What we could use is a Department of Consolidation. Government has gotten so large that many things are repeated, duplicated and one thing contradicting another. For example, we pay farmers to plow under crops so we can keep the market supply under control. Then we pay other countries to supply wheat and rice to starving countries. Why not ship the food instead of plowing it under?
We give starving families in our country 'Food Stamps' and let them use those to buy junk, disease causing 'food substitutes' in mass. Luckily, we are later responsible for paying for their poor health through Medicaid and Medicare.
We are presently paying millions of people 'UN-employment wages' while concurrently paying more and more contractors to repair infrastructures. Why not use those 'unemployed workers' to save tax dollars on other projects?
And, of course, we sacrifice our young men and women in uniform (and many not in uniform) to protect the monstrous crop of poppy growers in Afghanistan. Then we spend an enormous budget on DEA to stop the sale and distribution of heroin from Afghanistan.
I am surely just touching the surface of the many areas where a working department could streamline and reduce spending in government. Many approaches would create better health, ease stresses on the environment, promote jobs, lower taxes, bring peace, lessen the pork in legislation, etc. Smaller government is what many are asking for, so just another Department is not the point. It has to be a Department with teeth who can slash and cut and redistribute funds.
I believe in our country and the power of the people to use what I always heard growing up; good old Yankee ingenuity.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Health Care Reform
What is the reason we need to reform health care?
Most agree that the main reason is the poor success of our system. Second is the high and spiraling cost of paying for it.
To solve these issues, who decided the way to fix the problem is to give everyone insurance? This is just more of a bad thing.
Don't get me wrong. I am all for everyone having insurance. In fact, I believe it is one of our inalienable rights, in fact, the first one! Life. Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are important freedoms, but I believe the right to Live is the highest priority. Health Care is about assisting citizens in health services. Just think what people would do if we were not guaranteed electrical power. What about water? Garbage collection? We want and expect our governments to regulate and ensure delivery of these services. Health Care should be monitored, regulated and ensured also.
So, my concern is not the idea of insurance coverage. It is that we failed to address the main reason; poor success of our system. Our country spends more per capita on 'health care' than any country. We buy more drugs everyday than most countries in a year. And yet we are far behind in average life span, infant mortality, and most measures of health. We far exceed other countries based on percentage of disabilities, cancers, surgeries, obesity and other indicators of poor health.
We need reform alright, but it is to the paradigm for what is entailed in Health Care. Why is simple Nutrition not taught in Medical Schools? Why do 'medical journals' shy away from research articles about herbs, vitamins and alternative health care? Why is more money spent on drug research when 1000 year-old approaches that are still disputed for lack of research? (Remember, drug production is really only 40 to 60 years old!)
I hope Phase 2 of the Health Care Reform involves looking for health, reducing costs and investing in prevention approaches. Number one on the list is diet and nutrition. For example, 'Food Stamps' should only cover fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and meats. That would lessen obesity, feed the hungry, lessen chronic diseases and there cost to Medicaid, aid farmers, etc.
It is not about the high cost of malpractice insurance. The reason that is so high is because the approaches harm, mame and kill people. The value of a life is immeasurable. If doctors want to do radical treatments, like unproven drugs or risky surgeries, than they should take the risk and be liable. If you don't want to be liable, then you must not have faith in what you intend to do! The most dangerous approaches pay the highest malpractice because they have a high likelihood of harming. Try other approaches, like chiropractic, who pay lower malpractice premiums than auto insurance premiums. Safety in the free market insurance game means lower premiums. The government should be watching out for the individual in this way and should steer the public towards safer, more effective approaches.
Most agree that the main reason is the poor success of our system. Second is the high and spiraling cost of paying for it.
To solve these issues, who decided the way to fix the problem is to give everyone insurance? This is just more of a bad thing.
Don't get me wrong. I am all for everyone having insurance. In fact, I believe it is one of our inalienable rights, in fact, the first one! Life. Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness are important freedoms, but I believe the right to Live is the highest priority. Health Care is about assisting citizens in health services. Just think what people would do if we were not guaranteed electrical power. What about water? Garbage collection? We want and expect our governments to regulate and ensure delivery of these services. Health Care should be monitored, regulated and ensured also.
So, my concern is not the idea of insurance coverage. It is that we failed to address the main reason; poor success of our system. Our country spends more per capita on 'health care' than any country. We buy more drugs everyday than most countries in a year. And yet we are far behind in average life span, infant mortality, and most measures of health. We far exceed other countries based on percentage of disabilities, cancers, surgeries, obesity and other indicators of poor health.
We need reform alright, but it is to the paradigm for what is entailed in Health Care. Why is simple Nutrition not taught in Medical Schools? Why do 'medical journals' shy away from research articles about herbs, vitamins and alternative health care? Why is more money spent on drug research when 1000 year-old approaches that are still disputed for lack of research? (Remember, drug production is really only 40 to 60 years old!)
I hope Phase 2 of the Health Care Reform involves looking for health, reducing costs and investing in prevention approaches. Number one on the list is diet and nutrition. For example, 'Food Stamps' should only cover fresh fruits, vegetables, fish and meats. That would lessen obesity, feed the hungry, lessen chronic diseases and there cost to Medicaid, aid farmers, etc.
It is not about the high cost of malpractice insurance. The reason that is so high is because the approaches harm, mame and kill people. The value of a life is immeasurable. If doctors want to do radical treatments, like unproven drugs or risky surgeries, than they should take the risk and be liable. If you don't want to be liable, then you must not have faith in what you intend to do! The most dangerous approaches pay the highest malpractice because they have a high likelihood of harming. Try other approaches, like chiropractic, who pay lower malpractice premiums than auto insurance premiums. Safety in the free market insurance game means lower premiums. The government should be watching out for the individual in this way and should steer the public towards safer, more effective approaches.
Monday, November 2, 2009
May I bring to your attention,
Peace and love are all we lack for a perfect world. I will try to help in any way I can. First, I must help myself to express P&L every day of my life. Maybe in so doing, I can help you to express more P&L and so on and so on. So let us begin a new journey to perfect the world. (By the way, it is helpful if we laugh in the process.)
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