Ways to Improve Healthcare
Health is one of those industries that is required by everyone at some point or another. People get sick. People get injured. It's healthcare that makes them better, improves quality of life, or at least makes the attempt. Centuries of discovery, improvements in technologies, and ongoing research have contributed to some of the longest lifespans in human history. To say healthcare is important is an understatement; it is often, quite literally, the difference between life and death.
So how can we make it more affordable? Improve the quality of care? Make sure it's accessible to everyone and won't leave people with a mountain of debt? In short: a single-payer system. With power comes clout.
Bargaining Power
The U.S. is a major player in the world health scene. It's our companies and our research that have made many breakthroughs possible in the field of medicine. Much of that comes from state-sponsored endowments via grants; tax money used to help scientists. An appreciable portion of that funding comes from donations: various charity groups like the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and St. Jude [Children's Research Hospital] help to advance the study of medicine and assist patients in need of support. All too often, however, these efforts are too disorganized to make meaningful change on a large scale. When breakthroughs in treatment do occur, it's often private-sector companies receiving most of the benefit.
A national healthcare system would be the largest single-buyer of medicine in the world. With this comes the ability to negotiate drug prices down to the lowest cost.
Increasing Medical Staff
Training new doctors, nurses, and practicioners increases the supply of medical personnel available. This in turn reduces cost. State-assisted training programs would allieviate the burdens on the current health system of being short-staffed, fighting over a limited supply of healthcare professionals, and giving over-worked hospital employees some much needed breathing room.
In addition to dedicated staff, emergency training and the basic medicine could be taught in public schools to reduce the burden even more (allowing treatment of minor injuries, researching common concerns, and preventative practices to be carried out at home instead of the ER).
Stipulating Practices
Bureaucracy increases cost. This is an unfortunate side effect of government involvement. However, lawlessness in the market leads to a lot of nasty side effects. You're probably glad inspectors make sure restaurant conditions are clean and you aren't being sold tainted meat - so why should healthcare be different?
Government oversight, when done properly, protects the public from unsafe and predatory practices.
This section is still being developed:
The number 1 goal of the Prometheus Project is the most important, as without it, these other goals are less likely to be achieved. Elected officials have shown us they are unwilling or unable to honor the will of the people. Without a democratic way to vote on the laws themselves, politicians will continue putting profits ahead of the people their position exists to serve.
This simply shares the ideas and values of what we are working to achieve.