Health Reform Continued

Watching the uproar around the country, I decided to research what this bill actually was about. I think that the health care reform bill's resistance is due to the feeling that choice is being removed. America has traditionally been about choice and this bill appears to take those choices away especially from the most vulnerable citizens--the elderly, chronically/critically ill, poor, and even the over weight. Anytime the government has run things, for example, the Post Office and Amtrack it has been a disaster. Why can't we work with the insurance agencies to accomplish affordable health care for all? Why not issue vouchers for help in paying for health care instead of forcing people to take this 1015 page package that will inevitably lead to more and more government control of individual lives? The wording in the reform bill has the potential of taking us into the euthanasia arena. Other countries, including Canada, have experience with socialized medicine. How is it going with those people?

One area Chuck Norris pointed out is that the government would send people to your house to teach you how to raise your children. How is that not an invasion of privacy? We keep being told that the concerns raised are not true, but I'm sure people feel like the German people were told the same thing. It is a bit disconcerting to listen to the fear expressed by those people on both sides of the debate. There are those, of course, that don't trust anything the government attempts to foist off on us and also those who believe that the government is taking care of us. I propose that they are both off base. It has always been unwise to be on the outer limits of any belief system. Fear is natural and good if coupled with informed choices, but can create fanaticism if not contained. The additional fear that we are being lied to compounds the issue.

I appeal to those who ride the wave behind those who SAY they know what this bill is proposing to read it for yourself and not take what others are saying by faith. They may be right in what they are saying, but then again how will you know if you don't do the research for yourself?

National Health Care Questions

1. Who will receive it?

2. Who will pay for it? How?

3. Who will benefit most?

4. If person is on a poverty level, with just making ends meet, how will they afford to have more taken out of their check?

5. Who would most likely suffer?

6. How will it impact the terminally ill, handicapped, or elderly?

7. How will it drive the cost of health care down--or will it?

8. How will it affect those who are currently paying for health care, or getting health care from their employers?

9. Wouldn't it be more attractive to employers to encourage their employees to take this instead of having company sponsored insurance?

10. What will be the safeguards against abuse both by doctors and patients?

11. Will there be a cap on care for an individual?

12. There are currently doctors who refuse to take Medicare/Medicaid patients, would that happen with this plan?

13. How would this impact Medicare and Medicaid?

14. Would this force patients to see a less qualified doctor than those who carry their own insurance?

15. Would this generate so much paperwork that it might be counterproductive?

16. Other countries have socialized medicine, have we considered their experiences?

I wonder if these questions have been addressed in the course of planning. It could be catastrophic if we rush to implement a plan that is poorly conceived. Success or failure could literally make or break our country, and most assuredly the current administration.

I Wish..I Wish....

Do you think Aladdin had a difficult time determining what to wish for after he rubbed his lamp and the genie told him he had three wishes? What might you wish for? Think carefully now. If you got your wish, how would it impact your life? How many times do we wish for something and when we get it discover that that wasn't what we really wanted? Wishes are like coconuts, surrounded by a tough husk that has to be removed to get to the main nut and even then, that nut must be broken open to get to the milk and meat. Wishes most times are encased in a husk and a shell that require work to get at. If one wishes for a cat, for example, the actual wish might be for addressing loneliness. Some people wish for "things" and discover dissatisfaction shortly after acquiring them. Perhaps what they really want is self worth. Getting to the motivation and core reason for a particular wish may be quite a challenge, but in order to be satisfied with your wish it is essential.

Another thing to think about when wishing is the principle of cause and effect. Just like going back in a time machine, we would be warned to be careful not to change history. If you get your wish, how will it affect your life, relationships, job, and attitude? If Jim wished to be rich, (a common wish) would he no longer want to associate with his current friends, become snobbish, and/or change his life in such a degree that he has lost sight of what he used to believe in? Might he discover that he has grounded his life in what he has, instead of who he is?

I'm thinking that determining one wish could be difficult, let alone three. I can certainly better understand why God doesn't answer all our prayers the way we think He should. He can see down to the "milk and meat" of what we really need/want and sometimes getting that involves what seems to be a circuitous route. There are so many variables that may impact even a seemingly harmless wish.

I wish...I wish... What DO I wish? If I analyze the motivation behind my wish and consider the cause and effect of that wish, I will certainly be more careful in my wishing. I suppose I could give my wish to others, but even then, how might it affect them? If all wishes were taken away, would that eliminate hope? Perhaps expressing my wishes and hopes to God and trusting Him to "sort them out" might be the way to go.