Not A Right, A Responsibility and Responsibility = Control

Health coverage is not a right, it is a responsibility.

As such the debate should be over who is responsible for your health coverage -- your employer, the government, or you.

Remember, responsibility for an issue is equal to control of that issue.
DKK

(Even today as the government assumes more control over health coverage the inevitable laws banning availability or taxing the consumables that may affect your health are creeping into the control over your body. Is there a right to control our own body as the left has always assured us?

Perhaps not, that is what we will decide as the health coverage debate begins again).

Didn't Believe Me Update, June 10, 2009:

Hot Air is reporting on a Politico story today:

Don’t be fooled by the presidential burger runs. Obama and Congress are moving across several fronts to give government a central role in making America healthier — raising expectations among public health experts of a new era of activism unlike any before.

Any health care reform plan that Obama signs is almost certain to call for nutrition counseling, obesity screenings and wellness programs at workplaces and community centers. He wants more time in the school day for physical fitness, more nutritious school lunches and more bike paths, walking paths and grocery stores in underserved areas.

The president is filling top posts at Health and Human Services with officials who, in their previous jobs, outlawed trans fats, banned public smoking or required restaurants to provide a calorie count with that slice of banana cream pie.

Even Congress is getting into the act, giving serious consideration to taxing sugary drinks and alcohol to help pay for the overhaul.

DKK

Updated and bumped:

On Red Eye early this AM (March 4, 2010) TV's Andy Levy pointed out that anything that requires you to do something like purchase insurance or requires another to provide you with a service cannot, by definition, be a right. 

The Future Of American Health Care -- "Just Boil It and Reuse It!"

I'm not sure why but I have yet to see the root problem with government writing a prescription for America's health care needs articulated using an easy to verify example.

The fact is, the root problem doesn't involve the debate over inclusion of a government option, it goes far far deeper then that; to the root of governments involvement in the health care process.

Most of us feel it deep down but don't really realize what the problem is.  Perhaps that is because many people see evidence of what bothers them on a daily basis right there on their own television without even realizing it!
 

Government Central Planning of medical care through the Medicare system lead to the brilliantly idiotic idea that catheters could and should be reused.  Medicare only covered 4 a month under the old ruling, today they cover up to 200.

People either had to pay for additional catheters or, it was recommended that users BOIL AND REUSE THEM.  Seriously, grab a pan, we're cooking up a wonderful plan for your health!  If you have had two (2) serious urinary tract infections in the past you could get yours covered -- that's right, you had go through the pain and risk twice.

Here is the kicker:


Even after the governments own FDA changed the labeling of catheters making them one time use products they were not covered!

Since the governments centrally planned Medicare system determined reuse was okay almost all private insurance companies followed suit!  With the change in the ruling most insurances have changed their coverage as well.

This went on for DECADES! 

It took people getting upset and finally getting a congressman to act -- that is not how we want our medical care coverage determined, via congressional fiat?

The key point -- when the government sets rules of coverage, for whatever reason (and you just know it will get political -- God forbid you get a disease out of favor with today's political will) the entire industry follows.  Doctors change their recommendations, insurers change their coverage. Having the same policy as the government keeps you just one more step away from the lawyers! 

The public option is not the devil, the devil is in the details of any program that offers or requires central planning by the government or any entity they set up.  Leave the planning to your own doctors!

Governmental Central Planning is almost always the worst solution to even simple problems, and we know from history that it is a joke when it comes to larger issues!

Increase competition in both the insurance and the medical sides of the business, reduce government interference, and reform medical malpractice, that should be all the involvement the government should have in your health care!
DKK

Medicare Changes Catheter Ruling -- IC Disease Today

Update:  It gets even better -- did you know that the Baucus plan included a tax on all medical devices?  This tax would increase the cost to everyone.  Initially it was all devices, tongue depressors, catheters, etc. but the saw some wisdom in that an have now increased that to items priced over $100.  But does that make any sense?  Imagine you need a prosthetic, or a back brace due to an accident -- you now will pay more for those, already very expensive items!   Literally adding insult to injury!  And as Hot Air points out this includes powered breast milk pumps!

Amazing, the ,"Boil it and reuse it," mentality will flourish even more then today -- seriously, do they even care about us at all because if they did they wouldn't be pulling this crap!
DKK

Cell Phone's Still Suspect In Cancer Cause

The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer.

