Basic Health Access

Cries of victory may ring out today after the apparent defeat of the misguided Republican Replacement Plan, but the sand people will be back and in greater deception. The designs over past decades will continue to be shaped by those with their own agendas - agendas that are a poor fit with the needs of most Americans or true improvements in health outcomes. The first realization that must be made is that the designers will be back with plans that work for them, but not for most Americans. The second realization is that good intentions taken to excess have consequences as seen in austerity focus and in runaway health care costs. Austerity Focus Runaway Health Costs Cuts or prevents or diverts investments in areas that shape local determinants of outcomes Increase so rapidly that federal and state dollars are diverted to health care and away from the determinants of outcomes The Determinants of Health, Education, Economic and Other Outc...

An article by Andrew Weil indicates how "The Biomedical Model is Failing Us." Despite lofty claims, the drugs promoted have not done much for mental health. Not surprisingly the biomedical model may have failed most when applied to mental health where so much is about behaviors, relationships, and other people factors. Weil points out, "In 1977, the journal Science published a provocative article titled “The Need for a New Medical Model: A Challenge for Biomedicine.” I consider it a landmark in medical philosophy and the intellectual foundation of today’s integrative medicine. The author, George L. Engel, M.D., was a professor of psychiatry at the University of Rochester (New York) School of Medicine. Determined to overcome the limiting influence of Cartesian dualism, which assigns mind and body to separate realms, Engel envisioned medical students of the future learning that health and illness result from an interaction of biological, psychological, soci...