Conclusions

I grow tired of the healthcare discussion…it displeases me.  So this will be the last post on healthcare for a while.  We have had a rousing discussion, and points were made on both sides, but in all seriousness, I think we are all intelligent people that have already made our minds up.  We could spend months going back and forth on this issue, and since this is my totalitarian blog, I choose to move on after this post.            

But first, a few last thoughts on the bill.  Sharel’s post sums up nicely what the philosophical opposition to this bill is.  By mandating that we have to do something, we are being deprived of a choice to make.  Like it or not, this diminishes our agency.  I feel, and Sharel does too, that we have an obligation as a disciple of Christ to help the poor and the needy and the sick.  The key word is WE, not the government.  When the government takes over, it too diminishes our ability to take care of the poor and the needy.  Agency in this life means suffering and unfairness abound.  Opposing this healthcare bill does not mean we don’t care about the poor or the needy.  It doesn’t mean that we like the way the system is run right now.  It doesn’t mean we are ok with people going through bankruptcy because from no fault of their own, they became ill.  These are things that need to be addressed, but I don’t think this bill addresses any of this.              

In fact, I think this bill is going to really hurt me and my family.  We are the people stuck in the middle that make too much for help, but not enough to cover all the proposed costs.  Sharel and I have worked hard to manage our finances, and we have less going out in money than we have coming in not because we make a lot, but because we have gone without a lot of things such as cell phones, or flat screen TV’s, new clothes, etc.  I would bet that I make less than most people reading this blog, and if you want to know how much I make, just ask, and I will shoot you an email.  All that hard work is being threatened by rising health care premiums to meet the government mandates.  And that is not me speculating what is going to happen, that is an acknowledged fact.  I don’t want to break the law, but if it is the difference of having to go on welfare because I can’t afford to pay my bills, or Sharel having to go to work or pay the $695 penalty, I will pay the $695 penalty.  I will take my chances with not being obedient to the laws of the land.  And if we get sick, we will sign up for insurance.  It sucks, and I won’t be proud of it, but I will not make Sharel work outside the home, it is too important that she raise our kids, not a daycare.

 

So that being said, I will move on.  And what will amuse me in the future?  Shall we talk about current political events?  Perhaps.  But probably not.  I think I will turn back to a rousing discussion of guns.  A few upcoming debates- .223 vs 7.62.  Glock vs. FNp.  AK vs AR.  Perhaps other debates, such as Courtesy flushes, who do they really help?  ’68 Camaro vs. ’76 Camaro.  K5 Blazer or Bronco?  Maybe I will have some more venting posts, such as what frustrates me about Boy Scouts, or working in an office full of women with only two toilets, one of which is a ladies room, the other a unisex restroom.  Or why Newsradio was the funniest sitcom ever on television.  Whatever I desire…

Peace- I’m out!

Thoughts from Sharel on the current discussion of healthcare...

From Sharel in answer to comments from the previous post:

Yes, WE the Lord's disciples are supposed to take care of the poor and needy, not the government. There is a difference as well between being compelled to give and giving of our own free will.

“It is the responsibility of every Latter-day Saint to work and so impart of his substance, regardless of the shifting standards of this world. We must uphold these principles and oppose every derogation of them. We must be careful not to adopt the commonly accepted practice of expecting the government or anyone other than ourselves to supply us with the necessities of life.”

– Marion G. Romney

All things to be done in the Lord's way and as we can see the government never does things in the Lords way.

We are supposed to take care of the needy and poor, but we should be able to do that without punishing others. Our whole purpose in helping the poor is to teach themselves how to help themselves as well. As history has shown us well that once you are in a welfare state, there is no incentive to go back. We should not just give stuff away and the church never just gives stuff away. Whenever help is given the gospel teaches the person who has been given something, to help out in return, to give back.

I guess it all comes down to a basic belief in what the governments role is. When we look beyond the health care bill there are fundamental beliefs about freedom and government.

I want to really reiterate how I DO NOT LIKE THE SYSTEM THE WAY IT IS, I keep getting from you how I must love how things are and that is not the case! We just don’t like this particular bill the way it is.

President Henry D. Moyle talked on this subject in these words:

“All we have to do is … examine any movement that may be brought into our midst … and if it … attempt[s] to deprive us in the slightest respect of our free agency, we should avoid it as we would avoid immorality or anything else that is vicious. … Free agency is as necessary for our eternal salvation as is our virtue. And … as we guard our virtue with our lives, so should we guard our free agency.” (Conference Report, Oct. 1947, p. 46.)

President Marion G. Romney, when he was a member of the Council of the Twelve, gave this advice:

“One of the fundamental doctrines of revealed truth is that … God endowed men with free agency (see Moses 7:32). The preservation of this free agency is more important than the preservation of life itself. … Everything which militates against man’s enjoyment of this endowment persuades not to believe in Christ, for he is the author of free agency.

“Now the world today is in the throes of a great social and political revolution. In almost every department of society laws and practices are being daily proposed and adopted which greatly alter the course of our lives. Indeed, some of them are literally shaking the foundations of our political and social institutions. If you would know truth from error in this bitterly contested arena, apply Mormon’s test to these innovations [as recorded in Moro. 7:16–18]. Do they facilitate or restrict the exercise of man’s divine endowment of free agency? Tested by this standard, most of them will fall quickly into their proper category as between good and evil.” (Speeches of the Year, Brigham Young University Press, 1957, pp. 10–11.)

