healthcare. again.

so a lot of people seem to be under the impression that if there is a government option for healthcare in the reform, that it would push private insurers out of business with competition. but i find that claim quite dubious, almost actually a downright lie. history has taught us that generally speaking, private business is usually much more efficient than government ever is. so then, need i even ask? oh fine, i will. if a government option pushes private insurance companies out of business, then were they really operating efficiently to begin with? my prediction is that a government option would do two things:
- first of all, it would result in lower premiums as well as more efficient service on the part of private insurance firms so as not to lose customers to the government.
- second, it would always run over it's budget. that's just what tends to happen at the government level.
with that in mind, bring the government healthcare. we'll find out who is there for their members and who is there for wall street.

and side note to congress: trim the bill down a bit. it should be quite simple, really, and definitely needn't be a 1000+ page behemoth. and none of those last-minute trickeries where you have five minutes to read it before the vote either.

"death panels"

so lately, the so-called "death panels" have been all the rage in the news and apparently in town hall meetings. but why? first of all, it was definitively debunked by all major news organizations. but let's assume they were going to operate these "death panels." armed with the knowledge that up to one third of the lifetime healthcare costs for a person are in the last three months, there needs to be something that should be done. that's an extremely disproportionate amount, especially when this person dying is the national average age (or greater) of mid-70s. they've already lived for at least 1464 months, but the next three are going to cost 100x more each and end result is still death. so apparently we need to figure out several things:

• how to spread the cost of the final 3 months out over greater amount of time, possibly by spreading that care over more time
• how to make the care given in the final 3 months more effective so that those final 3 actually aren't final 3
  
• how to learn to accept our own death
• how to let go of loved ones who are dying

we clearly want to lower the cost in the final three months. along with that, we want to make the treatments more effective. but what isn't being talked about much is much more personal. of course, losing a loved one is never easy, especially if that loved one is oneself. however, we need to come to a concensus on something. for one, people are scared to die. look back over pretty much all civilizations, and no one was really fond of death. most cultures have always included with death an option of further life, either by way of an afterlife, reincarnation, heaven, hell, etc., just as long as one is never truly gone. we as people don't know what awaits, so no one wants to go. connected with that, of course, is the fear of losing a loved one. we as a people should learn to better accept that those we know and love will more than likely die (if we don't first). now of course, we all want to believe that no one can put a price on someone's life. but at the same time, let's sit back and think before we rush out and spend a small fortune on the procedure that only has 20% chance of success and additionally will only be negligibly helpful in extending life.
on top of that, let's consider the wishes of the one who is actually dying. i know if my parents were dying, i wouldn't be rushing to pull the plug. but i also know that they would not want heroics pulled to save them, especially if they had something such as dementia or alzheimer's and were barely cognicant of their surroundings. also, at that point, why are the kids even interested in prolonging life? now i know not everyone dies a painful death not knowing who is visiting them. but even if they aren't, many who are dying come to accept it long before others do. so if they are dying that painful death of cancer with a healthy dose of alzheimer's, let them die. why keep them in their misery and also continue to torture yourself since they have no clue who you are when you show up?
anyway, just a patchwork of my thoughts. leave me comments as always, tell me what you thinks.