Wellness Can Cost an Arm and a Leg

Wellness is the new buzz word for common sense. Now if the intelligentsia want to create a new age concept for what formerly was called nutrition, exercise, and hygiene, that's just swell. Preventative medicine, public sanitation, and healthy habits can provide a better quality of life and maybe add a few months to it. One thing that all this concern with health and longevity isn't is cheap.

We all know we should eat well, exercise, get enough rest, avoid smoking and drink with moderation. That's the easy and cheap part. The expensive part is the medical treatment. It's not the treatment of acute problems, but the chronic illnesses we are preprogrammed with that are breaking us.

An example of this is the class of drugs called "beta blockers" (BB). BB's are used to treat hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, congestive heart failure and a slew of other problems. These wonder drugs lower the blood pressure, slow the heart, steady the rhythm and decrease the heart's need for oxygen. A side effect is that the person feels poopy; like a car with a governor on the throttle. This one class of miracle drugs probably increases ancillary costs to Medicare about a billion a month. The nursing homes are full of non-ambulatory, demented, elderly who are waiting to die from urinary sepsis. They are blind, deaf, incontinent, they need feeding tubes and skilled nursing care. However, because of the "beta blockers", that heart is chugging along at 50 beats a minute and their blood pressure is 100/60. These drugs are so beneficial that if the heart rate drops to 40 the patient will get a pacemaker just to remain on them.

This is the flip side of modern medicine. Wonder drugs, screening tests, glucose monitoring, mammograms, PSA's and personal trainers may lead to a longer and healthier life but, they DON'T save money. So when some politician tells you he is going to save you money through preventative medicine and wellness programs, he is a liar. Death is cheap.

Ken-L Ration Health Care

The latest health reform buzz word is "rationing". Why is it such an awful word? Unless you are Bill Gates your whole life consists of some form of rationing. We have rationing now and we will have it in the future. What is the alternative? Do we spend a million dollars a day to keep one child alive? Do we offer an 89 year old with stage four cancer surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or a bone marrow transplant? "But," someone will say "You can't put a price on a human life." We do it everyday. We buy a car that contains three thousand dollars of safety features; if cost didn't matter we would drive around in Sherman Tanks. All we can do is create enough wealth to drive the cost of a human life higher. In the U.S. a human life is worth $1,700. In Somalia a human life is worth 17 cents. We need to look at what we can get for that 17% of our GDP spent on health care. Sometimes there are no good choices. Death comes to every person. It's terrible, especially with children, but it can't be bought off. This is another part of an affluent nation's state of denial. The rich will always get the best, that's the way it is and that's how it's always been. We have to tone down the hysteria of the socialists, the right to lifers, the statists, the globalists and the Hemlock Society. How can we use our finite resources best to bring an acceptable level of health to our society? Maybe "do everything you can for grandma" isn't the best response in every situation. These are terrible choices that haunt people, however waving the bloody shirt of rationing solves nothing. There is a middle ground between society spending half a million dollars to keep great Grannie around for three more months versus putting Grannie out on an ice flow to await the polar bear because she can't chew the blubber anymore.

All these policy buzz words are just "dead herrings", they shine, but they stink. They are meant to stifle discussion. The other buzz word that bugs me is "wellness" but I can't handle that right now without blood shooting out my nose.

What Health Insurance Isn't

Insurance is supposed to protect individuals and businesses from rare catastrophic events.
The idea is to lay off risk, which is why insurance isn't even the correct vehicle to handle medical expense. If you are over 70 years old most medical expenses are not rare and a good share are catastrophic. Somewhere around forty our bodies are really moving away from insurance to pre-payment. A young healthy teenager really needs accident insurance more than medical insurance. A geezer needs medical insurance because every little accident can kill him.

First, health is what we do for ourselves and second, medicine was what others do for us. Medicine is supposed to come along after a lifetime of neglected and squandered health and make all things new. Two things that don't save money are wellness programs and preventative medicine. You may live a month longer but you are just going to consume more dollars trying to eek out that extra month in the day room.

Insurance should be like auto coverage. You use it when you have a wreck. It's not there to cover routine oil changes and wiper blades. Yet, more and more people expect their policy to cover prescriptions, eyeglasses, vitamins, OTC pain relievers, chiropractors, massage therapists, marriage counseling etc. People will not be happy until they don't pay for anything and have everything. They want Cadillac care at Ford prices. Cataract surgery on both eyes costs $24,000 cash. The reason it costs so much is because Medicare only pays $1, 400 for both eyes. Without Medicare the cash price per cataract surgery would be about a grand. So for two thousand dollars ( the cost of four RV tires) you have your eyesight restored to new for the rest of your life. Why don't people want to pay for such a bargain? No one wants to get sick or old so no one wants to pay for it. Since someone else is paying for it nobody cares how much it costs or how necessary it is. When it's time to put that third pacemaker in 99 year old Aunt Edna who sits restrained in a chair trying to eat her own face the family says go for it. If that family had to pay for that pacemaker ($20,000) with its 15 year atomic battery they would at least pause to think about it.

