Letter From Dear Doctor

Issue 15 of Dear Doctor Magazine

Commentary: Healthcare, a right or a privilege?

“We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

There are so many parts that make up a magazine and contribute to publishing life, and so many contemporary issues that need, if not deserve both recognition and exploration. In this issue we usher in yet another aspect of Dear Doctor in the form of commentary. From time to time we will be inviting guest editors to provide insight on issues that are not only germane to oral and facial health, our primary focus, but also to the many issues that derive and emanate from them, even controversial issues that surround and encompass them. As parents we tell our kids, “If you don't have your health, you can't even begin to play the game (of life).” But is health a right or a privilege, is it even guaranteed by the Constitution?

Our first guest editor, Dr. Joseph Andresen, is a practicing physician and anesthesiologist. He has spent many hours of both his professional and personal time in the area of public health policy advocacy. He has participated in a healthcare reform panel and discussion over the past year, navigating, demystifying and making sense of the complicated and voluminous Health Reform Bill as it made its way through the U.S. Congress and into law.

But his perspective is somewhat unique, because he has experienced healthcare not only as a physician providing care, but also as a father of a child needing care, and as a patient himself. We believe strongly, that one does not know, nor can one really understand an issue until it is seen and understood from all sides. Dr. Andresen in that respect is somewhat unique.

More Or Less

He will give a brief overview of what the passage of the recent Comprehensive Health Reform Bill means to him, to you, to us all — and what might emanate or change in the 102nd Congress. An over-riding question for our times is, “Is this what you voted for? More or less?” We would love to hear your thoughts.

Sincerely,