The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Opinion
6 — Wednesday, June 1, 2022
BRANDON COWIT
Managing Editor
Stanford Lipsey Student Publications Building
420 Maynard St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
tothedaily@michigandaily.com
Edited and managed by students at the University of Michigan since 1890.
VANESSA KIEFER
Editor in Chief
A
fter spending seven hours
in the C.S. Mott Children’s
Hospital emergency room,
I am embarrassed on the University
of Michigan’s behalf to say that I never
once saw a doctor or nurse — only the
stark walls of the waiting room and
the chaos of sick child after sick child
passing by. This was the second time
I had this experience at Mott’s within
about a month and a half, and based on
various Google Maps reviews of Mott’s
E.R., it seems this inconvenience is
relatively common.
I left for home in the middle of the
night, feeling defeated by the wait time
and still struggling with the pressing
health problems that I had originally
come to the hospital for. The following
day, I tried to make an appointment to
see an internist, but, much to my dismay,
there was no availability for me in a
timely manner. It felt as though I had
reached a dead end.
Beyond my complaining, the idea
I’m building up to is that if you want
immediate medical care in the United
States, then you have to be grasping
at your throat with your airway
moments away from closing or have
blood streaming out of your body at an
alarming rate.
Am I being a bit hyperbolic?
Probably, yes, but my point still stands
that healthcare in the United States is
known to be state of the art, astounding
or even unparalleled. Despite that,
the unfortunate bottom line is as
follows: U.S. healthcare is expensive,
inaccessible, corrupt and ridden with
racial disparities. To make matters
worse, Michigan Medicine is doing
close to nothing to rectify that problem.
Now, I know that is a lot of
information to break down. To begin
to understand our healthcare system,
we must start with its most basic
structure. The United States does
not have universal healthcare and is
instead largely based on private health
insurance or public health coverage
such as Medicare and Medicaid.
Because of this, the approximately 10%
of U.S. citizens who are uninsured face
an increased likelihood of death or
chronic illness from certain conditions.
In summary, healthcare in the U.S. is
more of a privilege than a right.
Satisfying the need for private health
insurance comes at a great cost since
insurance runs on a for-profit system.
Even
with
insurance,
healthcare
is still outrageously expensive as
insurance simply does not and cannot
cover everything. Additionally, health
services become expensive since we pay
per service. This opens a gateway for
corruption, whereby unnecessary tests
are performed in order to make more
profits.
The Affordable Care Act made
healthcare slightly more affordable
to Americans and therefore slightly
more accessible. Despite this increase
in accessibility, it is still difficult to get
healthcare in a timely manner, and
many doctors are not even accepting
new patients.
To further outline the intersection of
social issues with healthcare, people of
Color, people with a lower income and
women have a disproportionately lower
ability to receive optimal healthcare
than others. For example, a study
involving 400 hospitals in the United
States showed that Black patients with
heart diseases were more likely to
receive older and cheaper care, as well
as to be discharged from the hospital
earlier, even when not medically
advisable, than white patients.
One of our healthcare system’s most
saddening flaws is the issue of sexual
abuse by medical professionals, to
which our University is no stranger. No
one should experience these violations
at all. It is disappointing and disturbing
to know this happens to those who are
simply seeking the medical help they
need.
As a note to the University directly:
you first failed your students and staff
alike by allowing medical practitioners
to sexually assault patients. Your
response to that injustice, the $490
million Dr. Robert Anderson settlement,
was only a monetary “solution,” which
was paired with a lack of action,
many half-hearted apologies and an
eager effort for individuals such as Bo
Schembechler and the administration
as a whole to sweep the situation under
the rug.
Excuse my lack of propriety, but
to be quite honest, these failures are
embarrassing
for
the
University,
misguided on the administration’s
part and blatantly disrespectful to the
victims and their families. Your inaction
directly allows the issue of sexual
misconduct by medical professionals to
persist.
Despite these failures, I do not
mean to exempt credit where credit
is deserved. Our University’s Medical
School has made ground-breaking
discoveries, accomplished revolutionary
medical advances and saved many lives,
as well as been ranked among the best
medical schools in the country. The
Michigan Model (of full disclosure
and open discussion when medical
care does not go as planned) is unique,
and also desirable from a bioethical
standpoint. On top of that, the Office for
Health Equity and Inclusion is helpful in
encouraging a culturally inclusive and
sensitive body of employees at Michigan
Medicine.
