Look at reality before backing health plan

I am an RN and would like to see everyone have access to health care but I do not believe we are ready as a country for universal health care no matter what the paying source. I see very little commenting on the chaos it would be if there are 47 million put into the current health system. There is a shortage of primary care physicians who will be the gatekeepers of all health care, There is and has been a shortage of nurses.

Universal health care was approved in Massachusetts in 2006. The waiting time to see a physician has increased from 30 days to 52 days just in three years. The pay for primary care physicians is very poor, averaging approximately $70,000 a year and there is also no status in being a primary care physician so there are fewer applicants.

One of the reasons there is a shortage of nurses is that there are not enough instructors. One nursing school in Virginia had 200 applicants this fall but they could only accept 35 because of the lack of instructors. There will also be waiting to receive diagnostic studies. This is all very common in other countries who have universal health care, some countries have a waiting list of six months before elective surgery.

Even more than the power play among the politicians this shortage of medical personnel is the most worrisome. If this is not addressed, no one, including the czars who are trying to write bills for an area that they simply are not familiar will get health care in a timely fashion.

Although illegal immigrants and the uninsured do not have advantage of some of the preventive medical care neither are denied medical care when they are acutely ill. There are free medical clinics in nearly every city which treats non emergent conditions but they are not well-publicized thus most inappropriately use the ER. Perhaps some attention could be given to improving these and making their presence better known while this is being hashed out.

Sally Messenger

Warrenville