Healthcare

As I ponder the upcoming catastrophic event on the horizon known as ObamaCare, it occurs to me that one little change to health insurance could provide significant improvements in the healthcare industry as well as the health of the overall population.

When you purchase an automobile insurance policy, your rates are based on a recent history of your behaviors and choices.  How many tickets?  How many accidents?  DUI?  Type of car? Credit history?  This is an attempt by the insurance company to assess the risk of insuring you.  There are also a couple of risk factors in which you have no control.  Age and gender are not something you can control but are used to assess significant insurance rate increases.  Try paying for the insurance for a 17 year old boy and you’ll understand.

When you purchase life insurance, same risk assessment.  Disability insurance, same.  Homeowner’s insurance, same.  Why do we expect something different with health insurance?

Health insurance has nearly become a right in most people’s mind. For far too long, health insurance has been subsidized by the use of group policies where the high risk employees are paid for by the low risk employees.  Of course this is hidden from the consumer because most companies pay a significant portion of the total policy premium.  A benefit that is about to expire.

What if health insurance was like all other insurance?  What if you had to pay more if you smoke (some already allow this)?  What if you had to pay based on your BMI?  What about body fat percentage?  How about untreated high cholesterol, should you pay more?  I say YES!

We should add a premium to those who choose to engage in high risk activities.  Want to eat at Burger King every day?  Fine, your choice.  But you will have to pay more for your health insurance.  Why are those who try to live a healthy lifestyle penalized by being required to subsidize those who choose unhealthy activities? 

Why do we think health insurance should be different?  Incorporating personal responsibility into the health insurance system will change behaviors for the better.  When the consumer has a cash penalty involved, then suddenly the consumer is more selective and makes a different choice.  Have you ever asked the pharmacy how much your prescription would be if you paid cash?  You might be surprised.  Two of my last three prescriptions cost less if I paid cash than if I used my health insurance and paid my $20 contract price.  Have you even asked?

Change the system by adding some personal responsibility and you will see changes in the cost of healthcare as well as positive changes in the overall health of our communities.

Goodbye Michael

Any man who is under 30 and is not a liberal, has no heart; any man who is over 30 and is not a conservative, has no brains.

Quote largely attributed to Winston Churchill

In my younger adult years I enjoyed discussing politics with colleagues who shared my pursuit of wisdom and love of country. At the time I don’t believe that I labeled my views on politics as either liberal or conservative, or maybe I just didn’t want to admit it publicly. In hindsight, I was certainly left of center and perhaps socially libertarian.

During this time, I was challenged by my colleagues to listen to this man on the radio named Michael Savage. My challenge was to listen each evening for two weeks. I took the challenge and I believe that this was the turning point in my political thinking.

His words and ideas made sense. He used facts and logic in his “discussion” of worldly topics. His commentary forced me to research and rethink previously held beliefs on government. It was as if the proverbial light bulb came on.

Years have gone by and I listen to Michael Savage from a new perspective. I find myself to the right of the man who claims to be “to the right of Rush and the left of God”. Have I really moved that far? Has Michael changed? Perhaps both.

I agree with Michael on many issues and particularly his idea that a nation must protect its borders, language, and culture or it will die. However, Michael has changed his view on matters of importance or I have become a more critical listener. In recent times Michael has ….

• Stated that he didn’t believe God is omnipotent. He defined omnipotent as one who controls every single action of every atom in existence instead of one who CAN control every atom. The difference in this matter has significant implications for religious beliefs. He uses man’s free will as an example to prove God is not omnipotent instead of the idea that God chooses to allow some freedom of decision. Huge faith implications.
• Stated that he does not pray to Jesus but to a “higher being” called God / god.
• Occasionally reads scripture from the bible but rarely provides correct application of what is read.
• Stated that certain weapons and accessories such as drum clips and rifles that look like assault rifles should be banned and that government should limit the 2^nd amendment.

These are examples that come to mind over the last two weeks that show what I believe to be a significant shift in Michael’s viewpoints. His personality has always been one of arrogance but could be overlooked because his stories of growing up in New York, boating, and discussions on dining experiences gave him a real person image.

I am afraid that either his age, wealth, or living too long in San Francisco, or as Michael would say …”San Fran-sicko”, has made him something that I can no longer enjoy. One of us has changed. Thank you for all the years of work in conservative talk radio and I wish you great success, but I must bid you farewell. 

Thanks for reading!

Twitter: @vet4change

 

Voter ID Laws

The most newsworthy attack on our culture in recent days has been Eric Holder and the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) aggressiveness toward state level Voter Identification legislation. The key argument against Voter ID laws is that the laws are racist in nature.

As an example, let’s take a look at Texas, whose Hispanic population is 37.6% of the total population and has an estimated 1.2 million illegal immigrants within its borders. With more illegal immigrants than 8 states have in total population, security of the voting booth is a major concern.

