It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This

As Congress struggles with Health Care Reform, no one yet knows much about what it's final form will be, but we do know the promises that the President and Congressional leaders are making. They say they are going to lower the cost of health care, but raise the standard of care. They say they are going to expand health care coverage without creating shortages, but they don't say anything about where the new doctors and nurses will come from.

In trying to lower health care costs, clearly not much can be done to lower the cost of treating a cold. Take two asprine, take fluids, and get plenty of rest. Not much fat in there.
No, the cost savings will come from denying expensive treatments to people. No matter how that decison is made, that is where the dollar savings will come from. The argument that the insurance companies exersize that power now is riddiculious because were that the case, this argument would be moot. Clearly the insurance companies are paying for a lot of expensive treatment that is saving and improving a lot of people's lives. This is the only place significant costs savings will come from because this is where the big money is.

If it is true that the health plan will introduce 45 million new people into the 'system', then even a moron can see that we will need to add health care providers or we will have shortages. Who will the new 'providers' be? Well, it's damn sure most won't be doctors, and many won't even be speak good English. And, if you think you spend a lot of time in the waiting room now, get ready. You haven't seen anything yet.
Consider the implications of this. Because you'll be treated more often by 'para' professionals, we will see a lot more botched diagnoses. A good diagnostician is produced by years of study, and years of experience. The coming wave of 'para' professional has yet to finish High School. "Last week, I couldn't spell 'diagnostician' and this week I are one."
Finally, because the incentive is being taken out of medicine, the treatments we now have will be as good as it gets. Well, that's not entirely true. Research into favoured diseases will continue with federal money. AIDS research will continue, but work on ALS may wellgrind to a halt. Work on acnea treatments will continue, but work on new Altzhimers will likely be greatly diminished.

Sadly, for all the promises from all the politicians, the reality is that even with all our present health care problems, it just doesn't get any better than this. When they tell you otherwise, they are lying.

When in the course of human events....

Is it just me, or is anyone else concerned about the increasingly domineering role that government plays in our lives?

In just the last week, a 6 year old cub scout was suspended from school for bringing an eating utensil to school, and an Eagle Scout with aspirations of attending West Point was suspended for 20 days because the survival pack he kept locked in his car contained a pocket knife with a two inch blade. Mindless but enpowered bureaucrats blindly enforcing draconian regulations designed to keep our kids safe. Who protects our kids from the bureaucrats?

Last year, a kid we know pants another kid at school. To most, a school yard prank that deserved at least detention, and at most suspension. The Vice-Principal handling the matter was required by ' school board policy' to contact the school's Police Liason officer because the act constituted an 'assault' and resulted in 'indecent exposure'. Both the kids involved were 12 years old. The vice principal was following a regulation that could have resulted in a 12 year old boy being branded for life as a 'sex offender' because he pants another kid at school. Under that criteria, most of my friends from Jr.High were chronic sex offenders. Who protects our kids from the School Board?

Following nearly every incident involving a gun that makes the news, the immedate reaction among legislators (federal, state and local) is to loudly demand stricter gun control laws. Are these people oblivious to the fact that the criminals are already ignoring the umpteen zillion gun control laws that already exist? Do these morons think that the thugs will read the new law, and suddenly decide that this one new law is the straw that broke the camels back, and that they will now abandon their criminal ways? Nope. You and I will be the ones who obay the law, whose effect is to disarm those who would be victims. The irony is that the thugs, when caught, often get leniency due to a life of deprivation and hardship, and having grown up in a bad neighborhood. Watch what happens when you or I, people who have jobs, pay taxes and participate in the community, violate a gun law that we didn't even know existed. Who protects us from our government?

When in the course of human events.....