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Do you find yourself irritated or enervated by navigating the healthcare system?

Are you saying, “I can’t change this?"

The difficulty was explained in Mayo Clinic Proceedings by CEO Dr. Denis Cortese: the U.S. healthcare system ISN'T a system.

It’s "a myriad of professionals and organizations that provide health care, but no vision has been articulated for these disparate parts to function together and learn from each other."

Mayo would like “a dynamic learning organizational system, where people create the results they desire, new/expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, collective aspiration is set free, and people continually learn to see the whole together."

Regardless of ability
Bruce M. Kelly, Mayo’s government relations director, issues Mayo’s call for access to basic health care for all Americans “regardless of their ability to pay.” We should “require individual ownership of insurance and provide sliding-scale subsidies for those in need.”

He acknowledges “fear” that insurers will not cover ill people, “challenge” securing bi-partisan agreement, “difficulty” changing the payment approach, and “complexity of language” on “individual ownership” and “employer’s role.” There’s “struggle” to fund premiums for low-income Americans “amid competing national priorities,” and a need to identify a “trusted source for information on quality, cost.”

Do you support a presidential candidate who would espouse this, and be disability-friendly? That’s where people with disabilities can be heard.

MedPage Today noted slightly over 33 percent of Americans think socialized medicine would be flat-out worse than what we have, and majorities associate the words with popular programs such as Medicare and a government guarantee that everyone has health insurance.

Dramatic differences
A World Health Organization study found that despite spending over $2 trillion a year on health care, the U.S. ranks 45th in life expectancy and 37th in performance of national health systems.

Meanwhile, the Harvard School of Public Health and Kaiser Family Foundation noted in the New England Journal of Medicine that "although Americans agree health care is important, there are huge differences between Republicans and Democrats on what should be done to improve health care."

For example, that poll found 65 percent of likely Democratic voters would propose universal—or nearly universal—coverage even with much higher government spending. Only 23 percent of likely Republican voters want such an effort; 27 percent prefer no action.

Trusted source
Are you prepared for this journey?

The Baptist Health System, which has saved this non-Baptist writer’s life, has some advice:

• Know each aspect of your care
• Know how to get a second opinion if needed
• Major surgery—weigh risks and benefits
• Health insurance—choose plan right for you
• Study long-term care insurance for a prolonged illness/injury
• Know mental health options on therapist, especially for seniors
• Manage medical bills and doctor visits
• Know options on newborn screenings for disabilities
• Protect yourself against medication errors
• Don’t take drugs you don’t need

Remember, even at the renowned Mayo Clinic, you must be your own advocate on questions, answers, treatment. They don’t call it the PRACTICE of medicine without reason.

In his wheelchair in Jacksonville, FL, Herb Drill heads Able Me & Associates. His e-mail address is herbdrill@ableme.com. He has Muscular Dystrophy.