Via Basel: A Physician’s Perspective on Healthcare

Medicare for All, universal health care, and similar proposals have become politically charged terms, often dividing people along ideological lines before a meaningful discussion can even begin. That polarization makes it harder to examine a much more basic question: How should a wealthy country provide essential health care to the people who live in it?

Medical Training in 1968

Of the many social issues I have written about, health care is the one on which I bring more than fifty years of firsthand experience as a physician in the United States. I have provided orthopedic care to tens of thousands of patients in outpatient and hospital settings. I have been a part of a large physician group and my own smaller one. I have dealt with a multitude of heath insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid or no insurance coverage. I have been on medical staff and administrative and quality control committees in three hospitals. I still take care of patients today in a faith based health clinic in Lawndale, Chicago that accepts all patients irrespective of their health coverage, background or immigration status. That experience has given me a firsthand view of the barriers patients face in obtaining even basic orthopedic care.  Over these decades instead of progress the situation has actually gotten worse. I hear complaints in this regard from insured and noninsured, from family and friends, acquaintances and strangers.

If there is anything universal about health care, it’s that the vast majority of the populace are dissatisfied with major aspects of the system, including both administrative and medical care.

In surgery 50 years later

As we approach the critical elections on November 3, major issues are at stake, including the survival of our democracy. However, as both a physician and a human being, the issue of providing basic health care including mental to everyone living in this materially wealthy country is at my core. We are the only western wealthy country that does not provide some basic medical care for all its citizens. I find it difficult to reconcile the enormous resources our country devotes to weapons and defense with our persistent inability to ensure that people can obtain basic medications and medical care. The moral and ethical dissonance astounds and infuriates me.

Here is my litmus test for any candidate: expanding current health coverage to include as many people as possible, as quickly as possible, must be a priority. I do not care what you name it—socialist, conservative, or radical. Furthermore, taking care of the environment is also a critical health issue; the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we consume, and the pollution affecting them, in addition to the stresses of climate change, are all inextricably linked to our health.

When you vote on November 3, make health care part of your litmus test. A system this consequential will not change unless voters demand that it does.

Medicare for All is not merely a slogan awaiting its first legislative text. Current federal versions already exist: H.R. 3069 and S. 1506 were introduced in the 119th Congress in April 2025. From Substack: “Egberto Off The Record” Sept. 12,2026

Basel Al-Aswad, father of EIL founder Christopher Al-Aswad, is a yogi trapped in an Orthopedic Surgeon’s body. His loves in life include reading, writing, hiking, enjoying nature, meditation, and spending time with his large Iraqi family; now, semi-retired, he is exploring new avenues in medicine, education, public speaking, teaching, and social engagement.