Category Archives: Health Care

The health of our citizens

What Voters want

Broken in the USA, Economics, Government Issues, Health Care

What Voters want but Congress will never approve:

 Almost 100% of voters want lower health care costs. Per Capita Healthcare costs are the highest in the world, despite not being even close to the best. In the USA about 1/3 of the costs are paid by the Government (Medicare & Medicaid), 1/3 by companies via benefits, and 1/3 by patients in the form of deductibles, premiums, and co-pays.

The issue that we have failed to address is the COST of Healthcare which is more than double the EU average. As of 2023, our per capita cost stands at over $13K. Compare this to many other “developed” countries, chart below:

Location20182019202020212022
 United States10,44710,85311,91612,19712,555
 Canada5,3375,2235,8796,2786,319
 Denmark5,3075,3605,6976,3726,280
 New Zealand3,9134,2504,4694,9216,061
 Ireland4,8774,9765,3785,8616,047
 Finland4,3304,3844,6155,2525,676
 United Kingdom4,1884,3894,9985,4675,493
 Iceland4,2364,3184,6325,1075,314
 Japan4,5544,6114,6204,8995,251
 South Korea3,0673,2913,5904,1894,570
 Czech Republic3,1293,2723,8044,3034,499
 Spain3,4273,5283,7164,0874,462
 Italy3,4963,5653,7534,0434,291
 Portugal3,1343,2243,3553,8304,162

Numerous political contributors have their hands in the bountiful healthcare pie: The Drug Industry, the Legal industry, physicians, hospitals and the Insurance Industry. In addition, the structure of the system is inefficient and broken. Solutions are available but they would significantly reduce political contributions.

Support for Term Limits is universal among voters and breaches political, geographic and demographic divides. Eight-in-ten voters, 80%, approve of placing term limits on members of Congress (House & Senate).

Campaign Spending ((70 – 85%) [depending on the party] of campaign financing comes from either a small number of large amount contributors or from Political Action Committees. PACs are controlled by special interest groups. Special interest groups have a very targeted agenda and often it is not one that benefits the common good.)    Most Americans favor spending limits for political campaigns. Roughly seven in ten U.S. adults (72%) say that there should be limits on how much money individuals and organizations can spend on political campaigns. Just 11% say individuals and organizations should be able to spend as much money as they want, 

  • Two in three Americans — 65% — say that they trust the government less because big donors to Super PACs have more influence than regular voters. More than two-thirds of all respondents — 68% — agreed that a company that spent $100,000 to help elect a member of Congress could successfully pressure him or her to change a vote on proposed legislation. Only one in five respondents disagreed.
  • More than three-quarters of all respondents — 77% — agreed that members of Congress are more likely to act in the interest of a group that spent millions to elect them than to act in the public interest. Only 10% disagreed.
  • Americans overwhelmingly say that the cost of political campaigns makes it hard for good people to run for office. More than eight in ten Americans (85%) say this is a good description of the U.S. political system today, including identical shares of Republicans and Democrats.

 The Majority (60%) of voters favor the popular vote over the Electoral College for Presidential Elections. The EC fails to provide “proportional” representation.

I could not find research on Congressional perks, but a vote around our “coffee club” table was unanimous. Members of Congress should receive the same vacation, healthcare, and all other benefits as the rest of Government workers.

Again, I was not able to find online research regarding Political Lobbyists, but If I was king, they would be outlawed.

One other issue I could find not polls on was the length of time allowed for campaigning for national elections. Again our coffee club was unanimous that campaign periods need to be restricted (shortened). My suggestion would be 3 months.

One final issue is the so-called “Flat Income Tax”. Not surprisingly, the consensus among voters has not been favorable. Democrats are less favorable than most on this because proposals have advanced a very “regressive” approach which places an increased burden on the lower and lower to middle Income earners. The solution to this is simple, initiate 3 to 5 flat tax brackets based on Gross Income with higher income earners paying a higher %. All itemized deductions would be eliminated. Only short-term capital gains would be taxed at the same rate as income. Long Term Capital Gains and Dividends would not be taxed.

An example of a married couple filing jointly (% are just suggestions):

Income range                      Flat Tax Rate

$40,000 – $99,999                  5%

$100,000 – $249,999         10%

$250,000 – $499,999         15%

$500,000 – $999,999         20%

Over $1,000,000                25%

The economic benefits of this approach are enormous. It would eliminate costs for activities that do nothing to advance productivity. The IRS could be reduced by more than 80%. About 90% of taxpayers would no longer be required to file a return as their tax would be paid automatically by payroll deduction.  Tax preparation costs would be almost eliminated.

One final comment. House members are elected for only two years which I propose is ridiculous. Staggered four-year terms (one-fourth of the positions each year) would be much more productive for our country and save millions of dollars.

