The Government Doesn't Need "Death Panels"

I'm beginning to think we elderly are going to be unwittingly endangering our own longevity without being pushed by the government. Though inadvertently they will be responsible with Medicare functioning ( I use that term reluctantly) the way it is.

There is a guest opinion in this morning's Spokesman Review by Dr. Donald F. Condon telling why has is opting out of Medicare. It's nothing we don't already know. The reimbursement schedule is forcing Doctor's out of the program.

That isn't the only problem Doctors face, either. Among those Dr. Condon innumerated are the professional disagreements Doctors have with what some obscure committee deems appropriate as far as what's to be covered. The patient loses because Medicare wins.

Late payment of claims is another problem that parallels the problems car dealers are currently having with the Cash for Clunkers program. This puts the car dealers in the same boat as Doctors. This puts everyone in the Doctor's chain in peril from office staff, mortgage on his practice, even into his personal financial well being. Who can blame them for wanting to opt out? Who can blame the car dealers for hanging on to the Clunkers until they get paid? They at least can sell off the Clunkers; Doctors have no such option. Government efficiency is an oxymoron.

Here's the way the old Dogwalker sees it. Right now it's difficult to find a Doctor that will accept a new patient who is on Medicare. When you do find one, you're treated in assembly line fashion. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I've tried to discuss more than one issue and have been told there is no time. It matters not that no one was in the waiting room when I arrived nor when I left. Fifteen minutes. That's it. There is no thorough discussion of a condition what-so-ever.

It's usually pop a pill and see you in a week or ten days. If you're persistent enough they may refer you to a specialist who really doesn't want to see you either. I've run the course with the back Doctor. I've had two shots, neither of which did anything, and now we're experimenting with medications that are to change how the brain perceives pain. To no avail. Up the dose. To no avail. Instead of seeing him in ten days now it's call him. I'm sure I've run through the allowable office visits for which Medicare will pay.

I have no idea what all this experimentation is doing to my liver and kidneys. Actually I don't want to know. But here's the point.

Doctors who are now merely reluctant to accept you will begin to opt out. What then? Where do you go for your prescriptions? The emergency room? We'll begin not to take them because we won't put up with the waits. Our cholesterol will soar along with our blood pressure not only from not taking our meds but also because of the added stress. Don't even think of the things that will go undiagnosed thus untreated.

The "death panels" will have no one to counsel because we'll not be patients. What's more, we'll all be dead! Well, that's one way to bring the costs down. All we have to do is go belly up! I wonder if it's what they've had in mind all along!

The Government Way

Coeur d'Alene city council elections are coming up. All the incumbents have filed for re-election. Some I would like to see re-elected, to others I'm indifferent. Since I don't live in the city, I can't vote anyway but I still follow the proceedings because what happens in Coeur d'Alene affects all the surrounding areas in one way or another.

The Press is now running bios of the candidates. The one today, on a man I've met but once, captured my interest. Would that all politicians be as forth right as this man when it comes to political speak. He made a comment that is as plain as the nose on your face. "You have no idea what government is like until you're there." Truism number one.

He went on to say, and this is an important point, "It has it's own language, it has it's own money system which sometimes doesn't seem like it reflects everyday life." Boy. Speaking about truisms! Think about how the feds figure the cost of living index while excluding two minor items - food and gas!

"I learned that government can still be strange but I've learned how to move around in it and get people's ideas and go back and rework and re-evaluate those ideas and try to make things happen for the long term good." Isn't this how it's supposed to work? That a politician not forget the people he represents?

"It's about getting good ideas out there and compromise." Are you listening Washington? Every Representative and Senator should have this interview as required reading!

"You meet other people and hear their ideas and think," 'Hey, I never thought of that. Let's give that a try' ". When have you ever heard a Congressman admit there's an idea he had never thought of?

This man has it down pat. An understanding that things inside the system work differently than those outside and, more importantly, that the constituents' best interests come first. Too bad he's not interested in higher office. He'd be a refreshing change.