The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between cancer and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Herberman is basing his alarm on early unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science, and he believes that people should take action now, especially when it comes to children.

"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," Herberman said.

Herberman strongly advises that children not use cell phones for anything but emergency calls and adults should use a wireless headset and keep the phone away from the head.

He believes the previous studies were flawed, but it still looks like this one is up in the air.
DKK
CNN

Seriously, Only The Left Would Think Any Differently! -- US Has Highest Cancer Survival Rates -- Money Made The Difference!

Spending on health care was a major factor, the study of 31 countries said.

Major factor in what you ask? 

There is a huge variation in cancer survival rates across the world, a global study shows.

The US, Australia, Canada, France and Japan had the highest five-year survival rates, while Algeria had the worst, Lancet Oncology reported.

The UK fared pretty poorly, trailing most of its western European neighbours - although the data is from the 1990s since when survival rates have risen.


Spending on health care was a major factor, the study of 31 countries said.


(...)

While the US led the way with more than 13% of gross domestic product spent on health, Canada, Australia and the best-performing European nations were all spending about 9% to 10%.

The UK was spending just over 7% but that figure has now been increased following record rises in the NHS budget to bring it much closer to the likes of France and Germany.

Algeria was spending around 4%.

The importance of money was further illustrated by an ethnic breakdown of outcomes in the US.

White Americans, who are on the whole wealthier and therefore more able to afford the insurance which underpins the US system, were up to 14% more likely than others to survive cancer. 

BBC News

I thought we spent too much for the results we received, that's what the left keeps telling us!

Just a couple of extra points:

• I would rather have a country that has a financial incentive driving the development of cutting edge treatments, even if all I could afford is the older generation as it is often better then the standard treatment elsewhere.  Tomorrow I may actually need today's cutting edge treatment even if it is no longer cutting edge -- this was my stated position long before I became ill and it is still the case.
  
• With all of the programs available, the US government pays more in health care costs then any other nation does with their nationalized plans (nearly $700 billion for the fiscal year UK is about $184 billion)
• Uninsured in America can be broken down like this, illegal aliens, those who qualify for existing programs but haven't signed up for some reason, and people who choose not to get coverage, primarily younger workers.  (Only a quarter of the uninsured are below the poverty level and 28% have incomes 300% or higher, 48% are white, 21% foreign born non citizens (pdf file).)
  
• There is not a crisis in people who don't have access to health care.

DKK

Government Healthcare Preview

In Worcester, Massachusetts the Seabury Heights Apartments is this housing complex for the elderly and handicapped. Now it is June and there is a heat wave. It has hit at least 90 degrees in Massachusetts. But in the Seabury Heights Apartments, residents are complaining because management is refusing to turn on the air conditioning.

Here's where government steps in. There is this asinine state regulation that mandates that heating systems in housing for the elderly must remain operational until June 15^th. The landlord says, "You just can't turn a lever and go from hot to cold. You have to shut down the heating system before you can turn on the air conditioning. There are some code requirements." Apparently last year the complex tried to turn the heat off before June 15^th and residents complained. So this year management decided to stick to the state regulation and even taped the law to the wall for all residents to observe.

Residents are clearly upset. Because not only is the air conditioning forbidden until June 15^th but personal air conditioning units are also banned from this complex. And like any government operation, their quest for answers was fruitless. They tried contacting the Board of Health and they were referred to HUD. They tried contacting HUD and they were referred to the state. They contacted the governor's office and sent a letter to Senator Ted Kennedy. Nadda

This is your government at work, ladies and gentlemen. The government regulates when an apartment complex can turn on its air conditioning ... doesn't it make common sense for the complex to turn on the air when it gets hot? That's just too logical for a government operation.

Just wait until the very same government is controlling your health care!

This is a preview of what government run health care will look like -- not being able to get something you need because you're just outside the limit, doesn't matter if every sense in your body says it's wrong.

A client of mine was a frustrated physician who couldn't understand why a patient of hers was sent home from the ER because her blood work was just shy of the required number for admission to the hospital. The patient had to go home for two hours only to return in an ambulance. The sad thing is that this was a recurring condition that, if treated early would have saved money and shortened the length of the stay.

Government can't manage everything nor should it try!

DKK

Neal Boortz