HD Blog

There is concern in the medical community about how John Edwards has made his millions - by suing the medical industry. There are some who believe that lawsuits are driving up the cost of medicine. I tend to believe there is some truth to that, but the waters are a bit murky here. It really is hard to say just how much of an effect this is really having.

The only area that this could really be a concern for the Huntington's Disease community is the enormous malpractice fees that neurologists who do surgeries must pay. This has driven some doctors out of the field.

A quick glance to John Kerry's website shows that he's since significantly beefed up his information on health care. Once in May, and again in June, Kerry had attempted to raise the issue of health care in the campain. Both times the information got drowned out by world events.

I expect we'll see another strong push on health care later this summer or fall. The economy has been growing for over a year now and some economists are saying that this might be the strongest year economically in the last twenty. The Iraq situation appears to be improving (but that seems to change from day-to-day). If Iraq does continue to improve, that will have taken Kerry's two biggest 'talking points' leaving him with having to find a new drum to beat. Health care could very well be one of his big 'points'.

A national discussion on health care would be a good thing. As long as it doesn't slip into just ways to make it cheaper. All the "make health care cheaper" plans I've seen so far would hurt medical research. This is the last thing we need as treatments and cures for Huntington's Disease can now be seen on the horizon. We need research, we need better care, and we need to end genetic discrimination practices.

In the near future I'll take another look at the two candidates positions in relation to the needs of the Huntington's Community. Let's hope the health care debate heats up.