What's the answer? How about mandatory insurance for everyone with a deductible equal to 10% of your yearly income. The government would be forced to take care of the catastrophic illnesses; as it already does. Catastrophic illness should be handled like bankruptcy, you can keep your house and your car and wide screen TV. I should be able to get medical insurance for about $400 a month and when my last $400 is gone , boom I'm on Medicaid.

If medical insurance is a right, what else is a right? Is a home a right? What about an SUV? How about free Legal Services? Is food a right? How about clothing? Where does it end? Try to go buy car insurance after you've had the wreck; see how far you get.

Some Rob You With A Six-Gun; Others With A Fountain Pen

CP was down at our Congressman's office to join the protest against the state sponsored takeover of the the nation's health care industry. It was exciting to see CP on camera during the local news along with the other right wing yahoos. WLOS couldn't just report on the protest, they felt the need to put in a scripted human interest story to divert attention from the true meaning of the protest.

The Minnick's took early retirement and moved to Mexico to retire in third world luxury. Nobody goes to Mexico for the medical care unless you want a boob-job. While down in sunny Mexico two things happened. First the U.S. economy collapsed and second, drug wars broke out threatening the security of the new Yankee immigrants. These reverse wet-backs are in much better shape than others trying to survive this recession.

I was so moved by their story that I sent the TV station a dollar to pass on to the Minnick's to help with the high cost of health insurance and their dwindling 401K. Perhaps if enough people join me in this fundraiser we can get them a ticket back to Mexico. We all know Mexican health care is the best in the world. As I write this thousands of Gringo's are wading across the Rio Grande to get their MRI's and liver transplants.

A La-Z-Boy Will Survive

My way of coping with the Obama Recession has been to repair everything and replace nothing. The spirit of Alvin Dale has consumed me. From my 93 Oldsmobile to my ten year old Eureka upright I'm keeping everything churning.

This La-Z-Boy has been my friend for seventeen years. We had a Lane recliner that just wasn't as comfortable as my favorite La-Z-Boy. Like a seasoned wok this chair comes with its own flavor of my life. Bo likes to sleep on it, Simba would curl up behind it (she wasn't allowed in the living room but would sneak in after I started snoring and curl up behind me, as soon as my hand touched the handle she was back in the kitchen). I also have added to the ambience of the chair by sleeping in it for hours while the History Channel drones on.

The ratchet that allows the recliner to tilt far back just wore out. When I looked underneath it I found the arm rest covers and head cover that belies the original color of the fabric. I went to the La-Z-Boy website and found that parts are only available through dealers. Much to CP's chagrin I had her call them and to my surprise the parts were free; all I had to do was drive an hour to the outlet and pick them up. I'd like to thank President Obama for this CB moment. Without this recession I may have been tempted to buy a new La-Z-Boy. The new ones seem a bit more expensive and are a bit wider. They even have a self ejection model for those super lazy boys who have trouble returning to the verticle position. With luck my present recliner will last till I need the turbo model.

Co-Dependence Day

Usually on the Fourth of July I like to stand on my deck and fire off a couple of magazines through my Mini-14. This holiday I'll have to tone it down a bit. Since Obama emerged as the leading candidate the ammunition supply has dried up for ordinary citizens. I'm sure the Police and the Brown Shirts have all they desire. I thought, "Well, I'll go back to reloading." Wrong. All the dies for handgun cartridges are back-ordered and primers can't be found anywhere at any price. I usually shoot antique rifles (more than 100 years old) and have a lifetime supply of old military dies, bullets and cartridges. Wouldn't I look foolish walking through downtown Manhattan with a Martini Henry rifle from the Boer War strapped over my shoulder?

This is not your usual red-neck yahoo talk. I like to shoot like others enjoy golf. Are golfers having problems finding their favorite Tiltleist Pro V1 golf balls? I'm waiting to see how long this shortage lasts. I know there is a lot of hoarding going on since the country elected its first Kenyan Black Nationalist President, but the normal market forces should react to the shortage in a year. The increase in the price of ammunition makes the gasoline price increase look small. Defense rounds now cost about three dollars a round. Next time you're mugged you have to ask yourself if it's cheaper to hand over your watch or waste a bullet.

If the current shortage continues for another year I'll have to make a trip out to Nevada. There, on the family homestead, I have buried four PVC pipes full of ammo left over from the Clinton era. All those people that invested in gold should have put their money in handgun ammunition; its value has increased 200%. There is no reason for gun control if the government can control the ammunition and its components.

This year to celebrate the 4th I'm going to cast some lead bullets from wheel weights that the Midas guy saves for me. If you inhale enough lead vapor you can become stupid enough not to realize what's happening.