Threatened Floor Vote

[VolAgent]

Always nice to see you quote the local paper.

I'd like to know where Washington expects Tennessee to find the money. UT is quickly becoming a state school in name only. No state is perfect, but other than mandates from Washington, there isn't much fat left in the Tennessee budget.

InsureBlog: Hidden Health Care Taxes

 

[moonlightandmargaritas]

As usual, Dr. Ron Paul is about the only politician that has any kind of intelligent take on the issue:

 

[somarco]

Vol, Lamar is a local (Maryville) boy who has done well. I tried to find another op-ed piece on health care reform from a few days ago. Can't recall the author, seems like he was syndicated.

He said if you want to find a good example of govt run health care, don't look at Medicare, Medicaid, Indian health plan or the VA. Instead, look at the Mormons.

They live 10 yrs longer than any other group in the US. He posed the question, "Is it because Mormon doctors are better than anyone else?".

He then made the distinction that health is personal responsibility while health care is the doctors. We have to reform health before we can have any impact on health care.

Great article. Had it not been my brother-in-law's paper I would have torn it out and saved it.

 

[VolAgent]

Yes, for its size it is actually a pretty good paper. Much better than the Memphis one, also owned by the same company.

And you are right, most of the better politicians in this state seem to come from the east, but that is probably because I more closely identify with the Republicans than the Democrats.

But Lamar hit the nail on the head, the point I have been trying to make all along here. All Obama and Congress is doing is rearranging the deck chairs and making deceptive arguments. No one is denied access to health care in this country, they just might not like its price. Also, collectively all the players: doctors, hospitals, manufacturers, and insurance companies, give away billions in free health care to the poor and needy every year. But with Obama's plan, there is no more reason to do that, charge for every last bit you can.

What the Republicans and Insurance lobby needs to do it make clear the distinction between health insurance and health care. Everyone should have access to health care, and as a society we should try to make it affordable for everyone. But no carrier should be blamed or vilified for refusing coverage to someone with cancer, diabetes, etc.

All Obama's plan will do it shift the entire cost of the system to taxpayers, and remove any incentive to seek coverage while healthy. Additionally, any incentive to live a healthy lifestyle will be completely gone. I recently had lunch with a type-2 diabetic with high blood pressure and cholesterol that easily weighed at least 300 pounds and is self-employed. All he wanted to do was complain about the cost of health insurance and health care. I so wanted to tell him that even as a layperson I could tell him with 80% certainty why he was a type-2 diabetic. He ate himself into poor health, but now my tax dollars have to pay for his health care.

Vol, Lamar is a local (Maryville) boy who has done well. I tried to find another op-ed piece on health care reform from a few days ago. Can't recall the author, seems like he was syndicated.

He said if you want to find a good example of govt run health care, don't look at Medicare, Medicaid, Indian health plan or the VA. Instead, look at the Mormons.

They live 10 yrs longer than any other group in the US. He posed the question, "Is it because Mormon doctors are better than anyone else?".

He then made the distinction that health is personal responsibility while health care is the doctors. We have to reform health before we can have any impact on health care.

Great article. Had it not been my brother-in-law's paper I would have torn it out and saved it.

 

[Winter_123]

He said if you want to find a good example of govt run health care, don't look at Medicare, Medicaid, Indian health plan or the VA. Instead, look at the Mormons.

They live 10 yrs longer than any other group in the US. He posed the question, "Is it because Mormon doctors are better than anyone else?".

.

Don't know about the Mormons, but this is certainly true of the Seventh Day Adventists.

Helpful factors:

They take a day of rest each week, and going to Walmart or over to Tractor Supply to get a new chain for your chain saw does not count, nor does reading email.

They are vegetarians, mostly.

They lay low on the booze and cigarettes.

Having faith is strongly correlated with health. Whether it is just the effects of prayer or the social networking support that goes with belonging to a church, we dont know yet.

Etc.

 

[somarco]

Mormon's avg lifespan is 86 vs 75.5 for the US. Asian's as a group live longer than any other group in the US.

I suspect Adventist's would show similar stats to the Mormon's mostly because of diet & lifestyle. I lived in Chattanooga a few years ago and a large Adventist community was just north in Ooltewah & Collegedale. We had some Adventist friends.

They had some interesting views. The joke was, it doesn't matter who your daughter is sleeping with as long as he is a vegetarian.

Little Debbie deserts originate from that area which is interesting. I don't know that it is any healthier than Hostess sweets. The girl on the package is the grandaughter of the founder. She is a lot cuter on the package than in real life.

 

[Crabcake Johnny]

I would imagine diet would be a key factor to lifespan. The Asians typically eat fish, rice and vegetables while we typically consume Chalupas and Big Macs.

I'm not sure if the typical Mormon snuggles up to a bag of Doritos and Coors at night while watching America's got Talent but I'm guessing not.

I would say the other factor to lifespan would be happiness, and by many studies Americans are among the most unhappy people on Earth.

 

[Winter_123]

many studies Americans are among the most unhappy people on Earth.

Certainly, that is true compared to Denmark and Sweden for example. Of course we have to work and they don't.

 

[somarco]

It is mostly diet and lifestyle.

Mormon's will eat meat but abstain (at least if they are true followers) from tobacco and alcohol. Tobacco has no useful purpose whatsoever but even St. Paul said a little wine is good for the stomach.

A lot of wine is a different story entirely . . .

I don't know that Mormon's exercise any more than the rest of us, but it is no secret that diet and exercise have a big impact on total health and longevity. Studies suggest that 70% of chronic illness can be prevented and in most cases reversed with lifestyle changes.

Not only do we as a country spend a lot more on treating chronic illness than other countries, but we also have an obsession with end of life treatment. Some 30% of Medicare dollars are spent in the last 6 months of life. The total spent on Medicare patients is roughly $450 billion or almost a fourth of total spending for the entire population.

On the other end of the spectrum, we also spend a lot on premature births and go to extreme's unknown in other countries.

There are a lot of things we could do differently and probably realize an immediate savings of half our total health care expenditures. But who wants to eat right, exercise, die sooner rather than later and refuse treatment to pre-term babies?