tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924073396827403351.post3204400280020179842..comments2024-02-29T01:18:34.298-08:00Comments on Adventures in Modern Life: TAKE YOUR SEATSBen Mattlinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03216939366830065725noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8924073396827403351.post-91941746391187152242014-02-22T15:27:46.598-08:002014-02-22T15:27:46.598-08:00There was a time when there were clinicians whose ...There was a time when there were clinicians whose role involved bridging the gap you describe: both cultivating a comprehensive and impartial expertise in the range of products available, and understanding and respecting the lived experience of the person choosing a product, so as to serve as a resource to help people make the best possible choices. Certainly some of these clinicians were better and more respectful of their clients than others, but at least they were positioned to advocate rather than exploit. Somewhere along the line, the folks in charge of health care "reform" decided that professionals like that were unnecessary "middlemen." Now consumers have to deal directly either with product-reps who are paid to push particular product lines, or with vendor-reps who are guided more by insurance formularies than by functional problem-solving. Corporate interests (not coincidentally one and the same with the aforementioned "reformers") not only tie the hands of the individual consumer, but also sabotage the evolution of better and more cost-effective products. Which is to say, yes, it is absolutely a microcosm of the totally-sold-out health care system in general.Lynnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03274978908688510739noreply@blogger.com