Thomas on Charity and Rights

Retired surgeon Dr. David Thomas has posted some thoughts on charity, medical care, and rights on his blog. The following is an excerpt from his post, "Can There Be A Right to Medical Care?":

...When I was in medical school, there was no insurance. People got care. Doctors charged and received payment with a direct doctor-patient relationship that was mutually sustainable and satisfactory, medically and financially. Poor people received care through the dedication and compassion of the doctor and community.

I was taught, "Save the widow the farm." That is, when Farmer Joe comes in with a lung cancer, one might encourage him to undergo extensive, expensive surgery that would require that the farm be mortgaged. However, the results were dismal. After Joe’s death, the widow frequently was unable to pay the mortgage and lost the farm.

Instead, one could explain the situation with compassion and frankness and Farmer Joe and his wife, using the same frugality and value system by which they had otherwise lived, would accept the reality of the situation, a reality that bespoke a meager chance of benefit that was not appropriately affordable. Joe's plight would be alleviated by all palliative means medicine had to offer. This rational, realistic decision was the norm. Indulgence in futile care to the point of threatening the whole system was not a problem.

Some patients would be wealthy, and with a full understanding, decide to take the slim chance of cure, paying for their treatment out of pocket, getting the "best money could buy." Frequently, they would leave money in their will to help the hospital meet the expenses of the care given to the poor.

Patients who received charity care knew that the doctor was doing it without pay, out of compassion. That had an added healing effect on the illness and the patient had the ennobling experience of gratitude. The physician sensed fulfillment of the underlying reasons that called him to an honorable, healing profession, a reward greater than money. Thus, the patient and the physician derived a mutual benefit.

The intrusion of government as the provider for the poor came at a great price. The politician arrogated the role of being the source of care. He gave the poor a warrant for medical care through Medicaid and instilled an attitude in the patient of having a right to it. This deprived the patient of any sense of being a recipient of personal compassion and the physician of feeling appreciated. The patient was told that the medical bill had been paid by the government. The physician actually received a pittance on the bill. So the mutual benefit of patient gratitude and physician fulfillment was replaced by the patient feeling entitlement and the physician feeling exploited.

Dr. Thomas has written much more, and I may post additional excerpts in the future. Here's the link to the whole piece.