What do you think about your health care?

 Health Care, Politics  No Responses »
May 242012
 

If you’re one of the 27% of Americans defined as having had a serious illness, medical condition, injury, or disability requiring a lot of medical care, or who had been hospitalized overnight in the past 12 months, you probably don’t think very highly of it.

In a poll conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, NPR, and Harvard School of Public Health, of those 27% of Americans

…… more than 40 percent say that the cost of their medical care over the last 12 months has caused a “very serious” (20%) or “somewhat serious” (23%) problem for their or their family’s finances. …………One in six sick Americans say that there was a time in the past 12 months when they could not get the medical care they needed (17%). Among the sick Americans who could not receive care, 52 percent report that it was because they could not afford the needed care, and 24 percent say it was because their insurers would not pay for it. Lastly, about one in ten sick Americans (11%) report being turned away by a doctor or hospital for financial or insurance reasons at some time during the past 12 months when they tried to receive care.

Not only that, but many of those respondents also complained of quality of care issues,

  • ……..about one in eight sick Americans believe they were given the wrong diagnosis, treatment, or test (13%).
  • About a quarter of sick Americans say that their condition was not well-managed (26%).
  • A quarter of sick Americans report that a doctor, nurse, or other health professional did not provide all the needed information about their treatment or prescriptions (25%) – or they had to see multiple medical professionals, and no single doctor understood or kept track of all the different aspects of their medical issues and treatments (23%).
  • Three in 10 hospitalized Americans say there was poor communication among the doctors, nurses and other health care professionals involved in their care (30%).
  • About one in six sick Americans believe they did not get the tests they thought they needed (18%) [I find that hard to believe], while 15 percent of sick Americans surveyed were tested or treated for something they believed to be unnecessary. [That I can easily believe.]
  • Nearly three-quarters of sick Americans say they want their doctor to spend time with them discussing other, broader health issues that might affect their long-term health (72%), as opposed to just talking about their specific medical problem (21%). [Like that's ever going to happen, in a time of continually reducing reimbursements!]

Shocked! You should be, but then again, maybe not. I wasn’t. For-profit health care has never been about the patient. It’s only about profit, and how to maximize it.

Someday we [the US] will come to that realization, as those numbers increase [and they surely will], but how bad do the numbers have to get, and how many people have to die, or suffer needlessly before we do something about it?

Is it all down hill from here?

 Life, Philosophy, Politics  No Responses »
May 172012
 

So far, this has been a lousy year.

It started out with a cold in January, putting me out of commission for 10 days, followed by another cold in April, putting me out for another 10 days, and as if that wasn’t enough, I needed (a slightly more than expected) minor surgery this past week which has now left me with a fear of excess exposure to the sun.

On top of all that my mind has just been awash with so many other things as well, e.g. my wife, my spleen, health care, politics, etc. I can’t seem to keep anything straight in my mind. My thoughts are all a jumble, and I have difficulty articulating them, even during conversations on things I’m passionate about. Then I spend all my time afterwards fretting over what I should have, but didn’t say at the time.

I thought retiring would be a lot more relaxing. No more dealing with the daily routine of work, and all the hassles that went along with it. Instead, I could just do whatever I wanted, whenever I chose to do it. But all a year and a half of retirement has really done, is to swap one routine for another, and give me more time to think about all the things I’d really rather not think about.

You can’t legislate morality!

 Health Care, Philosophy, Politics  3 Responses »
Apr 132012
 

You’d think yesterday’s death of a police chief, 8 days from retirement in New Hampshire, would finally shock everyone to that reality [although I doubt it], and realize what a colossal waste of lives and resources the war on drugs has been for this country.

Resources that would be better spent insuring everyone in this country had easy access to high quality, reasonably priced health care.

We learned it in 1933, when congress finally repealed the 18th amendment which tried to prohibit the sale and use of alcohol, but did nothing more than lead to a near complete breakdown of law and authority, and expand the influence of organized crime, that to this very day still wreaks havoc and generates corruption at all levels of society.

So why can’t we learn it now? It’s still taught in school isn’t it? Why after 40+ years haven’t we figured out what a colossal waste of valuable resources and lives the war on drugs has been. While the breakdown of law and authority has not reached the levels encountered during prohibition, there is no mistaking the lives it has cost, nor the magnitude and scope of the influence spawned by the world wide cartels controlling the drug trade.

As long as the demand exists for drugs, which have been in existence since the beginning of time, there will always be those willing to fulfill that demand. They’re called entrepreneurs. Others prefer the term criminal, but whatever you want to call them, they’re simply businessmen, fulfilling a need of society.

I would think at least Republicans would be applauding these job creators, not trying to stifle them!

A few quick thoughts

 My MCL, Philosophy, Politics  4 Responses »
Mar 302012
 

I had a few moments, so I thought I’d share a few thoughts that were on my mind this morning (for whatever reason), as I contemplated the ten years since my diagnosis with MCL.

How is it possible I’ve managed to survive all this time without ever having received any treatment, and so many others have not? Am I so unique? Are there others who have gone as long or longer? I sure would like to know.

