“Health Insurance Reform” is not communism

So when I arrived at work today, I noticed that there was something different going on. Apparently Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was having a town hall meeting to discuss “Health Insurance Reform – What’s In It for You?”

What I noticed first was a group of vehicles from the local news agencies congregating in a parking lot near the Ohio State University Medical Center Biomedical Research Tower. Everything seemed relatively peaceful, I noticed that there were a preponderance of supporters of the proposed health care reforms. Then again Columbus Ohio has traditionally been a rather liberal “blue” city. There were a few detractors, but everybody seemed to be getting along just fine. One thing I noticed was that the more liberal participants had professionally printed signs while the more conservative leaning participants had handwritten signs that were hard to read.

I did not attend the meeting (I do have a job you know…) but it did get me to think about health care reform.

One thing that I think is clear about this whole debate is that the current way that health care is funded in the United States just flat out doesn’t work. I work as a physician, and I deal with health care insurance companies on a daily basis. We see many patients that do not have insurance, not because they don’t want insurance but because it’s not available to them. They still get health care, it’s just that the hospital doesn’t get paid for it. In order for hospitals to function they need to have revenue. This isn’t about making tons of money or making shareholders happy, this is about providing basic services.

The right-wing-nut-job Faux-News commentators have painted this debate as a fight against “socialized medicine.” It seems that the point is being way missed here. It is irresponsible to play on the average persons fears of losing their freedom as a way to be categorically contrary to the current administration. The goal here is not, and has never been to take away peoples freedom. It is about providing access to care.

Again I want to restate the way health care is funded in the United States doesn’t work. It needs to be fixed. I have a strong suspicion that most of the people that are against health-care reform really don’t know what’s being proposed.

The changes currently being considered are health insurance reform. Pres. Obama is not gathering a Red Army to turn us all into Communists, although the frothing at the mouth right-wing-nut-jobs on Faux News would want you to think so. Here are some examples of what the health-insurance reform bill is proposing:

• No discrimination for pre-existing conditions
• No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles or co-pays
• No cost sharing for preventative care
• No dropping of coverage for the seriously ill
• No gender discrimination
• No annual or lifetime caps on coverage
• Extended coverage for young adults
• Guaranteed insurance renewal as long as the policyholder pays premiums in full

Note the stark absence of what Sarah Palin described as “Obama’s Death Panels.” The bill addresses end- of-life-decision counseling, not counseling to end lives. (Are you kidding me? BTW – isn’t it ironic that she is pro-death penalty?)  As far as I’m concerned Sarah Palin is not an authority on anything, however I think she does have a voice amongst the ultra-conservative. It is just flat out irresponsible to make up something as dramatic as “Obama’s Death Panel.” Unfortunately it may be a more persuasive argument to some because it is more emotional than the long boring 1000 page document of this bill. Good thing that a lot of conservatives are distancing themselves from her.

I hope that the debate on this very important issue, which affects us all, is held at a higher level. People are smarter than that and deserve better. The average American is capable of understanding the subtleties and nuances of our policies, and I think as a nation we are capable of compromise.

Compromise and human nature

I posted this on The Talking Reef Internet forum. In the discussion lounge, fellow reef keepers began to air their political gripes. This is what I had to offer. (Click Here to see the original thread.)

I came here to read about fish stuff, and ran smack into the middle of a full out political debate!

I look at it this way, things are never as good as they seem and things are never as bad as they seem. What seems absolutely 100% right to you seems 100% wrong to someone else. There is no point in arguing because we are all at some level entrenched in our belief systems. We fall prey to the logical fallacy of confirmation bias to substantiate our world view, and we tend to aggregate around people with similar views.

That’s fine, its the way we are wired. But that is why we need a political process to achieve progress through compromise.

That is also why we need things like reef tanks. We need neutral common ground on which to relate to each other. Otherwise we’d all be at each others throats!

Torture is torture…

I recently read a post from the Lux Libertas site that rubbed me the wrong way. Click here to read.

First off…How Horrific! We are fortunate to have people like Bud who are willing to sacrifice so much for our country.

