Americans have always been a slave to our myths. The last decade or so, the muddle-headed make-believe of the moment was Jack Bauer, of “24” fame.<\/p>\n
This fictional character tortured his way to saving the world again and again, and in the process dumbed-down one of the most devastating moral crises in American history.<\/p>\n
A nation that long stood against torture embraced it. <\/p>\n
And we also embraced the kind of legalisms and doublespeak that every society uses when turning down a dark road.<\/p>\n
“Enhanced interrogation” indeed. <\/p>\n
These days, though, there’s an equally toxic fiction shaping and eroding our national debate: His name is House.<\/p>\n
He’s the irascible, brilliant doctor (a sort of post-Modern Marcus Welby) on Fox who could out-diagnose any ten real physicians.<\/p>\n
Why is House a problem? <\/p>\n
Because he perpetuates the myth of the American super-specialist, the physician who saves lives through instinct, guts and rebel derring-do.<\/p>\n
Americans love this idea. And so do doctors. That’s why more and more physicians are training for high-paid specialties and avoiding general practice.<\/p>\n
But the truth is that the “doctor-as-superman-maverick” model is killing us.<\/p>\n
Seriously. <\/p>\n
Our nation has inferior health outcomes, higher rates of preventable disease and (shamefully) higher infant mortality rates than any other developed country in the world.<\/p>\n
And still many of our leaders proudly boast that it’s the best, most virile, Viagra-swilling medical system going.<\/p>\n
They tell us that any significant change would put sleazy government bureaucrats between us and our next live-saving session with Dr. House.<\/p>\n
Sigh. <\/p>\n
The fact is that more than 40 million of us never get to see any physician, not until we’re wheeled into the emergency room.<\/p>\n
Under our current system, most Americans who lose their jobs also lose their health care — which means that that 40-million number is almost certainly an undercount.<\/p>\n
What’s more, the medical-industrial complex that hides behind the House myth is bankrupting us, outpacing inflation year-after-year without providing a fraction of the basic health services that most of us need.<\/p>\n
As private insurers dump their riskier clients, more people land on the balkanized Medicare, Medicaid and VA systems.<\/p>\n
Taxpayers foot the bill for society’s neediest, while insurance conglomerates skim off the cream of wealthy (and healthy) people.<\/p>\n
So here’s a message to Congress, which has taken up health care reform for the first time in a decade:<\/p>\n
Sure, it’s fun to see House diagnose some cryptic parasite, or weird blood disease, all Sherlock-homes style. But what 99% of Americans need is a basic check-up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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