Everybody has good moments and bad moments, but it’s the ability to learn from those bad moments, and not dwell on them, that separates greatness from not so great.

And finally, with all the talk about the Supreme Courts deliberations over the Affordable Care Act (AKA Obamacare), I was wondering. Why is it unconstitutional to force people to purchase health insurance, yet not unconstitutional to force health care providers to provide free health care to individuals in cases of emergency (reference the EMTALA)? Is it because emergency room care isn’t health care, as someone recently told me?

Sorry! But you should all should know by now I can’t resist the occasional political rant. I just find that not as easy to walk away from as I would hope. :)

 

 Posted by at 7:04 am  Tagged with:

The law of supply and demand

 Politics  3 Responses »
Mar 262012
 

For anyone who is of the misguided belief the US government has any more control over gasoline and oil prices than they have over other commodities, allow me to introduce you to the little known concept of supply and demand.

It sort of goes like this. When demand exceeds supply, prices go up, and companies increase production to fill the void. When the opposite is true, and supply exceeds demand, prices fall, and companies cut back on production.

Eventually a point of equilibrium is reached, and prices stabilize. It’s a simple concept, and it’s what free market economics is based upon. It’s what drives businesses to expand or contract, to invest or divest.

So why is it so many people have a hard time grasping that concept when it comes to energy prices? What makes people think we can just tell large, independent, global, multinational corporations, such as Exxon-Mobil, BP etc. to drill for more oil in the US (without considering supply/demand dynamics), and they will immediately cede to our requests? Do they think these large, independent, global, multinational corporations will do that out of the goodness of their hearts?

Get real! Oil is a global commodity, controlled by the large, independent, global, multinational corporations. It’s shipped all over the world. Transferred from country to country. Oil from from Saudi Arabia, and other middle eastern countries is shipped to North America, and in turn, oil produced in the US is shipped to China, Japan, and all points west to fill demand. The concerns of the US do not trump those of the rest of the world.

Even if we opened up every available inch of land to drilling, and required the large, global, independent, multinational corporations to increase drilling in the US [forget free markets], with the intent of reducing our dependency on foreign oil, don’t be of the illusion that will lead to an over supply, and a decrease in the price of oil in the US. The greater likelihood is prices will increase as a result, because supply will have to be reduced elsewhere (to keep supply and demand in equilibrium), and it’s more difficult and expensive to produce oil in the US.

And how do you suppose those countries, where oil production would have to be cut back, would react to such an independent action by the US? Countries were, for many, oil production is their sole source of revenue.

And besides, why would we want that? Why would the population of the US want the increased pollution, and lower quality of life, associated with expanded oil production, when there are far cheaper, and more plentiful alternatives available?

It makes no sense to me, but who am I to tell the people of Texas, Oklahoma, the Gulf coast, etc. not to destroy their environments and quality of life, in the misguided attempt to save a few bucks.

No, our best interests continue to lie in reducing our dependency on fossil fuels altogether, regardless of where they come from, and switch to renewable energy sources.

Not only will it be good for the environment, but it will also be good for the US economy, not to mention reducing our dependency on countries [and corporations] that don’t have our best interests at heart.

To smartphone or not to smartphone?

 Life, Philosophy, Politics  6 Responses »
Dec 022011
 

Two years ago, when I got my DroidX, I was all excited. The thought of being able to log on to the internet where ever I was, having access to GPS, my Kindle books, a camera etc. all in one convenient, compact device, seemed like a good idea, maybe even necessary and important.

But now I’m not so sure.

When I think about it, is it really worth $30 per month ($60 if you add in my wife’s Droid), to have access to the internet everywhere, especially when you consider I’m already spending $40/month for wifi access at home? I hardly ever use it, except when I am at home, and I’m too lazy to go get my laptop to check whatever it is I feel is so necessary to check. And why do I need a Kindle or camera on the phone, neither of which is a good substitute for the real thing? The GPS may be about the only thing that is a good idea, but is it worth $30/month, considering how little I use it?

We have become slaves to technology. We’ve been brain washed into thinking we need to stay connected every hour of every day. Some of us would rather spend hours in front of our computers discussing whatever, with strangers around the country and the world, who we’ve never met [GETTING FAT!], while others sit in front of the TV [GETTING FAT!] being bombarded with reality shows and political diatribes, designed to distort and confuse reality, and hide what is actually happening in our own backyards.

We use technology as baby sitters for our kids [who are GETTING FAT], when their time would be better spent outside playing a pick up game of baseball or basketball, or simply engaging their friends in conversation face to face, instead of texting on their smartphones.

I’m sure some people may find it useful, mostly salesmen and the like, but for me, and the vast majority of other people, it’s just plain stupid, not to mention non productive and a waste of money, and I think it’s time I got rid of my smart phone.

There’s no reason why a good old fashion [cell] phone can’t suffice for most of us. I think it’s time we started communicating more face to face, like we use to, instead of hiding behind our computers and smart phones. We certainly were a lot more civil to each other when we did.

Plus I can think of a lot better uses for that $30/month ($60 if I can convince Edie of the same), like a good bottle of wine.

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