There are many events and activities in life where an id is required:

• boarding an airplane,
• driving a car,
• getting a library card,
• entering many government buildings,
• opening a checking account,
• getting a job,
• buying a home,
• applying for government assistance (welfare), and
• attending Eric Holder’s speech at the NAACP convention in Houston.

Therefore, the adversely affected population (racist implications)

• does not drive a car,
• does not fly,
• does not have a library card,
• does not have a checking account,
• has never held a job, and
• has never received government assistance (e.g. welfare).

The last two items in the list would seem to be nearly all encompassing. Never held a job AND never received government assistance. How many people are we talking about? If they aren’t motivated to do any of the above, are they really going to vote?

From the viewpoint of this veteran who served to protect our rights, voting being a big one, I can not come to a logical conclusion that the voter id laws are racist, intentionally or unintentionally. Eric Holder must use a different logic approach than me. One that would also allow the New Black Panther Party to threaten and intimidate voters at the polling place. An obvious violation of the law but Mr. Holder decided to not enforce that law. But that’s a story for a different day.

Thanks for reading!
Twitter: @vet4change

Who Have We Become (Part 3 of 3)

Perhaps it is a coincidence that I am finishing this series on the 4th of July, but I believe that it is quite fitting that we meditate on the question posed in part 2 … “What do we do now?”  What do we do when our nation has lost its moral compass?  What do we do when it seems truth has lost?  What do we do when our leaders chip away at our freedoms and seek to enslave us?

Answer: PRAY!

Here is my prayer…

• Lord Jesus return quickly, give me strength to endure until your return
• Lord raise up Godly young men and women who seek Truth and apply a biblical worldview … unashamed
• …Soften the hearts of our leaders, those placed in authority, that they will turn from their ways of deceit and destruction
• …Restore this nation to a free nation that stands for what is right and true, that helps those in need at home and abroad, and is a place of refuge and hope
• …Give Your people a clear vision of Your will for their life
• …On this day, Bless those who you have called to battle for this great nation

Remember … it only takes one person to make a difference.  George Washington … 1 person.  Thomas Jefferson … 1 person.  George Muller … 1 person.  William Wilberforce … 1 person.  Clara Barton … 1 person.  Martin Luther King Jr … 1 person.

Don’t sit back and wait for someone else to do it … YOU can make a difference.

Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

 

Who Have We Become (Part 2 of 3)

In determining who we have become, I find it useful to consider who we were historically.  For this discussion, I would like to consider only recent times (i.e. post 1940) as I believe anything prior is too far removed from our current culture to be widely understood.  For example, to discuss the Great Depression and poverty would be a futile exercise since a huge majority have no idea what true poverty looks like.  We in the United States have been so blessed for so long that we lose the understanding of the difference between need and want.

In the 40′s and 50′s…

• Family was important.  Mothers stayed home with the children and fathers worked hard to support the family. Divorce rate was 2 per 1,000 marriages in 1940 and dinner time was family time.
• Church was important.  In the 40′s, over 90% of Americans identified themselves as Christian and most reported to be a member of a church.
• Work was important.  Almost anyone who wanted to work hard could find a job and you would be an outcast if you (men) decided not to work. Men took any job available because working was expected and provided a means to feed your family. It was a matter of pride to avoid a government handout.

Fast forward through the 60′s and 70′s as those born in the 40′s come of age and become the adults … the parents.

• Divorce rates rise
• Recreational drug use is mainstream
• Material possessions become important
• Social protest and rebellion against authority became common
• Sex outside of marriage was normalized and bragged about

The 80′s and 90′s were prosperous years for Americans. Those born in the 40′s were now in charge and fresh off their early adult years of drugs, sex, and rock & roll.

• The idea of being your child’s friend and not their parent evolved.  Children were not disciplined and were given whatever they desired in order to win their friendship.
• Media (television, MTV, music, video games, and computers) exploded and began driving the wedge between parent and child.
• Parents’ growing appetite for material wealth pushed the dual income family model as the only acceptable way to live….you “deserve” it.
• Family, church, and work hold less value and seem to be a hinderance to true happiness.
• Ethics and truth become situational.

Now we have leaders who were born in the 60′s to the free love generation, where there is no definitive good and evil.  No truth.  And that my friends is the root of the issue, TRUTH.  Ask anyone you know the following question…What is truth?  What happened to our moral compass?  Focus on the Family makes the following statement.

In a recent study, the Barna Research Group revealed a stunning statistic that continues to reverberate throughout the evangelical world. Only 9 percent of professing Christians have a biblical worldview.¹

Because of this, today’s believers live very similarly to non-believers. A personal sense of significance is rarely experienced, we spend our money and time on things that fail to satisfy and we begin to wonder what life’s ultimate purpose really is. We are, in short, losing our bearings as a people and a nation.

What do we do now?

Follow this blog for Part 3 of 3 in this series.