This is a teaser clip from the soon to be released documentary series I and a few others have been working on over the past ~6 months.
We were actually planning on releasing a teaser clip of another speaker we interviewed from The 21 Convention this week, but I last minute decided to have a special teaser clip made of Drew, regarding his thoughts on ‘health care’, due to the events of last Sunday evening in the United States.
I would normally only post this on The21Convention.com, but I found it relevant to TDL due to the recent discussion of similar topics on here (not to mention the never ending debate on food and nutrition).
For the record, Drew’s opinions are entirely his own, and do not necessarily reflect those of any organization he has played a role in past, present, or future. I obviously sympathize personally with his views though, as an individual, not as President & CEO of The 21 Convention LLC.
In addition, the majority of Drew’s interview does not pertain to ‘health care’, it is far more focused on exercise & nutrition – and as a result, this teaser clip does not do his full length interview (nearly 2 hours of total talk time) justice.
It is likely we will release another in the coming weeks that better reflects the content which he discussed, overall.
Visit Baye.com for more Drew
That was a rather nice sum-up of my feelings towards public health care and the feeling of entitlements (Heck, in Ireland the actual, official term for what you can get from the government is “entitlements”, heh.
Anyways, Ive been engrossed reading Drews blog the last few days, and just finished my first HIT workout…
Cant wait to see this Doc Anthony. (Can I call you Anthony? Dream is so… bourgeois :p )
Drew’s blog is excellent. I too have read basically the entire thing =).
Yes you can call me Anthony haha. Dream is sort of a nick name or brand name that has stuck by me for many years and fits the title of the blog pretty well =)
So your contention is that if health care wasn’t a given, then people would be more inclined to take better care of themselves.
But the problem is that a)people are addicted to sweets, starch and artificial flavours and/or are too lazy/busy/broke to cook real food and opt for processed plastic or fast food; plus b) the ones who might take health seriously are severely misinformed so they buy fat-free yogurt, whole grain pastaboard, kashi giraffe feed, egg whites, mutant fat-removed chicken breasts, canola margarine and ‘milk’ from the tit of the soy plant etc…
I’m sure there’s more complexities to the argument, but I’m starting to get where you’re coming from..
If the world suddenly woke up and smelled the bacon and suddenly adopted the healthiest diet and lifestyle, I still think the ones who bust their heads from slipping on ice should get free health care… but that’s neither here or there because man oh man we are sooo far from that, so ya maybe it is time to adopt (extreme) measures to wake people up..
Short of the Weston A. Price foundation forming a political group and winning the election, its gunna be a long uphill battle, but I know its worth fighting for..
simz
“kashi giraffe feed, egg whites, mutant fat-removed chicken breasts, canola margarine and ‘milk’ from the tit of the soy plant etc…”
LOL
Love your descriptions here.
“If the world suddenly woke up and smelled the bacon and suddenly adopted the healthiest diet and lifestyle, I still think the ones who bust their heads from slipping on ice should get free health care…”
I too think in a wealthy society people who suffer trauma related injuries and require emergency medical care to survive should receive it immediately – and if they can’t pay after the fact… well so be it.
The first thought that comes to mind though is A: we are no longer wealthy (the USA).
The second thought is B: do we need government to forcefully take from one and give to another (steal) to accomplish this (hint, answer is no).
The final thought is C: emergency care is hardly a drop in the bucket as compared to paying for people’s long term care/health costs, and few would disagree that we should find SOME way to pay for that as a society (emergency/trauma related care). But never the less, people aren’t making death threats right now over our government wanting to take better care of those who fall down a flight of stairs and need Doug Mcguff to fix their broken leg.
They’re making those threats because our government just took over some 18% of the economy, completely ignored the constitution, continues to march on towards the most catastrophic economic cluster f*ck in history, and on top of that, has decided to become the ultimate nanny – right in the middle of falling apart, of all times to make such a move!
Ya, I totally understand what you’re side is on the whole issue and its definitely reasonable..
