I just finished reading Idaho Freedom Foundation head Wayne Hoffman’s proposed solution to the Medicaid expansion problem, and all we can say is you might as well be whistling Dixie while drowning in quicksand. We have written many times about how we need to change the way we look at healthcare in Idaho and in America if we are going to gain any headway in solving our health crisis. You can read our latest article on why Medicaid Expansion is not the Answer.
Why voluntary giving will not solve the problem
We live in one of the most generous states in the country and we see that by the amount of money collected for various organizations each and every year—the numbers are astounding. The problem with the Medicaid Gap population is there are no charities with the ability to handle the huge number of patients who would need to be serviced.
Just take a look at the Boise Rescue Mission which is responsible for keeping over 5,000 homeless people off the streets by giving them a place to eat and sleep. They are raising money all year long and it is never enough money to handle all of those in need. Who is going to take on the job of helping 78,000 sick people when we don’t even have enough doctors to serve the current Medicaid patients?
The bigger question should be where is the money required to run such a massive charitable program going to come from, as we are not talking about chump change? A huge sum would be necessary to maintain the current standards of care. Additionally, where are we going to find the physicians to service these people?
Why don’t we have enough Doctors to care for these patients?
One reason is that the doctors can’t afford the cost of medical malpractice insurance and the state will not give them any help in acquiring it. The other, larger problem is that Medicaid continues to reduce the amount they pay for the patients being served. Does anyone in the legislature or at the Freedom Foundation realize that we have over 400 doctors who have voluntarily retired because they can no longer afford to be in business?
We have written three articles in the last year on how to solve the healthcare problem in Idaho.
The answer to fixing our system lies in building a foundation for health care recipients in proper nutrition and exercise along with proper supplements so they can first regain their health and then maintain it. We also need to offer incentives for them to follow the program along with online communications as a constant reminder for them to pay attention to what they eat and how much exercise they need to do.
None of these things are going to happen under the current system because all we do is provide more prescriptions to these patients to fix their symptoms while doing nothing to address the root cause of their problems. Why is that you ask? Because the current allopathic system is built on dispensing pharmaceuticals instead of giving patients a proper diet and exercise program to follow.
If you haven’t read our previous articles on this subject, we suggest that you do so as you will see that we have done our homework and have offered a solution to the problem.
- Rebuilding our Healthcare System: A Better Solution – Part I
- Rebuilding Our Healthcare System: A Better Solution – Part II
- Will Integrative Medicine be the Future of Healthcare? Part III in a series (The Solution)
What are we doing to help solve this problem?
In August 2017, the publisher of Gem State Patriot News along with a group of local Naturopaths created a 501(c)(3) known as the National Integrative Health & Wellness Project Inc. Our purpose was to create free clinics around the Treasure Valley and eventually around the state to help patients who are not covered by medical insurance or qualified under Medicaid.
These clinics would teach patients how to regain their health through lifestyle changes using nutrition and exercise programs that are currently being used throughout the country. We have a team of volunteer naturopathic, complementary, and alternative medicine practitioners who are ready to work, but we have been unable to find a facility to open our clinic. We did come close very close to opening up last month, but the owner of the clinic backed out at the last minute for personal reasons. It seems like everyone likes our idea, but no one wants to open their doors to give this a try including two churches that we have approached.
So I say to Mr. Hoffman that we have tried his charity route, and it is not a very smooth road and, in fact, there seems to be a lot of resistance to what could be a solution to the problem. We wanted to wait until we had the first clinic open before trying to raise any substantial funds in order to demonstrate how we would be working with patients, but every time we get close, we find another obstruction. We are not sure if this resistance is politically motivated because of our articles which many times criticize government officials for the ineffectiveness of their programs and the huge quantity of taxpayer dollars they waste on them.
Does anyone care?
We would like to think the answer is yes they do. So why can’t we find someone willing to offer us space to open our first clinic? It’s not like we haven’t made people aware of this project. We have promoted it on the Kevin Miller Show on 580 AM KIDO Talk Radio and on the Healthy Conclusions show, but we got absolutely no interest from anyone regarding helping us get this project off the ground. So I say to Mr. Hoffman, “We have an answer; can you help us with our solution?”
Calling all retired MD’s:
If there are any regular MD’s who have retired and would be interested in volunteering for our clinics, we would be more than happy to take their names and work with them in this exciting new venture into integrative medicine. We have not given up and we will continue to seek space and equipment for our first clinic.
If you would like more information on this project, you can go to nihwp.org to learn more. Any donations would be greatly appreciated and are fully tax deductible.
