The Non-Health Non-Care System, Again, 2007-12-21

CLOates
21 Dec 2007
Norman, OK, USA

The Non-Health Non-Care System, Again

The following excerpt from my Special Features section on www.chuckoates.com speaks for itself, I think.

___________________________________________________________________

o Warn Your Friends

If all goes as planned, I will be teaching Spring 2008 Math for Health Careers sections at the following times, beginning 14 January 2008:

1) Monday, 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. and
2) Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

o Vote for a Health CARE System

The above teaching schedule is very much subject to my finding a way to obtain food, clothing, and shelter, given that when I turn 60 next April, our family health insurance costs will exceed the combined teaching incomes of both my wife and myself. Since our other income sources ALL suddenly and simultaneously dried up late last spring, this may prove to be a very interesting problem whose solution could involve raiding Individual Retirement Account (IRA) funds intended for much later years. BTW, neither of us has more than minor health care problems, treatable with inexpensive medications (thank you, Sam's and Wal-Mart!), but when one changes jobs in the good ole U.S.A. at present, the result is that health insurance costs often exceed $20,000 (ours will top $24,000!) per year if the new employer does not offer comprehensive health care for its employees. Given the excessive $8,000 per employee per year average cost of group comprehensive health care policies to employers, fewer and fewer employers are offering this benefit, and fewer still have ever offered it to less-than-full-time employees. When you cast ballots to elect political officials next November, please consider that you, your children, your parents, grandparents, and others dear to you may soon be in this condition, too—or worse.

Over the past three decades, we Americans have squandered several opportunities to fix our exceedingly expensive, non-healthcare non-system by standing on opposite sides of the room and shouting at each other about what form our healthcare system should take, while actually doing very little to fix the problem. It's past the critical point for many of us that a workable, reasonably-priced healthcare system, available for everyone, be put in place; otherwise, thousands more lives will be lost and even more life-savings will be surrendered to a completely out-of-control monster that attempts—sometimes successfully—to snatch people from the jaws of death at the last moment at a cost of hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars each, while very effectively preventing their access to health care facilities and services previously. This takes place while the "system" (pardon the very loose usage of that term) wastes tens/hundreds of billions of dollars per year on needless and very expensive tests performed only to ensure that physicians can win medical lawsuits when their patients' outcomes are less-than-hoped-for.

It's time for cooperation and action. Find out what the candidates propose to do about these issues and who is financing their political campaigns and thereby influencing their answers. If the proposals sound like more of what we've endured for the last 30 years, throw the rascals out* and find someone who can cooperatively fix the problems. More shouting, political posturing, and unending study are useless. Cooperation and action are required now!

(This has been an UNPAID political announcement.)

_______________________________________
* don't fret about their futures: they'll easily be able to find employment operating earth-moving equipment to bury those of us who are consigned to premature disability and death by the existing policies