Here we are one day post election. It was reported that 1.6 billion dollars was spent for the benefit of politicians and free spending businesses, lobbyists, and some well meaning citizens who buy into their lies, promises and grandiose ideology and plans for the republic. No doubt many of these companies, and individuals had some self serving sinister motives. Campaign financing laws are easily thwarted, to attain these levels of spending a mid-term election. There is a great deal of American Wealth at stake, your wealth as our politicians fight to obtain your money for their purposes, without regard as to whom elected them or pay their salaries. Media companies flourish from our largesse, disseminating half trues, and opinion, competing for advertising dollars and ratings.
“Take back our country” should be re-stated as “Take back our Money”
I have always been a moderate, paid taxes, contributing as much as I could when I was relatively well off, employing ten people, accountants, attorneys, insurance companies, not only for malpractice, but liability, disability, health insurance and more. I fueled several medical technology companies for diagnostic and surgical equipment as equipment became obsolete every five years, or less. I created a ten year business plan investing a significant amount in equipment with a depreciation plan.
All of my planning and budgeting were sabotaged by the ‘threat of inflation’ and the projected insolvency of Medicare. During the late 1980s and early 1990s a plan was developed by some ‘hidden magical gurus of health care planning’ located within the D.C. Beltway. HMOs, IPAs, Managed Care, PPOs and other eponyms were launched with the objective and promise of ‘cost containment’.
It is difficult to prove a negative but one naturally questions what would have occurred if these changes did not occur. Medical care and the quality of care suffered greatly, administrative expenses soared with the multiple tiers of billing, review and organizational expense. New positions were created for ‘executive directors’, added administrative expense and consultants in management. Most patients and physicians despised the system.
We were paid less, buying into the concept of ‘withholds’ which would be paid back if doctors managed well and thereby receive a rebate. I witnessed one of our organizations hi-jacked by our board, using our funds to capitalize the organization to sell it to Aetna’ managed care plan. This company and many others like it removed much of our income which formerly covered operating expenses and allowed for charity care for the uninsured, both in our private offices and hospitals. Whether there were cost savings remains very much open to question. Many of these organizations merged, failed or became insolvent.
The true definition of insanity is to repeatedly do the same thing, resulting in a bad outcome and then repeat it expecting a different outcome.
Our entire medical system has been manipulated and re-organized with devastating outcomes, the number of uninsured has soared, as government has become more involved in the process. Rest assured our elected officials will fail to control their mandates for ‘Obama Care’. That is evident from the law they passed without reading or understanding the full implication of the law. They certainly did not plan the secondary or tertiary effects of the law and how insurers, employers and patients would “gain the system.”
Think about this…40 million citizens (and perhaps a fair number of undocumented aliens receive food stamps to survive. Some of them drive gas guzzling SUVs which have become less expensive to buy because others cannot afford these vehicles to drive to and from work any longer. (Another unintended consequence of a well meaning mandate for fuel economy and “green”. So the poor non working and some disabled can afford better things that hard working employed who have significant other cost of living expenses from their ‘declining spendable income.”
Not mentioned is the tremendous increase in cost of regulating and enforcement of these new laws.
While you and I have little time to devote to being a ‘watchdog’ over administrators , politicians, we are paying their salaries to got to meetings to plan our destruction, not only of the earners but the people’s freedoms who receive the ‘rearrangement’ and re-distribution of your property and wealth.
The election illustrates that physicians themselves are still trusted by the people. Several physicians, one of whom is Rand Paul, MD (an ophthalmologist) were elected to the U.S. Senate. And despite being ridiculed by other candidates, and even some physicians his message rang true for the people of Kentucky.
The forgers of our constitution were very brilliant in codifying our country’s foundational concepts. Those concepts brought us through many crises, and it should not be decimated by “ convenience to businesses, decision makers, nor Presidents. It has already been significantly degraded and is in danger of being destroyed.
Our republic was formed with the ability to reform itself through legal process codified in the US. Constitution. Our peaceful transition of ruling and power is peaceful despite significant and deeply entrenched diverse values of our peoples.
As long as these values of our legal citizens are respected as we move forward things should continue to flourish despite our current
difficulties. The Constitution was created for our present contingencies as an eternal document to be built upon ,just as the Magna Carta, and the Bill of Rights have served as part of our republic.