“In this modern world plagued with counterfeits for the Lord’s plan, we must not be misled into supposing that we can discharge our obligations to the poor and the needy by shifting the responsibility to some governmental or other public agency. Only by voluntarily giving out of an abundant love for our neighbors can we develop that charity characterized by Mormon as ‘the pure love of Christ.’ (Moro. 7:47.) This we must develop if we would obtain eternal life.” (Conference Report, Oct. 1972, p. 115.)

The difference between having the means with which to administer welfare assistance taken from us and voluntarily contributing it out of our love of God and fellowman is the difference between freedom and slavery.- Marion G. Romney, “Church Welfare Services’ Basic Principles,” Ensign, May 1976, 120

P.S.- I still want the crepe and fruit sauce recipe.
Sharel

Help me understand...

We heard over and over again that the insurance companies had largely created the current healthcare “mess”.  I have heard from many people how much they hate their insurance companies.  I would agree as well.  I think the insurance companies have created a middle man that has inflated costs of healthcare.  It may have been unintentional, I don’t believe in a grand conspiracy to inflate costs, but it has happened.  Why just a few weeks ago, a doctor had prescribed dad a powerful antibiotic to combat an infection he had.  The insurance company decided it was unnecessary, and would not pay for it, so dad had to settle for a less powerful drug.  Thankfully, it seems to have done the job, and he can continue on in his cancer treatments.  So I have no love for insurance companies.  They can be very frustrating, as sometimes it seems they do anything and everything they can to keep from paying.

We heard from members of congress, and even President Obama himself that the insurance companies were at fault.  So their solution- make everyone buy insurance from the health insurance companies.

Can someone please explain this to me?  And I am serious, I have racked my brain trying to figure this out.  Seriously, please someone tell me how this makes sense at all?

Serious thoughts on Healthcare...

So, I was thinking what my objections are to this new healthcare plan. I think there are 3 things that have bothered me so much about it, and most of it, at least two of the things have very little to do with what was actually in the bill.

1. The way it was done. This is my biggest gripe, and if anything "scares" me about this thing, it is how it was done. Or, perhaps to clarify, it was congress seeming to completely ignore us, there constituents. It was deal making to buy votes, rather than representing the people. I feel like I was totally ignored, that any hesitations or reservations about the bill were ignored as well. It was almost like a "we know what is best, so stop bothering us with your opinions." I firmly believe, and I think most polling will back this up, that people did not want this bill to pass, whether you thought it went too far, or not far enough, most people tried to tell their "representatives" (and I use that term very, very loosely) to reconsider and vote against this bill. But, a few promises of money to states, and some heavy peer pressure helped congress to forget who they answer to, and it is not Nancy Pelosi.
2. The cost of the bill. Does healthcare need to be reformed? YES. I said it, it does, despite what people think, I oppose this bill, but also think reforms need to be made in healthcare. But to be this drastic about it at a time where the national debt has tripled in one year, more than Bush ever thought of spending, is disconcerting. I have heard arguments that if not now, when? When we have money. Basic budgeting guidelines for businesses and regular people dictate that if you cannot afford it, you do not buy it, no matter how much you want it. You make do. I am just asking that we be able to pay for it now, not print money to do so. We just can't spend money we don't have, and the government shouldn't either, because ultimately they are spending our money. One day the debt will have to be paid, and that will come through our kids and grandkids having to pay over 50% of their money in taxes to clean this up.
3. I think this bill just made things worse. I am already paying a lot in premiums, and my premiums are going to get higher. If I had a million bucks, fine, so be it. But I don't, and am scraping by as it is. Higher premiums is going to take more money that I don't have out of my pocket. Also, I don't want that much government intrusion in my life. Mandates? Forget it, I don't like the government telling me I have to buy something. Merely telling everyone they have to buy insurance does not solve the problem of unaffordable healthcare any more than telling homeless people to buy a house solves the homeless problem. All this was was a big shoutout to the insurance companies, so they wouldn't fight against the bill.
I think ultimately the problem we have with healthcare is not the doctors and nurses, it is not the hospitals or clinics. It is the insurance companies. They have become a middle man, inflating costs and burdening health workers with extra paper work. I think that if we were to get rid of insurance for routine and basic things, such as checkups, colds, small infections, a lot of money could be saved, and more people would have access to care. If you absolutely can't afford a $20 dr.s visit, then perhaps there could be some help there. But I personally think entirely waay too many people go to the doctors every time they get a sniffle, and that costs the insurance company a lot. Now, let's have insurance for serious illnesses, and expensive surgeries and procedures. I am ok with that, but I think the first step would be to stop covering routine checkups. Let's get some tort reform in there to lower the doctor's costs of having malpractice insurance and the habit of ordering every test known to man to avoid potential lawsuits. That would help lower a doctors overhead, while also cutting down on frivolous procedures. Deregulate some prescription drugs. There are plenty of harmless medications out there that are unnecessarily regulated. Remember claritin? used to be prescription only, but now OTC. Why was it prescription only? if you can self diagnose and buy it yourself now, why couldn't you then? Amoxicillian? can you die taking amoxicillin? Sure. But you could also with OTC Claritin. Some of us are big boys and know our limitations. Why do I need to waste a doctors time, and my money so I can have them prescribe antibiotic eye drops for pinkeye? I know what pinkeye looks like. Is the .4ML in the eye drop bottle really enough for someone to ingest and die? Perhaps it is habit forming? I think making a lot of these prescriptions OTC could help lower costs as well.
Well, lookee here, I just lowered the costs of healthcare without adding to the national debt or degrading the quality of care anyone receives
Peace- I'm Out!