Die Glocke and the Acorn

Health Care

The Kecksburg incident, a Pennsylvania UFO mystery, has intrigued many. On December 9, 1965, thousands of people across six U.S. states and Ontario reported seeing a fireball streak across the afternoon sky. In Kecksburg, Pennsylvania, residents witnessed a crash in the nearby woods. U.S. military personnel swiftly arrived, sealed off the area, and allegedly removed a large object on a flatbed truck. Official statements attributed the fireball and crash to a mid-sized meteor, denying any recovery from the woods.

However, witnesses who arrived before the military described seeing a bronze-colored, acorn-shaped object roughly the size of a VW Beetle (14’ long and 6 ‘ wide)

. This mysterious object bore markings resembling Egyptian hieroglyphics. Spectators were forcefully turned away by armed military personnel when they tried to approach the site for a better look. Stories circulated about Men in Black-style officials warning Kecksburg residents to keep quiet about what they saw.

The Kecksburg mystery has spawned various theories, including:

  • Alien spacecraft: Some believe it was an extraterrestrial vehicle that landed in the woods.
  • Russian satellite debris: Others posit that it was a piece from the spacecraft Kosmos 96, which reentered Earth’s atmosphere that same day after a failed attempt to reach Venus.
  • Misfired missile or time-traveling Nazi aircraft: These theories add to the intrigue surrounding the incident.

A particularly sinister aspect involves reporter John Murphy, who arrived early and claimed to have taken photos of the object. His radio documentary, titled “Object in the Woods,” described what he saw and his subsequent investigation. However, government officials allegedly confiscated his photos, and

the edited version of the documentary omitted any mention of the mysterious object. Tragically, Murphy died in an apparent hit-and-run accident while vacationing in California.

It was reported that Die Glocke was bell-shaped, about 4 meters (13 ft) high and 3 meters (9.7 ft) in diameter, and incorporated “two high-speed, counter-rotating cylinders filled with a purplish, liquid metallic-looking substance that was supposed to be highly radioactive, code-named ‘Xerum 525.'”

Personal Health

Broken in the USA, Health Care

Very early on with this Blog, I posted about personal health and solutions. Since that time our rate of obesity has increased to over 42% and per capita healthcare costs have almost doubled. I am the first to point out the shortcomings of our system which are facilitated and protected by our government but we need to also understand that we are significant contributors (at the personal level) to the outrageous cost of medicine in our country.

For that reason I feel compelled to rerun some of the posts from my earlier effort;

“Obesity has been cited as a contributing factor to approximately 100,000–400,000 deaths in the United States per year and has increased health care use and expenditures, costing society an estimated $117 billion in direct (preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services related to weight) and indirect (absenteeism, loss of future earnings due to premature death) costs. This exceeds health-care costs associated with smoking or problem drinking and accounts for 6% to 12% of national health care expenditures in the United States.”

Solutions are available and all it takes is a modicum of effort:

“By now I suspect you are beginning to understand the issue. As Americans, we eat quite a lot. I wonder how we do on exercise? It is estimated that the average person takes about 10,000 steps a day. While this is not considered incremental “exercise”, it does add to your calorie burn. This activity will burn about 350 incremental calories, so now we are up to 1,850. Only about 15% of Americans have a scheduled exercise period beyond normal activity. The recommendation for all of us is a minimum of 30 minutes of any sort of exercise that will raise your heart rate by at least 50%. If your normal heart rate is 60 bpm then you need to raise it to 90. Brisk walking at 4 mph will accomplish this. You do not have to pay for a gym to walk! This will burn another 300 calories, so now we are up to 2,150. Need some motivation to commit to this 30 minutes a day?

If you have yet to watch the video “23 ½ hrs.” please take a few minutes to do so:

A common comment is: “I’m a very busy person. I can’t spare even 30 minutes a day for exercise.” I have two suggestions for this person:

  1. Most people are lacking in time management skills. Unless time management is already incorporated into your daily activities then I would bet you are missing out on at least 30 minutes of daily time (probably closer to an hour). If you have not taken advantage of this skill set, do so.
  2. Set number one above aside. All of us need at least 30 minutes a day of alone time where we just plan and think things through. Pick an exercise activity that allows you to multi-task (both exercise & plan/think at the same time).

About ingestion of calories

However, we still have a problem and that is? You know this one as well………. We just eat too darn much food! Based on the averages we would need to exercise almost 3 hours a day to avoid gaining weight and that is not going to happen. There is no way around it, we must shrink our stomachs and learn to eat less. The average American needs to eat about 1,000 calories fewer a day, even with the recommended 30 minutes of exercise!”

A tip that works for me: I never consume more than 4 ounces of meat or fish at any time and keep my total consumption at 8 ounces or less. If I have prepared too much I will put the overage in the fridge and have it a few hours later as a snack or as leftovers to supplement my next meal. This keeps my stomach to a reasonable size and helps curtail appetite (at least for me).