In the book, The People’s Hospital, Dr. Ricardo Nuila takes a look at our broken medical system, focusing on the challenges and inequities in the health insurance world. He focuses on six case histories of people whose treatment has been affected by their income, immigration status, or twists in state Medicaid law. Dr. Nuila gained permission to tell their histories. He concentrates on their medical histories but embroiders their stories with their personalities and beliefs. Woven into their narratives is a picture of their realities as they try to survive with no insurance.
Dr. Nuila uses Ben Taub, the county hospital where he serves in Houston, Texas, as an example of what could be done if people became more important than payments. A second-generation doctor himself, he is realistic about real costs even while advocating empathy for patients under his care and the many in our country who are in similar struggles because of inadequate or no insurance and frustration with the paperwork and red tape now involved in maintaining good health.
The six stories portray real people for whom the reader develops empathy even while understanding they are representative of multitudes of others. Underlying these portrayals is Dr. Nuila’s premise that we don’t need to spend more on health care, we need to spend our money better.
This book is not an easy read and has no “happily ever after” ending. It is thought provoking and will resonate with everyone who has had to wait for permission from an insurance carrier or been surprised by a bill that “was not covered by your insurance.” The basic setting and stories could be repeated in any city in the country. His thoughts about how to solve the problems are worth a look.