Healthcare Vs Higher Education

Obama speaks repeatedly on the cost of insurance premiums rising at a rate twice that of general inflation.  It's all due to the mean and evil practices of the insurance companies and we must call a halt to their nafarious and predatory ways.  But what about higher education?  That too has a rate of inflation twice that of the rest of the economy.  Is Obama calling out universities and villifying them for their predatory practices?  Of course not.  He's dealing with this by offering to foot the bill for people who can't pay back their student loans.

What I want to know is why college tuition is rising at such a rate.  Health care premiums rise because the cost of health care itself rises; but what about education?  What costs are rising so fast that the universities have to increase their tuition at such a rate.  They should already own all of their building.  They make the students buy their own books.  On campus students are charged extra for housing and the kids have to buy their own food.  So what on earth is causing the universities to have to increase their tuitions at such a rate?  Can it be, could it possibly be, the salaries the colleges pay their professors? 

If we want to talk about predatory practices, colleges are a good example. 

• You are forced to take classes you don't want and don't need in order to satisfy the individual college's requirement -- and you have to pay the college for this priviledge.  That sounds remarkable like racketeering to me. 
• If you transfer from another school, the classes you didn't want to take don't transfer to the new school and you must take more useless classes to replace the last batch. 
• You have to buy ridiculously expensive text books which you find when you try to sell back at the end of the year are actually worthless because of a new addition. 
• You have to fight with 4,000 other students to get the class you do want only to find when you get there that the teacher doesn't speak English.  Or at least you think he doesn't.  It's hard to tell if what he is speaking is a foreign language or just so heavily accented that it's indeciferable. 
• You have to pay for the priviledge of this up front and there is no refund for a class given by a professor you can't understand. 
• When all is said and done you have paid $160K - $280K for an education that will qualify you for a $30,000 per year salary.

Forget banks, forget credit cards, forget insurance companies, let's go after the institutions of higher eduction for robbing us blind and using our money to indoctrine the children.

Silos, Self-interest and Citizenship

I wrote a letter to leadership and posted it on my facebook page.  The letter was all about asking Congress to slow down, focus on the economy instead of personal projects and do something right instead of fast.  This is a basic request for the citizenry, something that will serve the interest of the nation as a whole, but what happened?

The first real comment was the equivalent of "but what about me?"  Then it got into debates on social issues, a justification of current actions because of what the Republicans did and a total loss of the initial message.  So because Repbulicans weren't great we should sit silently by while the situation gets worse?

A little over a year ago my family and I went through the belongings of my grandmother who had passed away.  One of the things we found were ration booklets from WWII.  I've kept them not just because they were my grandmother's, but because of what they represent about us as a nation.  The nation banded together and everybody sacrificed much in order to battle the enemy and win.

On December 7th 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and more than 3,500 people were killed or injured.  We declared war on Japan and on Germany and finally entered the great war.  The cost in lives and in money was astromical and tragic, but we banded together, set aside our individual agendas and worked together as a nation to win.

On September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attacked the world trade center, the Pentagon, and another target that, due to the bravery of average citizens, they failed to hit.  Nearly 3,000 people were killed in this attack and the country banded together in a dedication to fight against Al-Qaeda and stop this from ever happening again.  In WWII we were fighting against the Nazi goal of forcing their ideology on the rest of the world, now we are doing the same against radical Islam.  In WWII we lost 418,000 military personel in the fight and we maintained the will to win.  And we did win.  In the War on Terror we have lost 5,500 and our determination to win waned as soon as the war began.

Although in WWII we stayed dedicated to winning in spite of any personal sacrifices that we had to make, the philosophy now is the opposite.  Though there are many who still believe in a shared sacrifice in order to achieve a common goal, there are many who support the sacrifice of the common goal in order to avoid any personal hardship.  The wars have cost a lot of money which is absolutely true, but should we sacrifice our battle against terror because it's too expensive?  While at the same time passing sweeping legislation that will cost the country trillions and never, ever go away.  At least the wars will end, badly written legislation on government run healthcare will be will us forever. 

This, "give me what I want or I'll take my ball and go home" philosophy is destroying us from within.  Is radical Islam getting what they want by our refusal to band together and fight?  Are they glorying in the idea that they have divided us and now we're ripe for conquering?  Do they use our obsessive need to push our own personal agenda in the face of broader, more wide sweeping issues as proof of what is wrong with western civilization?

