Paramedics and EMTs are trained to deal with specific (and usually fairly limited) situations. They are the best qualified to get patients to the hospital in as good as shape as they were found--if not better. There's a big difference between the job of a paramedic and a doctor. Their skills are geared more toward pre-hospital care. And often they are under the direction of a doctor (who is more useful back at the hospital, with other patients)
It's easy to think that because you can become a paramedic in a short amount of time, that people could also become doctors in such a short amount of time--but doctors and paramedics aren't remotely the same thing. Just like Doctors and nurses aren't the same thing.
Doctors require years of education for a very good reason--the amount of knowledge they need is much higher. And getting it wrong, can be costly. Relegating the poor to doctors with limited training only opens the floodgates for more problems. And that's exactly what you are doing with your tier system. Because poor people wouldn't be able to see a tier 5 doctor with the money they have. They'd be relegated to a tier 1 or 2 doctor because it's what they can afford. You're essentially making them choose between money, and their health. And when faced with a choice of lower quality vs going into heavy debt, they have to choose lower quality because going into too much debt could destroy them. (And on some level I think you realize this given your argument that your friends can't afford healthcare--which means they'd be going to Tier 1 doctors--or doctors with extremely limited experience)
Even doctors with a LOT of experience can make mistakes. As we see today. I know my daughter was misdiagnosed once by our family doctor. Had my mother (who's also a doctor--an internist to be specific) not recommended me to take her to another doctor, I might not have. The other doctor diagnosed her right, and she was able to get better. Doctors with 2 years of experience are going to be more likely to make mistakes than doctors with more experience. That much should be obvious to anyone. So you'd essentially be sending your friends, who can't afford healthcare, to doctors more likely to make mistakes simply because they can't afford it.
What we need is Single Payer Healthcare. Which isn't without it's flaws, but those are flaws that can be addressed. Grants for those who enter the field of medicine, among other ideas. Single Payer also eliminates the profit-motive, which means that you save the millions of dollars in profit these companies are making. It also cuts out the middle man in negotiating with doctors, meaning everyone would be able to see every doctor. Single Payer is a system that needs worked on, and it's the best way to supply healthcare to everyone in a way that is both equitable, and fair.
It's easy to think that because you can become a paramedic in a short amount of time, that people could also become doctors in such a short amount of time--but doctors and paramedics aren't remotely the same thing. Just like Doctors and nurses aren't the same thing.
Doctors require years of education for a very good reason--the amount of knowledge they need is much higher. And getting it wrong, can be costly. Relegating the poor to doctors with limited training only opens the floodgates for more problems. And that's exactly what you are doing with your tier system. Because poor people wouldn't be able to see a tier 5 doctor with the money they have. They'd be relegated to a tier 1 or 2 doctor because it's what they can afford. You're essentially making them choose between money, and their health. And when faced with a choice of lower quality vs going into heavy debt, they have to choose lower quality because going into too much debt could destroy them. (And on some level I think you realize this given your argument that your friends can't afford healthcare--which means they'd be going to Tier 1 doctors--or doctors with extremely limited experience)
Even doctors with a LOT of experience can make mistakes. As we see today. I know my daughter was misdiagnosed once by our family doctor. Had my mother (who's also a doctor--an internist to be specific) not recommended me to take her to another doctor, I might not have. The other doctor diagnosed her right, and she was able to get better. Doctors with 2 years of experience are going to be more likely to make mistakes than doctors with more experience. That much should be obvious to anyone. So you'd essentially be sending your friends, who can't afford healthcare, to doctors more likely to make mistakes simply because they can't afford it.
What we need is Single Payer Healthcare. Which isn't without it's flaws, but those are flaws that can be addressed. Grants for those who enter the field of medicine, among other ideas. Single Payer also eliminates the profit-motive, which means that you save the millions of dollars in profit these companies are making. It also cuts out the middle man in negotiating with doctors, meaning everyone would be able to see every doctor. Single Payer is a system that needs worked on, and it's the best way to supply healthcare to everyone in a way that is both equitable, and fair.
The whole tone of Church teaching in regard to woman is, to the last degree, contemptuous and degrading. - Elizabeth Cady Stanton
