Healthcare in the United States: In the spotlight, in the Ring, and on the Ropes

I was recently made aware of this site, which purports to represent physicians who actually favor socialized medicine.

I have no doubt that this is a legitimate group; I'm sure there are many physicians who believe socialized medicine is the answer, just as there are many consumers who believe this.

The only problem with this line of thinking is, we know the outcome. Many nations that have socialized medicine are struggling to keep their cumbersome, bureaucracy laden systems afloat. History proves, over and over again, that when the goverment "takes over" anything, the results are always less than ideal, and always worse than consumer driven, free market approaches.

The interesting thing is, the places in the world where medicine is flourishing are unexpected places that have taken an almost entrepreneurial approach to healthcare. India, the Phillipines, and Thailand are among destinations where high quality healthcare with positive outcomes and risk levels comparable to the United States is available. For the price of a surgery in the United States, you can have the SAME procedure PLUS a vacation in an exotic locale. So why is healthcare so expensive in the United States, and why does the price continue to climb at a rate that outstrips inflation? Obviously, there are many places to point fingers, but one of the most glaring culprits is bureaucratic interference.

I work in the industry, so I am painfully aware of how much of a hospital, clinic, or physician office budget is spent on meeting instrusive government mandates. I'm not talking about things that lower morbidity or mortality, or improve outcomes, though certainly some positive mandates do exist. What I am talking about are the mandates that force uneccesarily expensive overhead including cumbersome record keeping, expensive data collection and management processes, hardware, and software, and uneccesarily burdensome and obscure regulatory compliance requirements.

The other major impact on healthcare cost in the United States (in my opinion) is, ironically, not "free market economics" but rather the opposite - a LACK of free markets.

Unlike other goods and services exchanged in a free market, Healthcare providers and insurance providers are somewhat limited in the following areas;

• What they can advertise.
• What they can charge for goods and services, and whether or not they publish prices.
• Where they can do business.

In addition, the healthcare system in the United States is currently choked by virtual consortiums practicing legal extortion in the areas of pharmaceutics, Insurance coverage, facilities, etc.

What I found surprising, when I tried to research this issue, is that there is a relative dearth of information supporting free market economics in healthcare today.

Yes Mr President a free market can fix health care

Envisioning a Free Market in Health Care

Free Market Fixes could still still save American Healthcare

Yes, Free Markets would Improve American Healthcare

A free Market Healthcare System Why and How

President elect Donal Trump has pledged to scrap Obamacare and move our Healthcare system back to a free market based model. There are plenty of expert opinions out there on how this could be done, each with some readily apparent benefits. All the president and his advisors would have to do is gather the research and make some intelligent decisions about how to open up the market.

My only concern with The Donald is, if the only voices at his table are Big Pharma, Big Healthcare, and Big Insurance, the end will almost certainly be worse than the present state.

Musings on our last days

My wife and I have been watching the Netflix original series "The Crown."

I was reminded, as I watched the pomp and protocol that surrounded Elizabeth's ascension to the throne, how epic moments occasionally occur in history.

At the same time my wife and I have been engaged in a particular Bible study; and in our current lesson one of the points brought out was the cyclical nature of history.

Our country, and our society, is turning a page of history; another epic moment is upon us. 

The page we are turning is not a good page.

When I was a young man, I thought about sex as much as any other young man. But my thoughts were mainly fantasy; it was not easy to get pornography, and I was certainly not exposed to it on a daily basis. Besides, we had other things to consume our time and energy; part time jobs, sports, outdoor activities, etc. Compare that with today, when anyone with an electronic device (which includes pretty much anyone over the age of 9) can go to YouTube and see images of Miley Cyrus suggestively stroking a dildo strapped to her groin. Consider as well, that at the same time YouTube is banning videos by Praeger University that explan our Republic and address the decay of our society because some might find the content "offensive." Let that sink in for minute. When was the last time you saw children playing hide and seek outside, or riding their bikes, or playing tag? They are all glued to their devices. from children to adults, we spend hours of each day glued to a glowing screen that gradually programs into us what to think and what to think about, changes what we think is important, and wears down our instinctive defenses.

Politically, our government squanders our money, crushes freedom of speech under the burden of political correctness, and officially positions our nation in direct opposition to the Word of God.

Socially, we have given our government the authority to control pretty much every aspect of our lives, including what we may and may not ingest, inject, or inhale into our own bodies, We no longer have any right to call ourselves free. We have agreed that any perversion under heaven is acceptable, but holding up the Word of God is not. We have allowed ourselves to be reduced to little more than animals, "kept pets" of a burgeoning bureaucracy. 

Economically, we have allowed ourselves to be taken hostage by a cartel of megalo-conglomerate corporations that control our food and water supplies, our access to healthcare, and our ability to provide for ourselves and our families. Almost half of our adult population is receiving some type of "government" assistance, while the other half grows increasingly resentful that we are forced to pay for benefits for others which we ourselves cannot afford.

We pride ourselves on our scientific advancements, but knowledge does not seem to equate with wisdom, or with happiness. Suicides are at an all time high, and much of our population is medicated for depression, anxiety, and mood swings.

As a nation we have grown crass, crude, and uncivilized; and we act like we are proud of our "freedom." The fact is we have lost our freedom, and we have lost our right to be free; we have sold our birthright for a mess of pottage.

Now we are reaping the fruit of our self indulgence and hedonism. Our streets are increasingly dangerous while our government increasingly removes our ability to defend ourselves. Our children are growing up in the midst of violence, abuse, licentiousness and neglect on an epic scale. Our school students are no longer educated, instead they are indoctrinated by a system run amok, drunk on the power of controlling and manipulating our youth.

We've seen this before, those of us who study history. Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, and kingdoms of Europe have travelled this path before us. America has lasted longer than any other republic the world has ever known, but our days are coming to an end. We've seen this play before on the world stage, and the end is always the same: anarchy or totalitarianism. 

Not many of us were entirely satisfied with the outcome of the presidential election; the liberals howled when their candidate lost, and ran for their "safe spaces." The conservatives for the mos part held their noses as they pushed the "vote" button, and anxiously wait to see if their cherished notions will be given a fair chance, or if they will become the four year long butt of a very bad joke.

But it is also true that our candidates are a product of, and a reflection of, our collective soul. Look at Donald Trump, look at Hillary Clinton, and you are seeing a reflection of yourself, America; this is what you have become in just a few hundred years.

For those of us who understand that history really is "His" story, this comes as no surprise; any nation or kingdom that rises up in rebellion against God will fall, just as surely as the sun rises in the east.

God is not a tyrant who witholds good things from us; rather He is a loving Father who has explained to us in great detail what is good for us and what is not, what will bring us peace and joy and light and what will bring us pain and confusion, darkness and dispair - and we have chosen darkness over light.

There is hope in the story of the prodigal son; there is always a chance that we will turn, and humble ourselves, and ask forgiveness. And there is always a chance that our Father will turn again and heal our land.

But there is also a chance that our opportunity to repent has run out. In the days of Noah, when sin was rampant on the earth, scripture records that God gave man 120 years to repent. Mankind missed this "window of opportunity" and all save Noah and his family perished. Ninevah was the greatest nation on earth in the days of Jonah, and although the nation repented at the preaching of the prophet, in just a few short generations they had returned to their sin and ended up being destroyed after all.

This is a sober message, and I don't like to consider what the next few years may hold for us as a nation; but the people of God need to prepare. If anyone will hear, let him hear, and repent, and get his house in order.