We may all have different ideas on how to make things better, but we should all be looking at the big picture instead of focusing on our own small piece of it.  We should disagree and discuss, but we shouldn't be telling the other side, "you lost so sit down and shut the hell up."  We should look at what is happening now and analyze it based on what is happening now instead of justifying a new bad policy because we think somebody else wrote a worse one.  In other words, we need to stop behaving like bickering children and start banding together to save the country from economic collapse and bankruptcy. 

But then again, I can see why your personal issue may be far more important that the safety and economic stability of the nation as a whole.  That whole United we stand divided we fall slogan is probably just propoganda anyway.

An Angry Spinster's Letter To Leadership

I better clean the house because I expect the FBI to come knocking at my door.

I sent this letter to all of my Congressmen, Barack Obama and Joe Biden via the hand dany Congress.org.

Why, in the face of the unemployment rate finally stabilizing at the astronomical rate of 10% are the Democrats so doggedly determined to pass a bill that is guaranteed to send the unemployment rate higher? Why are they insisting on rushing something that should be analyzed, deliberated, debated and discussed until all possibilities and potential consequences are address? Why are they insisting on putting their personal agenda ahead of the best interest of this nation. Most importantly, why are they insisting on turning us into a European style of government which is what we fought a revolution to escape?

Stop turning us into Europe and go back and read the Declaration of Independence. As Congress continues on it's path to destroy everything this Constitution was designed to create and protect, you continue to skate ever closer to a specific line from that hallowed document.

We hold these truths to be self evident: That all men are created equal; that that are endowed by their creator will certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; THAT WHEN ANY GOVERNMENT BECOMES DESTRUCTIVE OF THESE ENDS IT IS THE RIGHT OF THE
PEOPLE TO ALTER OR ABOLISH IT.

Contrary to what you may believe, there are millions and millions of Americans who still believe in the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution and we are appalled at how you wrap yourselves in our sacred documents while shredding everything they stand for.

Get your act together or expect to find yourselves added to that unemployment rate.

Enough With The Freaking Green Jobs Already

I was working away today with the television playing as background noise when I heard Obama at his meeting in Allentown, PA.  After cleaning up the blood from banging my head against a brick wall in anger and frustration, I went back to work; all the time my mind churning over the ridiculous statements that were made before I muted the TV in order to save both my head and the brick wall it was banging against.

He of course took the opportunity to herald what a great job he's doing with the economy now since the unemployment rate is back down to only 10%.  Oh praise the Messiah for his great work.  Then he talked about his job summit and what they are doing to increase jobs. 

First we had our shovel ready project pork filled stimulus bill and endless chants of how it will create green jobs.  Then we had the crap and trade discussions and how they were going to create green jobs.  Then came the cash for clunkers fiasco so we could drive greener cars, and now the jobs bill is focused on what?  You guessed it, green jobs.

It is becoming increasingly evident to me that if you don't work in construction or an industry related to replacing bad energy hogging products with shiny new green ones, then the President doesn't give a rat's ass if you're out of work.  His answer has repeatedly been to give government money to certain industries in order to create jobs in that industry.  But what about the rest of us?  What about the millions that are out of work and aren't in his pet industries?  Well, we're pretty much screwed.

I work for a large company that already does it's best to be a "green" company.  We went paperless years ago, we limit travel and hold meetings over the phone.  Nearly half of the workforce uses a home office so we don't drive our gas guzzling, air polluting cars in to work every day.  But are we benefiting in any way from any of the job creating actions this administration has forsaken taken?  Nope, not a bit.

I'm in the insurance industry (oh the shame and horror) and we supply a service to other companies.  As those companies lay off their employees we have less work to do and so need fewer employees ourself.  In an effort to save jobs, the company this year elected to not give raises and keep the people in the hopes of riding this wave out safely.  Right now the best case scenario is that the same thing will happen in 2010.  The worst case is that layoffs will be made. 

What the President refuses to acknowledge is that all the businesses that offer services or products unrelated to his precious climate change agenda are scared to death of what is coming down the pike.  They're afraid of the immense taxes and fines that will slapped on them through healthcare legislation, cap and trade, card check and a myriad of other abominable policies that this leftist Congress will attempt to pass.  As a result, they aren't hiring until they know what the situation is going to be.

The only acknowledgement I heard of this was that "Employers don't like uncertainty so we need to get healthcare passed as soon as possible."  The sheer short sighted stupidity of this comment had me floored.  So we want to let our employers know that they're definitely going bankrupt instead of just facing the looming possibility.  I can see the jobs boom now.

