The Purposes of a Healthcare Program

1) The fundamental purpose of a healthcare program is to promote longevity of human  life.   The Wall Street Journal. I understand, has reported that for the US male life expectany is 75; female, close to 80.  A healthcare program must address itself to life threatening conditions when they occur in patients.  On the radio the other day, it was said that some older women could not obtain treatment for a life threatening condition because they could not afford the co-pay.  We ought to expect better; and they should have demanded better, if true.

2) Another purpose is to provide remedy and treatment to enable its patients to functon as much as possible on their own.  In some cases, the healthcare program provides an artificial limb or an electric wheelchair, allowing patients who otherwise would find it difficult, if not impossible, to get around.

3)  Yet another purpose is to provide restorative "cures" so as to bring back its patients to normal look and action.  Cosmestic surgery would fall in this category; even removing non-threatening cancerous growths.  In short, restoring the patient's health to the point that he can do the things he's accustomed to doing.

I've had discussions with members of the Catholic Worker organization in L.A. about this thrid purpose.  They encourage their people, if I understand their position, to withstand a certain amount of pain, certainly when the poatients can still function normally though experiencing pain.  I am intrigued by the hero of  Flynn's novel Consent to Kill. who is described as learning to cope with his manifold personal injuries and resultant pain for long periods of time.  I think Americans tend to rely on pills and short-lived remedies too much, so as to run away from what I believe to be part of the human condition.

Should a public healthcare system pay for providing such remedies and prescriptive devices to meet this purpose?  I think not in many instances of applying remedies.

Note that patients who subject their bodies to restorative treatments over time may find subsequently that their bodies are less capable of fighting more serious physical maladies.
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