But…He is basically making the argument that the torture that he endured was much more horrific than what the US is being accused of, therefore what we did is not torture. He also points out that the torture he experienced was ineffective in that he either didn’t talk, or he gave false or conflicting information.

The US ideal is equality and justice. This ideal is compromised when we defer to our basic instincts of revenge, and we close our minds to the diversity inherent in the world, and in our own country. By referring to President Obama as “our pretend President,” Bud is showing that he does not have loyalty to the country, but only to his own ideology. This is not patriotism, it is narcissism.

Torture doesn’t work, and is wrong no matter the severity or who is doing it.

Please Share This Post

Review of The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream by Barack Obama

I enjoyed reading this book. Barack Obama writes in a very down to Earth way. I thought he was surprisingly honest when talking about his family and the way he thinks and solves problems.

I realize that this was a memoir written as part of his presidential campaign. It is basically his platform, and he goes through the various issues that at the time he anticipated would be the agenda for his campaign.

He is a liberal Democrat. He is not apologetic about this, nor should he be. The Conservatives have so vilified the liberals over the last few decades that this label is often publicly regarded as slanderous. He sees a role for government in peoples lives. He advocates for laborers and government regulation. But he also advocates common sense and compromise.

I was slow to warm up to Barack Obama as he ran for President, and I still have my reservations. I do not agree with him on every issue. But I do respect his integrity, his intelligence; His willingness to admit and learn from mistakes, and his willingness to compromise.

The thing that was most interesting to me as I read was his accounts of being a very busy working Father. Men do not have an Oprah as a sounding board. It was nice to see how he handled different situations and how he and his wife make it work.

View all my reviews @ goodreads.com.

The Metastasis of Bureaucracy

Did you ever get frustrated by having to fill out tons of paperwork? Do you ever sit through long meetings that seem important, but are mostly boring and irrelevant? Did you ever make a phone call, then get transferred three times only to end up being transferred back to the person you called initially? As Pink Floyd said, “Welcome my son….Welcome to the Machine!”

Every facet of our existence is impeded by bureaucracy. Business and organizations are formed to do something. As they grow, more people are added and the scope of the task broadens. As this happens, the tasks of the organization become fragmented and have to be centrally controlled. But the central control is difficult to maintain as the fragments become more fragmented. The rules become more and more generalized, to the point where getting anything done is no longer a merit of hard work or expertise, but of the ability to navigate the system.

This happens to us as individuals as well. Most of us in our competitive American culture, regardless of occupation or status, are compelled in some way to produce. We are often judged by our productivity. When we are productive, we are rewarded. We often use our rewards to buy things. These things accumulate quickly and soon become clutter. Our livelihoods are dependent on consumption.

There is not necessarily anything wrong with being productive, that’s how we progress. We are blessed with a high standard of living and adequate sanitation and public health. One problem is that the option of doing nothing is not often employed or considered. Also, when things are not working well we often keep doing them.

This is how bureaucracies grow. If they keep growing, they can choke off the blood supply and metastasize like a malignant tumor.

One task where you can’t do this is writing. A good writer has the ability to be concise. By editing down the words and choosing them carefully, the final product is clear and to the point. There is no room for the tangential or self indulgent. As Stephen King put it in his book On Writing, “you have to be willing to kill your babies.” If a writer just kept adding things in the editing process, but not taking things away, the end result is an un-digestable mess.

We would be better off if we used our resources more prudently and if we were better at editing how we do things. The inability to say no or take something away is the reason we are innundated with so much useless mental and physical clutter.

We don’t need to stimulate the economy, we need to fix the problem.

Here’s the problem: banks are holding on to large amounts of bad mortgage debt and are subsequently not lending money which is freezing up the financial system. This has nothing to do with cutting taxes or re-sodding the capital lawn. We need to do something about the bad mortgages and then apply the appropriate regulations so that this does not happen again.

Here’s a quote from Senator Tom Coburn (R) OK in a recent Wall Street Journal Opionion piece: The Stimulus Package is More Debt We Don’t Need:

What is not in the bill is as troubling as what is. The package does nothing to clear the toxic assets and bad mortgages that helped trigger the credit crisis. It also contains very little meaningful tax relief to make small businesses and American companies more competitive. Instead, the tax provisions of the stimulus are essentially a modest cash handout that repeats the failed policy of George W. Bush’s rebate-check stimulus.