Out of one side of his mouth Obama says that the government can't create jobs, and out of the other side of his mouth comes the statement that the government will give certain industries money to create jobs.  That aint how it works bucko.

Wouldn't it be nice if he stopped focusing on creating green jobs and started focusing on creating REAL jobs?  I know, there I go chasing windmills and building those sand castles in the sky again.

Why A Government Option?

When it comes to healthcare reform it's become pretty obvious that the Liberal Democrats in congress want a public option, government run and paid, and a free market solution is not to be considered. But now a fee market solution is on the table. And I like it.

Arizona Representative John Shadegg has come up with a healthcare reform bill which encourages patient choice and competition. The only role the government would play would be to assist people who are unable to afford insurance to pay for the plan of their choice. Imagine if you could shop for your health insurance the way you shop for your car insurance or, for that matter, how you shop for the car itself.

This would empower the consumer of healthcare by allowing them to choose the plan that best suits them, and not relying solely on what their employer offers. If you prefer alternative medicine, you could find a plan that covers that. If you have a pre-existing condition, you could find a plan that doesn't exclude that. If you want only catastrophic coverage, you could get that kind of plan. You could choose something that really meets your own individual needs. This would also enable you to choose a plan that your doctor participates in instead of choosing a doctor from your plan. The cost of the plan would also come into play. The competition on price would necessarily drive the price down.

So why does a healthcare bill that empowers the consumer to control their own plan and encourages competition have little to no chance of passing? Possibly because it does nothing to increase the power of the federal government. This is really the main goal of many of those in our Congress today. And in years past.

If you, like me, like John Shadegg's idea, please let your Congressmen know. There will be no chance of this being considered if we the people do not let our representative in congress know that this is what we want. Without the pressure from us, they will pass the bill that is less concerned with our benefit, than with the increase of their own power.

I offer you this challenge, when a bill is proposed in Congress and up for a vote, ask yourself whether or not that new law will increase the power of the federal government. Then ask yourself if the same end could have been achieved without an increase in federal power. You might be surprised by what you find.


All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. - Thomas Jefferson

A Hypochonriac's Dream

I'm going to start this out by saying that I don't go to the doctor unless I'm dying. Or at least I think I am. I broke my arm a few years ago and it took me 3 days to go to the ER because I was sure it was just a sprain and it would heal on it's own. When it swelled up like a rubber glove balloon, I finally went to the doctor. I drove myself. This becomes relevant with the information below.

Do we really want healthcare to be cheap? Changing from the old indemnity plans (deductible then 80% paid) to the HMO actually drove the cost of healthcare up! This was because the cost was so low for the consumer that they went to the doctor for everything. Costs went up because demand went up, but availability stayed the same. Do we really want everybody to be able to afford to go for every little thing? Isn't that just a hypochondriac's dream? And we the people would be footing the bill for somebody else's neuroses.

I'm not saying that the access should be expensive, but it should stop and make you think about whether you really need to go to the doctor, or if it's something you can handle yourself. Taking the patient's responsibility for the cost out of the equation will only increase demand, without increasing the supply, and then our healthcare system turns into one giant Black Friday.

If people will beat each other up over the last hot toy on sale, what will they do in order to be able to see the last available doctor?

If you have a product that you want people to use, that you want them to buy, you put it on sale or just decrease the cost. This makes it more attractive and you'll sell more. The problem with doing this with the healthcare system is that we don't have any more healthcare to offer. We're already down to a back order situation. So is it really smart to put what's already on back order on sale?

My big question is whether the people like me will even be able to get in to the see the doctor, or whether the available resources will be taken up by the hypochondriacs giddy with the fire sale of their favorite product.

What do you think?

Insurance - What You May Not Know

There is an important part of medical insurance coverage that many people are unaware of. This is that your employer may actually be paying more than your premium, they may be paying your medical bills.

There are 2 different types of funding arrangements when it comes to health insurance. The first, the one most people associate with insurance, is that the insurance company pays all your bills and administers your plan. They offer standard benefits with some options, you select what you want, and pay the premium. This type of coverage is subject to state mandates and the oversights and rules of the NAIC (National Association of Insurance Commissioners).

