Louise Brown was an accountant with a 25-year history
of diabetes. Her physician taught her to monitor her glucose
at home, and her nutritionist helped her follow a
diabetic diet. Her diabetes was brought under good control.
Diabetic retinopathy was discovered at yearly eye
examinations, and periodic laser treatments of her retina
prevented loss of vision. Ms. Brown lived to the age of 83,
a success story of the US health care system.
Angela Martini grew up in an inner-city housing project,
never had a chance for a good education, became
pregnant as a teenager, and has been on public assistance
while caring for her four children. Her Medicaid coverage
allows her to see her family physician for yearly physical
examinations. A breast examination located a suspicious
lesion, which was found to be cancer on biopsy. She was
referred to a surgical breast specialist, underwent a mastectomy,
was treated with tamoxifen, and has been
healthy for the past 15 years.
For people with private or public insurance who have
access to health care services, the melding of high-quality
primary and preventive care with appropriate specialty
treatment can produce the best medical care in the
world. The United States is blessed with thousands of
well-trained physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other
health caregivers who compassionately provide up-todate
medical attention to patients who seek their assistance.
This is the face of the health care system in which
we can take pride. Success stories, however, are on