from memegenerator.org
After learning our topic was essentially, "how to fix the healthcare system." As part of Gen Z, I often find myself talking about and criticizing the American health care system for being overpriced and low quality, and even after hearing Dr. Sean Masaki Flynn's lecture I can't help but still feel that way, and that is ok. Before his talk, my fallacy was not knowing WHY it was bad and I couldn't provide possible solutions or ways to improve it, I was, in a way, ignorant. But now, I am at least familiar with the subject and can navigate and actively participate in a talk about the subject. I liked how Flynn started his speech with the basics of healthcare and how our healthcare functions and how other countries' healthcare functions. He essentially said that overall the U.S. health system is more privatized and has a somewhat higher quality, which I can agree with, competition fosters better pricing and service. But he eluded to other systems and even whole foods, which kept me interested. I think that the United States system does have potential, I think the idea of having the patient still pay is crucial to the healthcare market and is the reason it has competition and variety. However, I liked his anecdote about going into a hospital in another country and receiving the same healthcare for free. Both I feel offer great benefits. However the American system leaves paying for a hospital a gamble and each person's insurance might not be the same and it might not be as good as others, it's a gamble, and some Americans can not afford to pay for healthcare even though it is needed. However, the other system does not offer improvement, the market is static since all hospitals have the same rates since the government just pays for healthcare. This fosters an environment that does not have good quality and a crowded waitlist of patients. But then Flynn mentioned Brittain. In Brittain, you can use the free hospitals and wait for an available time or schedule too far in advance or you can pay for private practice, those which have competing rates. This is better than the United States, in the sense that, the British have a safety net of government paid for healthcare, but they also have private practices that can offer better benefits given the right amount of money. This can be compared to our earlier talk about UBI, where UBI was a bare minimum, a safety net, and if one wanted to spend more money, they had to make more money. What Britain is doing is the UBI of healthcare. It just makes more sense. However, Flynn started talking about Singapore. Unlike the United States or Brittain, Singapore implements both ideas. While the government still pays for a majority of the healthcare costs, the city still has to pay for 10% of the bill, giving them an incentive to choose cheaper options while still being able to afford healthcare and get it at a closer date. I totally agree with this system, it's a way of bringing gaps and finding a middle ground in the extremes. All in all, Dr. Flynn's talk educated me on the current healthcare situation in America, it allowed me to have knowledge of solutions and better educate myself about my country's affairs.
