North End Physician Weighs In On Election 2012

We’ve voted, heard the results and read all manner of news analysis on what all this means for the country.

People working in various professions look at things with their particular knowledge.

Dr. John Foster, medical director of North End Waterfront Health on Hanover Street, explained a few aspects of the election results insofar as health care.

The Massachusetts ballot question making it lawful for marijuana to be used for medical purposes passed.

What does this mean for the medical community?

Dr. Foster said he can’t really answer that question until the law is implemented and it’s clear how marijuana is made available to patients, what role doctors will play and if the marijuana will be limited to only some doctors with extra training or some other requirement from the Department of Public Health.

“There is a lot of new regulation to be developed for implementation and to protect against abuse, which seems to have happened in places like Los Angeles where there are hundreds of dispensaries as reported on the news recently,” Dr. Foster said.

Is Obama Care a positive thing?

Now that President Obama was elected to a second term, the so-called Obama Care is not longer in danger of being repealed.

That question as well is difficult to answer and particularly in a short statement.

Dr. Foster did provide an answer, however.

“Let's say that the idea of universal coverage, helped along by Mitt Romney ironically, is a good thing for patients and the profession,” he said.  “The provisions for coverage of young adults on their parents' policies have already been a benefit in this state.”

 Dr. Foster said Massachusetts has a lot of health regulation that has protected patients for a long time from some of the abuses reported in much of the rest of the country, so the impact of the ACA for patients elsewhere is larger. 

“As with Medicare that came into being in 1965, the ACA will be continuously refined, improved and adjusted as issues come up,” he said.  “Parts of the law that don't work well will be revised over time just as Medicare has done for almost 50 years.”