So you would you’d agree that health care should exist in a perfect world utopia, where everybody properly took care of themselves? It would function solely with altruistic motivations, where as a community we realize we’re all in this together and that some will be more fortunate than others when we spin the wheel of our inherited genetic health destiny. So it would be a reasonable personal sacrifice to everyone except Scrooge to willfully pool resources so that when someone unfortunate gets cancer, or is in an accident they can focus on recovery and not money.
But of course we don’t live in that world; rather we like in a world where 99% or whatever of health costs are related to hospital visits because of new and avoidable diseases of civilization. So I get why you’re angry that you’d be forced to pay for Fat Albert’s triple by-pass, or to pay for insulin injections for every third child.
Combine that with the plethora of arguments that you and others have brought up from viewpoints of economic fragility, government abuse of power and corruption, greed and influence of insurance, pharmaceutical, agricultural and medical corporations….. I get where you’re coming from…. it’s pretty overwhelming…
But in the end, I guess I’d rather live and pay for a place with all this corruption, imperfections and hour long clinic waiting times, than to live in a detached, everyone for themselves society. I think it’s the lesser of two evils.
But we can live in that world Simon, and once did, before the government got involved.
Since government intervention into health care costs have skyrocketed – not even bringing inflation into the picture perpetuated by the Federal Reserve and massive foreign debt.
Anything the government gets involved in, it perpetuates ever rising levels of it’s own involvement in. We just witnessed the cumulative effect of this, coupled with a sense of entitlement from ‘the people’ never before seen in history.
Believe it or not the free market can and once did work in health care, through charity and voluntary help – from private organizations as well as individuals.
Government involvement has all but destroyed that now.
In the end, I do not find it the lesser of two evils- but the greatest of all. This is especially true when being forced to buy a private product is taken into account, as is soon to be the case in this country.
I for one, am ready to leave on a dual citizenship and give the IRS the one finger salute.
I am also contemplating violent resistance to any individual who thinks they can make me buy a private product.
Both of these options are extreme however, and perhaps unfortunately, unnecessary, since I believe our country will collapse before any of the ‘reform’ actually comes into effect.
Any way you cut it, it’s a f*cked up situation.
I’m starting to understand your resistance and resentment towards government intervention in areas that don’t require it.
“Any way you cut it, it’s a f*cked up situation”
Word. I think my default reaction to global injustices and corruption is to evade it and focus on problems in my immediate surrounding. Its a bad habit I know, but sometimes its overwhelming so it feels like its futile to bother trying.
But in your case, I can see how it’ll affect you more than just some raised taxes or longer waiting room times. This shit is challenging your core beliefs and principals…
I really don’t know what to say but, good luck with everything buddy…
“Word. I think my default reaction to global injustices and corruption is to evade it and focus on problems in my immediate surrounding. Its a bad habit I know, but sometimes its overwhelming so it feels like its futile to bother trying.”
Actually, I believe that’s an excellent habit. Worrying about problems outside our sphere of influence can knock us off course quite easily… and I have been guilty of it myself in years gone by.
I suppose the question is, how far does our sphere of influence reach? Something each of us has to decide.
“But in your case, I can see how it’ll affect you more than just some raised taxes or longer waiting room times. This shit is challenging your core beliefs and principals…”
I can not tell you enough how right you are. I was actually just writing late last night about this specifically. I may still post it, but it’s been difficult to clearly articulate myself as of late.
“So your contention is that if health care wasn’t a given, then people would be more inclined to take better care of themselves.”
In Ireland we have a “Medical Card”, its a little plastic card akin to a credit card. I take it to the Doctor/Pharmacy/Hospital etc. It guarantees me free care (Not quality care, not by a long shot) but free care. It costs the average man on the street a bucketload in taxes. In recent months, due to the finincial hell going on, I have to pay a small fee for medication at a pharmacy, not full price, but still.
Irelands a tiny place. Yet, for our small population, according to Wikipedia, we are 34th on the list for ciggarette consumption,and 2nd for Alchohol consumption per person. You can imagine how those two vices alone put a massive strain on individual health, and above that, the strain on the public health system. If people here actually woke up and started looking after themselves instead of their little plastic card, we might not be taxed for it.
