Money

I don't know the answer to this question: should money buy better care? Part of this is already a reality; there are boutique medical offices where one can pay a premium to have more timely and direct access to their physician. But what are the ethics of this idea? On the one hand, many of us live with an ideal notion that health care is health care is health care. Hospitals, clinics, emergency departments should treat anyone who comes in equally, blind to the content of their wallets. Everyone should have equal access to primary care services, ob/gyn, pediatrics, mental health facilities, emergent surgeries, and the like. It shouldn't matter whether you are a millionaire or homeless, these are fundamental rights, some people argue. But I don't want to get into a discussion about universal health care. Instead, I want to probe the question of whether wealthy people should be able to buy better care. Even if everyone had coverage and access, this would still be an issue. Capitalism has its own pedestal in our society. And I think the argument is valid; if you can find a doctor who will be more prompt, send more tests, spend more time, make more phone calls, and hold your hand for more money, why not take it? I'm not sure how I feel about this. I still feel optimistic about what medicine ought to be. I don't want to see all my peers scurrying off to boutique medical establishments where they will live happy rich lives taking care of the wealthy. It is something about spending most of my fourth year in the county hospital of San Francisco, realizing that is where medicine needs to happen, that's where it must be practiced, and that money should not lure the passionate away from the streets. Anyway, I don't know the right answer, but I don't think right now I am the type of person who will treat only the rich.