From my America Out Loud Pulse podcast – https://www.americaoutloud.com/how-uncle-sam-became-our-doctor/
Don’t be fooled into thinking that all laws and regulations are passed for our benefit. I think we’ve figured out that some laws are just to put someone’s name in the newspaper or to reward some group for big campaign contributions. That’s marginally tolerable if someone has bought their name onto a local Post Office. But it is a different story when it comes to our health. Politically-motivated healthcare agendas do not always make for the best medical care.
Through a calculated narrative that seizes upon emotions, public attitudes about social welfare have shifted from Thomas Jefferson’s “that government is best which governs least” to Franklin Roosevelt’s “cradle-to-grave” social insurance philosophy. Consequently, the administrative state has taken over our medical care. We now have rigid rules and restrictive drug formularies based on consensus—leaving no room for individualized treatments. But patients want to be treated like a person, not a data point. Patients want physicians whom they can trust to be open, honest critical thinkers, not “providers” who are government puppets.
In this episode, we’ll see how the government intrusion into medical care began – and weaved its way into our minds. Whether due to good intentions or naked lust for power, the 29-page Social Security Act grew into an almost 4,000 page behemoth lording over our lives.
Take heart. There are warriors out there. A few years back, I was president of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. This organization has done a public service to patients across the nation. AAPS has worked nonstop since 1943 to preserve of the private practice of medicine and the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship.