Then again, what ive written is just my opinion. :p
I feel like we could all learn A LOT from this guy. Mr. Baye, is quite knowledgable!
Anthony, can we get an ETA on this documentary series?
See my comment below.
Anthony,
What most don’t realize is that Emergency Physicians have been under a unfunded socialist mandate since 1986. We are subject to a law called EMTALA (emergency medical treatment and active labor act). This was passed by “reconciliation” all the way back in 1986 under COBRA (congressional omnibus RECONCILIATION act). The point here is that reconciliation has long been a way of sneaking in socialist legislation.
EMTALA basically says that an emergency department must see EVERY patient that presents regardless of their ability (or intent) to pay for services rendered. At the very least we must provide a “screening exam”, but the law’s definition of this includes a complete evaluation including labs, CT scans etc. The fine for a doctor that fails to meet this requirement is $50,000.00 per instance. Hospitals are fined $500,000.00 and lose their Medicare funding. Since this is a Federal law, it does not fall to the civil courts, so it is not covered by malpractice. If for some reason the goverment thinks you failed in your “duty” it can destroy your finances and career. As a result of this law, I have provided over $300,000.00 of uncompensated care per year every year I have been in practice since 1989.
This law has created a huge burden on doctors and hospitals. Some of this is mitigated by cost-shifting to the paying class. This is why you pay $200.00 for a Tylenol on your hospital bill.
The current “Health Care Crisis” is entirely because of the existence of Medicare and Medicaid. These Ponzi schemes have overpromised and are bankrupt. They have kept surviving through cost controls, especially on the inpatient side of medicine (called DRG’s or diagnosis-related groups). DRG’s are basically price-fixing that insures massive losses on inpatient care. This creates a shortage of inpatient beds which is a major cause of ER crowding…once sick patients need admission, there are no beds to put them in and we end up holding them in the ER. These price controls have created a lop-sided medical market. You see overcrowded dilapidated hospitals with palacial outpatient surgery centers next to them. These ridiculous market distortions were created by the existence of government medical programs (Medicare/Medicaid) and then the statists blame the free market for the very condition they created.
Now that the ability for cost-shifting is shut down, the only way for the system to compensate will be through shortages. There won’t be a need for “rationing”, you will simply be directed to get in the queue…which will be quite wrong. If you don’t believe me, visit the Canadian Govt website. http://www.wcwl.org (western canada waiting list). Medicine as we have known it is about to implode. Stay Healthy, stay out of the belly of this beast.
Most important is not the practical effects this will have on health care delivery, but instead on the philosophical effect that one person’s wealth (viz. life) can be appropriated for another’s benefit under the threat of law (viz. violence). Thanks for your blog and your insights.
Doug McGuff, MD
Like another has mentioned Doug, thank you for your insight. If you are ever interested in contributing a guest post here on TDL (for whatever reason) let me know, as I think it would be a huge hit and an excellent outlet for thoughts such as those expressed in this comment.
“Most important is not the practical effects this will have on health care delivery, but instead on the philosophical effect that one person’s wealth (viz. life) can be appropriated for another’s benefit under the threat of law (viz. violence).”
I agree, and intend to write a full blog specifically about this (well, sort of) tentatively called “When and Where do We Draw the Line?”.
I for one, refuse to buy government mandated and approved health insurance. Even if it was somehow beneficial, it’s wrong on principle to the core.
thanks again for your comment
-Anthony
Dream,
When is this documentary going to be released!? Whenever it is I can’t wait.
Dr. Mcgruff,
Thanks for the valuable insight into our modern health care system. I, like many others, are oblivious to the truths that encircle the medical world. It is nice to hear a realistic voice on these issues.
Ryan
Soon! =). No really, soon, at all costs, it must be released! That said, it is a documentary series that will be released over an extended period of time. The first episode for example will be released in May, while Drew Baye as seen above may not be released until July. It will likely continue on in the coming months as well.
Can’t wait! Really appreciate all the value you’re giving out, Dream. You’re doing an awesome thing. ( =