiting room. I was very surprised to learn that rising healthcare costs is currently the number one cause of bankruptcy in the United States! I think this demonstrates that healthcare costs can become a financial burden and cause inequality.  Dr. Rosenthal’s career as a medical correspondent was most interesting. I rarely hear about doctors who have delved into other careers that meld their interests outside of medicine with their medical training. It was interesting to see how her two interests manifested themselves in her new book.

            I agreed with Dr. Rosenthal because I have personally dealt with medical care costs that seemed to overcharge me for the care I received. I also agree with her advice to patients. I think we really do need to challenge our healthcare providers and insurance agencies to give us the care we want at the price we deserve. Her statements also convinced me that change is not going to come from Washington, D.C. The state level government has people in positions of power that can change things for patients. In addition, I think that this event made me realize that Americans cannot just wait and hope that Congress will pass an acceptable bill. Citizens have to act in order to get the results they want. If other countries don’t deal with exorbitant medical care costs, then why should we?

Although Dr. Rosenthal focuses more on the complex aspects of healthcare that need to be reformed, Irealized that in the big picture, Americans should be more involved in their government. If they were, perhaps the healthcare system would not be where it is today. I think that this demonstrates a failure in our government. People should be able to vote for representatives that can come together and create a plan. The fact that both parties cannot compromise displays a lack of cohesion and divisiveness that we have to fix before we can even begin to think about reforming the healthcare system.