Given this progress, we must work to
excel in other areas as well. We should
foster and promote an environment
with
increased
accessibility,
a
welcoming staff with an expansive
knowledge base, a better system for
processing patients in terms of wait
times and frustration, an assurance that
all patients are being given equal care
no matter what their demographics are
and a zero-tolerance policy for sexual
misconduct. Our University can expand
upon the Michigan Model by including
values such as these in its foundation.
QUIN ZAPOLI
Editorial Page Editor
Ballot initiatives are our best bet
Read more at michigandaily.com
Our healthcare system is seriously broken
and Michigan Medicine is not helping
I
magine you are walking
down State Street on a
surprisingly
warm
and
sunny
spring
morning.
You
spot someone on the corner by
Starbucks with a clipboard and
pen. Immediately, you know what
comes next: “Are you a Michigan
registered voter? Do you support
the Fight for 15?”
Signature
gatherers,
also
called circulators, are individuals
who attempt to collect signatures
for ballot initiatives, referenda
or candidates running for office.
They are also impossible to avoid
at the University of Michigan.
I
have
been
approached
everywhere from South Quad
Residence Hall to North Quad
Residence Hall, State Street to
South University Avenue and
from the Central Campus Transit
Center to the Diag to sign for
this or that. Especially during
the warm parts of the winter
semester, and the summer as
well, signature gatherers are
everywhere and typically make
up a slight annoyance of most
students’ days.
Ballot
initiatives
are
the
primary petitions I see in Ann
Arbor, and it seems like there is
always some new or different
initiative to sign for, from a
$15 minimum wage to better
legislation on voting procedures.
While these petitions may seem
annoying and irritating, ballot
initiatives could change our lives
for the better.
Michigan is one of 26 states
that provide for ballot initiatives
and referenda, allowing citizens
to
propose
both
laws
and
constitutional
amendments
as
well as referenda on legislation.
A ballot initiative specifically is
a type of petition that can either
place legislation before the state
legislature (an indirect initiative)
or place it directly onto the ballot
for voters to decide (a direct
initiative).
These
initiatives
require a certain number, a
varying proportion of votes cast
in the last gubernatorial election,
of valid signatures by certain
deadlines to appear on the ballot.
Read more at michigandaily.com
A
s Vladimir Putin’s heavy
hand uses Russia’s power
over oil and natural gas as
a weapon against Europe and the
people of Ukraine, it’s impossible
not
to
wonder
how
we
can
mitigate the damages he’s causing.
Simultaneously, it’s a devastating
reminder of the freedom we so often
take for granted and a warning to
increase our energy independence
as a nation. There are many ways
we can achieve this goal, but one of
the best is to follow the lead of the
European Union and quicken our
transition to green and renewable
energies.
We’ve known it for a long time:
Our reliance on fossil fuels is a
national security risk. Volatile prices
mean that concerns over fossil fuel
access have been a primary driver
of foreign policy decisions. We’ve
seen it happen countless times —
most notably during the war in Iraq
— and it is being played out again
in Ukraine. Concerned by Russia’s
power over the oil and natural
gas market, the United States and
Europe have been quite reluctant
to impose the harshest, most recent
sanctions because doing so would
hurt their citizens’ pocketbooks.
We know how much decisions
like these can hurt, especially
with gas prices being historically
high. However, the solution to
this problem isn’t to drill more, as
well-funded oil and gas interest
groups have claimed. The best
long-term solution is to declare our
independence from the global oil
market and invest in American-
made clean energy. We need to
electrify our vehicles, appliances and
infrastructure and make America
fully energy independent. This will
save families thousands of dollars
a year, make our country more self-
sufficient and provide hundreds of
thousands of quality jobs here in
the Midwest. Already, over 600,000
Midwesterners are employed in
clean-energy professions, and they
make 25% more than the national
median wage.
Read more at michigandaily.com
Improve our national security;
step away from fossil fuels
ANNA TRUPIANO
Opinion Columnist
SAM SCHMITZ
Opinion Columnist
ALEC TIMMERMAN, BOB KRZE-
WINSKI & KEVIN SHILLING