On the other hand Coeur d'Alene is fortunate to have him. Although he's one of those much maligned Californians who maintains his surfer boy image, he's been in these parts long enough for that to have been forgiven. He, along with his brother, run a popular local eatery where he easily accessible. Imagine that! You can actually talk to the man!

Maybe it's his lack of political ambition that makes him so attractive a candidate to me. He just likes what he's doing for the community in which he lives. He's one of us and he hasn't forgotten it.

It makes me wonder, though, about the would be challengers who do little but nip pick about the process during the off years. Should one of them get elected they may find themselves compromised when they're on the inside looking out. I wonder how they would handle that!

Is This The Hope We've Been Waiting For?

It was announced today that President Obama is going to address a joint session of Congress on what he wants to have included and excluded in health reform legislation. After those plans had been announced Senate Majority Leader Reid and House Speaker Pelosi sent the President a formal invitation to do just that.

Is it just me or does that seem like putting the cart before the horse in both instances? If Obama had made his plans clear to Congress in the first place rather than turning it over to them at the get go, a lot of anger and anxiety could have been avoided. As for the formal invitation, well, everything has to be well orchestrated.

Is the President finally going to become engaged in governing? One can only hope! Is he going to set Congress, especially the House straight on what is and is not acceptable in health care reform? One can only hope! Is it going to be a plan that makes sense for all Americans rather than merely satisfying a political base and agenda? One can only hope though I won't hold my breath on that one.

Whatever the outcome, it would appear the people have indeed been heard and at such a volume, it's being realized they mean business when threatening congressional representatives from both houses with their seats if they don't listen.

That is certainly change. The people being heard and listened to. Will it last through the next piece of legislation we question? One can only hope! Wow. Talk of hope and change all in one short post.

I should feel elated, but quite frankly, I'm skeptical. I fear it will be just another well staged illusion.

Just What ARE We Doing?

Now that the hoopla over Michael Jackson and Teddy Kennedy is dying down maybe the media can get back to reporting the news. Like explaining the mess in Afghanistan. The corrupt Karzi is likely to bully himself back into the Presidency. One wonders what will happen when the war lords he bought, with our money no doubt, decide they want more of a payback for making their people vote for him!

Now we learn the American commander thinks the U.S. and NATO need a new strategy to defeat the Taliban. Whoa. Wait a minute. It hasn't even been a month since a new strategy was heralded. Persuading the farmers to switch from planting poppies to far less profitable, even if more healthy, crops like wheat. The Americans and British were scheduled to pour millions into this new tactic!

Meanwhile, back at the war ! It's winnable so says the General. Eight years we've been slogging through that wretched excuse of a country. What do we have to show for it? More pipe dreams?

The war in Iraq was always winnable too. Afghanistan needs more troops. Iraq still needs more troops though we're leaving them to fend miserably for themselves.

The Taliban's "tactical prowess" is improving. Sound familiar?

Nine in ten casualties are caused by IED's. Sound familiar?

Meanwhile the body count continues to rise. I don't know about you but I'm getting pretty tired of hearing how we have little appetite for expanding the war while we continue to do so.

I'm not even sure who the enemy is any more. Are we fighting a drug war on the opium producers? Are we fighting a religious war against the Taliban?

What ever happened to al Qaeda? And bin Laden? Do we have a direction at all? Are they one and the same?

I don't see that we have a clear direction at all. Then when I read that Obama has not even read an assessment of the Afghan situation, I could do no more than shake my head in dismay. Not because I'm worried the war is going to reach our shores but because the President doesn't seem to have a handle on anything.

Who does? Anyone?

Memories of Bacchus - Our Walk

In lieu of posting today I'll leave you with some video. I've been playing around with iMovie to make some memories for us and would like to share them with you. Little snippets like before. To remind you who my companion was when I began this blog.

He may be gone but he'll never be forgotten.