Taking health care personally

I saw my orthopedist yesterday about an ongoing problem - one of those things that will have to be dealt with surgically eventually. The last time I saw him was last December and normally I wouldn’t have seen him again for a year but I took a nasty fall and things didn’t feel quite right. Whether because of the fall or just due to the natural progression of things, we're at the point where he thinks we should do the surgery so we had our usual talk about it. In the seven months since we last spoke two new procedures have proven to be effective - one addressing the problem itself, one addressing pain management.

As I listened to him explain the procedures, I had three thoughts. First, my chances of doing well after surgery have increased. Second, this is why medical care is getting more and more expensive. And, third, I’m afraid this type of improvement will be far less likely if the government runs health care.