But there is another finding type. This one is commonly referred to as either Self-Funded or Administrative Services Only. In this situation an employer writes their own benefit plan, deciding what they will cover and what they will not, and what the deductible, copay and benefit percentage will be. The employer then absorbs the cost of those medical bills and pays an insurance company to administer the plan that they themselves have written. Most of the large employers in the country offer this type of coverage. These plans are also not subject to the rules of the NAIC, so should the government pass regulations on what must be covered or what deductibles have to be, since these are not insurance companies, they would not be subject to these regulations.

As a result of how these are funded, the cost of the employee health benefit may be much more than we think it is. Knowing that, could we really blame employers if they stopped offering health care coverage to their employees if a government option is created? Eliminating that benefit could potentially save employers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Having all of these different plans also increases the administrative costs of insurance. Things are much easier to admminister if it's a cookie cutter plan. But when things vary greatly from one employer group to another, the administration of the plans becomes more complicated, and the administrative costs go up. So should the government offer that cookie cutter plan only, they will have an administrative cost advantage as a result. Of course you won't have as many options, but they know more about what we need than we do anyway, right?

Although we are told we will still have the option to keep the health care plan we have if we are satisfied with it, how can we do that if our employer decides not to offer it? And their incentive to no longer offer it will be high. So here we have another unintended consequence of legislation which our leaders are not considering.

Government "Help"

With all of this talk about government run healthcare, and the government competing with private insurers (now that's fair), I though I'd take a look at how well government agencies run the other organizations that are supposed to "help" us. This story of one person's experience with government agencies is the perfect illustration, at least for me, on why government should never be given control over something as important as our healthcare.

My niece is 26 years old and physically and psychologically disabled. Due to both her physical and emotional issues she is unable to hold to a job. A doctor testified to this. However, it took her over a year to get disability insurance. Why? Because it is standard operating procedure for government disability to automatically decline all claims the first time they are filed. But isn't this what the government accuses private insurance of doing? Vilifying them for it? She had to get a lawyer and take her claim to court in order to get her benefits. Then her lawyer, from legal aid, was not going to be able to attend the hearing and Aimee, my niece, had to go on her own. She was told she had to read a statement to the judge. This is great except that one of her issues is that she's severely learning disabled and has a very difficult time reading. Not to mention her emotional issues of having to stand up there by herself. I was unable to be with her because she lives 1,300 miles away from me.

Once her claim was approved and was supposed to begin, she didn't get a check. This is because the person in charge of the county benefits didn't submit the cancellation paperwork. What was her option to get this resolved....wait until the person submits the paperwork. In the meantime they had cancelled her food stamps but not the other benefits so she was still reliant on the county but had no food stamps for the month. They had cancelled those you see and had no emergency process to get her any for the month. And she has a small son. The next thing that happened was that she was shorted in her benefits. She didn't get the amount that she was supposed to. Again she goes and tries to get this resolved and what they tell her is, "I've fixed it in the computer and it will be right next month." But what about this month? She just has to do without that money that her budget was based on. And it was a significant chunk of her benefits. Just imagine if your employer forgot to cut your check and told you the amount would be right next week but they couldn't get you anything this week.

But wait, it gets even worse. Her case worker has now been found to be embezzling the food stamps from the recipients. Aimee did not get hers at all for June, and she was not the only one. The computer showed them going out, but they never appeared on her card. So what is being done to get her food for the month? Nothing. She has been told that everything is frozen until the investigation into the case worker is completed. So she's just SOL again.

In these situations it becomes clear that the bureaucracy is more important than the people. There is no emergency process in place to take care of issues or mistakes. The mistakes of the government staff are instead carrying by those they are supposed to be helping. It's horrible to be told that your food budget is gone for the entire month, but imagine if this happened to you with your healthcare. What would happen if your file was misplaced? Would you be denied your treatment? Probably.

I have my own personal story with the Social Security Department. I lost my social security card and applied for a replacement. They sent me a letter saying that I needed to verify my date of birth because I had submitted that I was born in one year and they had my date of birth 10 years earlier. A typo on their part. I submitted the verification. Then I received a request for a copy of my birth certificate. So I sent off for a new birth certificate (I'd lost that too) and sent a copy in. Then I received a letter from the Social Security Dept saying they needed the original. By the time I could take off work to get in to give them my birth certificate (I wasn't sending it through the mail) they admonished me for taking so long to come in because now they had to re-enter the information in the computer. It doesn't matter that coming in meant I had to leave work because they're only open during regular working hours, I had inconvenienced them and they let me know it. I finally did get my new card but it took me 8 months in order to correct THEIR mistake.

And this is the same type of process that we want for our healthcare? I sure don't.