As a primary care physician, I want Howard Dean for my boss...

[Bread and Circus]

Howard Dean is a primary care physician, so is his wife. They have both been on the front lines of medicine and understand what's going on. Dean has also proven himself to be a capable and insightful leader in the true populist mold. I'd be ecstatic if he were named HHS Sec, Health Czar or both. I can't say I'm going to hold my breath on it, as we are still plagued by "insider politics" even in the age of Obama. However, one can hope.

That's all I'm gonna say about this.

[fadedrose]

1. Agree . . .K & R

[elocs]

2. Does he want to be your boss? Has he indicated he is at all interested in Sec. of HHS?

Would he be drafted or does he have a choice?

[Cha]

3. Well, here's a petition you

can sign and pass on.

http://www.petitiononline.com/sec4hhs/

And here's a link to communicate directly with the admin. in The Citizens Briefing Book.
http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/wrapping_up_the_citizens_briefing_book/

[NYC_SKP]

7. These are worthy of a new OP in GD or GDP, no?

Thanks, signed the petition, on my way to change.gov. :toast:

[Cha]

9. If you want to get up there in both as an

OP..I wish you would. I'm off to work right now and shouldn't even be typing this:fistbump:

[NYC_SKP]

11. Done and done!

Have a good one at work! :toast:

[AtomicKitten]

4. Sen. Harkin is in his corner.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/05/sen-harkin-backs-dean-for_n_164320.html

:thumbsup:

[Cha]

8. Yes, I saw that in GD..

thanks, AK.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4988036

[Thrill]

10. Thats good news for Dean. He pushed to get Vilsack the Agri Sec

[SuperTrouper]

5. I am in complete agreement. Primary care physicians have suffered the most

under the current system. First of all, everything gets dumped on us. If I order a CT scan of the brain for suspected brain cancer, or a Cardiac stress testing for obvious angina...I have to call the insurance companies and get permission for this. I needed an emergency brain MRI for a patient for blurry vision and had to spend 35 minutes getting all the information to the insurance so the radiologist could charge $3000 and my reimbursement was $32 for the visits and the time that my staff was tied up on this bureocratic mess. Surgeons send the patients for medical clearance for their surgeries so they can charge thousands of dollars and if something goes wrong with the surgery: oh, your primary care doctor did not foresee your impendig heart attack, or your sugar shock. We as primary care MD's are the secretaries for the other specialties, get the least reimbursement and spend the most time dealing and specifying a plan of prevention with the patients. At times, even the patients just use us a mere secretaries: "call my medicine to the pharmacy, get me a note for work, what's taking so long to see me, refill all my 100 medicines and fax them to my mail-order pharmacy, I have sinusitis and want antibiotics, get me disability, and so on and so on."

So, enough bitching on my part. I favor a single payer system, and why not, a type of socialized medicine where Juan Rodriguez has the same access as Dick Cheney. I want a major overhaul in the medical system, equal access and tort reform to cap jury awards and limit the effect and frivolousness of parasitic ambulance-chasing lawyers. And peer reviews by physicians to limit and marginalize the bad doctors that prey on our patients. We need a ball-buster at HHS and not someone that plays along to get along. I support Howard Dean for HHS.

[D-Lee]

14. Insurance companies disastrous for MDs -- I agree

I wish someone would do a cost analysis of the economic burdens borne by doctors as they deal with insurance companies. Sometimes, I cannot believe that what a doctor receives is sufficient to pay for the run-around, voice mail calls, etc. Not to mention subjecting a professional to a veto on patient care by someone who, more likely than not, has no or less medical training than the doctor.

And as for "managed care," the amount given to a doctor for a visit shouldn't even be enough to pay for a nurse's time, much less a board certified MD's time. And, considering real dollars without inflation adjustment, doctors receive less than they were paid 20 years ago.

Nor do I understand why doctors support the insurance companies' rants on limiting malpractice awards -- in every jurisdiction in which these laws have passed, there has been NO dollar reduction in malpractice premiums.

[99th_Monkey]

6. If not Dean, then Dr. Kitzhaber would be a great choice. (former OR governor)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Kitzhaber

[martymar64]

12. I'm with you on that one, Doc!

I've got this pain in my side . . . (just kidding!) :toast:

[eridani]

13. Other options--let's have some plans B,C and D here

The big issue, though Dean would be great, is to avoid whores for private insurance in the position.

http://www.pnhp.org/blog/2009/02/04/dr-quentin-young-marcia-angell-or-david-satcher-for-hhs-secretary

Today, Dr. Quentin Young, national coordinator of Physicians for a National Health Program, called on President Barack Obama to nominate Dr. Marcia Angell or Dr. David Satcher to head the Department of Health and Human Services.

Angell is a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School and former editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. Satcher is a former U.S. surgeon general and is director of Morehouse School of Medicine’s Center of Excellence on Health Disparities.

Young said, “In the wake of former Sen. Tom Daschle’s downfall, it has become perfectly clear that the new HHS secretary must be free of compromising financial links to corporate medicine. In this regard, Dr. Marcia Angell or Dr. David Satcher would be superb candidates who pass this test.

“Either one of these distinguished physicians would make an excellent nominee for the position of HHS secretary,” Young continued, noting their many outstanding achievements in medicine and health policy. “Perhaps most important is their belief that health care is a human right, not a commodity for sale. We need precisely that kind of vision at the helm of HHS to help bring about the fundamental health reform our nation so desperately needs.”