A modern day Greek tragedy
"Fiscal crisis takes toll on health of Greeks," The New York Times. December 26, 2011--The free clinic in Perama, Greece, opened about a year ago to serve illegal immigrants. But these days, it is mostly caring for Greeks like Vassiliki Ragamb, who was sitting in the waiting room hoping to get insulin for her young diabetic son. Four days earlier, she had run out of insulin and, without insurance and unable to pay for more, she had gone from drugstore to drugstore, pleading for at least enough for a few days. It took her three hours to find a pharmacist who was willing to help.
"Fiscal crisis takes toll on health of Greeks," The New York Times. December 26, 2011--The free clinic in Perama, Greece, opened about a year ago to serve illegal immigrants. But these days, it is mostly caring for Greeks like Vassiliki Ragamb, who was sitting in the waiting room hoping to get insulin for her young diabetic son. Four days earlier, she had run out of insulin and, without insurance and unable to pay for more, she had gone from drugstore to drugstore, pleading for at least enough for a few days. It took her three hours to find a pharmacist who was willing to help.
Greece used to have an extensive public health care system that pretty much ensured that everybody was covered for everything. But in the last two years, the nation's creditors have pushed hard for dramatic cost savings to cut back the deficit. These measures are taking a brutal toll on the system and on the country's growing numbers of poor and unemployed who cannot afford the new fees and co-payments instituted at public hospitals as part of the far-reaching austerity drive.
Many experts say that Greece's public health system was bloated and corrupt and in dire need of reform. But they say also that the cuts have been so deep and have come so fast, that they have hit like a tsunami. In just two years, the government has cut spending on health care to $17 billion from $19.5 billion — a 13 percent decrease. And under its agreement with its creditors, Greece must find even more health care savings next year — as much as $915 million, government officials said. At the same time, public health facilities have seen a 25 to 30 percent increase in patients because so many Greeks can no longer afford to visit private clinics.
In a recent letter to the medical journal The Lancet, a team of English researchers warned that a "Greek tragedy" could be in the making, pointing to rising suicide and HIV rates and deterioration of services at hospitals under financial pressure. "In an effort to finance debts," the researchers said, "ordinary people are paying the ultimate price: losing access to care and preventive services, facing higher risks of HIV and sexually transmitted diseases, and in the worst case losing their lives."
CMDA CEO David Stevens, MD, MA (Ethics): "Last summer, I visited the largest Christian hospital in Greece and was impressed with their quality of care and compassion. However, when I sat down with the hospital's physician/CEO, the focus of our conversation was on their dire financial straits. More than 80 percent of the hospital's income was from the government healthcare system and the hospital hadn't been paid anything in 18 months."I'm not an economist, but as I talked to many new Greek friends they stated their country's system of government entitlements and mismanagement had led to their downfall. Politicians promised what they could not pay for and then borrowed huge sums to make it happen so they could stay in power. The huge unionized bureaucracy they created was inefficient and corrupt. It was impossible to award merit or discharge the incompetent. Costs skyrocketed until they were unsustainable and the system finally went into a downward spiral. They haven't reached bottom yet.
"The U.S. isn't Greece, but we now face some of the same problems. Medicare and Social Security costs are skyrocketing and could bankrupt our government. Politicians fear touching these "third rails" that could eliminate them at the ballot box. Instead of dealing with the root causes of healthcare hyperinflation, we increased costs by more than $1.2 trillion dollars under the rubric of "affordable healthcare."
"CMDA's insurance premium invoice was 30 percent higher this year – again,
...so we increased the employees' contributions – again
...we are trying to absorb the increase – again
...so it will be difficult to give raises to cover even cost of living increases this year – again.
"By changing our healthcare policy, we are now forced to become part of the healthcare exchange system, but isn't the system the government created already facing bankruptcy?
"If we aren't already in a downward spiral, why am I so dizzy?
"I know one thing, the longer we wait to address this problem, the stronger the suction in the whirlpool grows. Finally, we will reach the spot where we won't be able to swim out no matter how hard we try. Just like a Greek tragedy."
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