All This Fluff About Weiner, Edwards, and Arnold: What About Healthcare?

With all the media attention focusing on politicians' indiscretions, have we lost our focus on our most important national problems — the economy and healthcare? These areas should be our country's primary focus.

With rising unemployment and national debt, it appears that we do not have the financial resources to cover all of our social programs, the biggest being healthcare. Our current governmental programs do not have the money to pay for all of the new devices and procedures. They are trying to make healthcare less judgment oriented and more algorithmic.

With a limited pool of money, it is impossible for our government to support all social programs. Interventional cardiology and electrophysiology will most likely be affected as a result.

As a group, we have to be ahead of the curve and try to practice good medicine (guideline based), and do what is right for patients. However, without Tort reform, it will be difficult for doctors to cut back on tests and procedures (i.e., cut the cost of defensive medicine).

Weiner and the like are only distractions from the real problems. It will take all of our attention and energy to fix the real problems in the economy and healthcare.

Todd J. Cohen, MD, FACC, FHRS is the Emeritus Editor-in-Chief of EP Lab Digest, author of Practical Electrophysiology, and author of the recently published Johns Hopkins Health Book entitled "A Patient's Guide to Heart Rhythm Problems."

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