I’m reminded of the old phrase from Abraham Maslow “when all you have is a hammer, all of your problems look like nails.”

There is neither a Republican solution nor a Democratic solution to this mess. Tax-cuts will not fix every problem, and neither will government regulation.  This is not a competition to see which party can out maneuver the other. Granted, it is the job of Congress to negotiate and pass legislation, and to do so they need to deliberate and compromise. But we are so locked in to this false dichotomy between Republicans and Democrats that it is seen as a black and white competition with a clear winner and loser.

Life is just not that simple.

A stimulating thought…(about economics and gas prices)

I’m not a financially astute person, and basically know jack squat about economics. But I just had a thought…

If giving money to people via an economic stimulus package will stimulate the economy, why didn’t the economy improve when gas prices fell from over $4/gallon to under $2/gallon.

This happened last September, around 4 months ago. I assume that I’m an average American, and fill up my 15 gallon tank once a week. A fill-up used to cost $60 and now costs $30. That’s $120 per month saved. Four months of this good fortune has netted me an extra $480! …and yet the economy still falters.

How is this any different than the government giving me a $500 stimulus check? Maybe just giving people money isn’t really a good solution.

Obama draws attention to Limbaugh

“You can’t listen to Rush Limbaugh and get things done.” – Pres. Barack Obama

At first, I was happy to hear Obama make this comment during a discussion with the congressional GOP leaders. He was making the point that we need to work on common goals and not focus on our differences. This may also have been a calculated statement in response to Limbaugh stating explicitly and clearly yesterday that he hopes Obama fails.

But then I realized that mentioning Rush Limbaugh by name will just draw more attention to the narcissistic ultra-right wing talk show host. Limbaugh is widely regarded as an over-rated blow-hard who makes his living inciting right-wing nut jobs to hoot and holler at their radios. It is surprising to me that anyone still takes him seriously. His unpatriotic vitriol is probably best ignored.

Top 10 Reasons that I’m impressed with the 2 day old Obama Administration

It has been a while since I’ve posted here. I just wanted to chime in quickly and say that I am very happy the we now have President Obama, and even more thrilled that W has left the building. (good riddance!)

Obama is extremely popular right now. Unfortunately, his popularity has no where to go but down. What I’ve been impressed with so far about his administration:

1. His willingness to embrace dissension and debate.

2. His pledge to embrace and promote science

3. He has made “transparency and the rule of law” touchstones of his administration.

4. The fact that he mentioned “non-believers” amongst those who seek equality in his inauguration speech

5. He is displaying a good work ethic

6. He is denouncing torture and will shut down Guantanamo

7. He is drifting towards the middle and annoying some of the Democratic leaders

8. He is planning to decrease the military focus on Iraq and increase the focus on Afghanistan

9. He was very gracious to the outgoing administration

10. He is a good dancer!

Why I Don’t Support the Auto Bailout

I don’t support the bailout of the automotive companies. I say this without being directly effected, and I am certainly not in favor of thousands of people losing their jobs. I know also that the closure of these companies would have very detrimental effects on the economies of many state and local governments.

The reason that I don’t support it is that it is rewarding companies for failure. Let’s be honest, American cars are generally unreliable and inefficient. This is not because of the auto workers. This is because of poor management. These companies have relied on high profit margin SUV type products with more focus on quarterly earnings than long term growth.

Another problem is the American workers reliance on their employer for benefits. There is a $2000 premium on each car produced by an American car company to provide health care and retirement benefits for UAW employees. If we had a universal health care system, this would less of an issue. If there was more of a culture of saving instead of spending in our country this would be less of an issue. If so many people will be effected if the auto companies go under, imagine what is going to happen when Medicare and social security go under. This all comes down to misplaced priorities.

I fear that throwing money at the auto industry will only serve to perpetuate the problem. There seems to be this confidence that things will work out eventually. This bailout will delay or prevent the change that needs to happen.