Weighing in on Health Care

National Health Care. It's a topic on many people's minds. Typically, the most vocal either strongly approve of a entire system overhaul, with a public option available, or vehemently oppose such actions in the name of a free market with little or no government control, involvement, spending, etc.... Where do I stand? At one point in my life, it would have been a no-brainer, landing solely on the side of the free market. However, after some life experience, I've gotten to where it is a no-brainer on the other side. I read a very interesting opinion the other day by Nicholas Kristof, which is summarized succinctly in this paragraph:

"Throughout the industrialized world, there are a handful of these areas where governments fill needs better than free markets: fire protection, police work, education, postal service, libraries, health care. The United States goes along with this international trend in every area but one: health care."

That needs to change. It's time to dump the entire profit-driven system for a patient-driven system. Right now, as an active-duty member of the US military, we have excellent health-care benefits that focus on the patient, and not on making dollars. The result is my family is healthier than we've been in years. In fact, before joining the military, due to lack of insurance options that were affordable, our family went for 7 years without any insurance. We are very lucky that there were no major illnesses or accidents that would have left us with a lifetime of financial ruin, an all too common tale in this amazing country, and in fact one of leading causes of bankruptcy. To me, this issue is not monetary, but moral. It is not at all surprising that many of the people voicing the biggest complaints about this needed reform are those who would be losing out on health-care related profits. To those who don't want government involvement, this is a system that is already highly subsidized by the government, with heavy tax breaks given for employers offering health-care to their workers, and insurance companies reaping the profits. To conclude, another quote from the same article referenced above:

"I just don’t understand why we may be about to reject health reform and stick with a dysfunctional system that takes away the health coverage of hard-working Americans when they become too sick to work...America may reject reform and stick with a system that drives families into bankruptcy when they get sick. Let’s hope we won’t miss this chance. A public role in health care shouldn’t be any scarier or more repugnant than a public fire department."

All of the opposition is bewildering. And unfortunate.

Finally back blogging

It's amazing how much free time I don't have anymore. During the last couple years of my PhD dissertation, I would start an experiment, and at times have 3-4 hours of waiting for it to be finished. This was quite conducive to blog writing. After finally completing all of my data collection, I was then "writing" my dissertation for 4-5 months, which meant hours of my day were spent sitting at my desk, staring at my laptop, wanting to shove a pencil into my eye, and instead wasting time surfing the internet and writing my blog. So now, I've got a real job. I'm using my education and truly love what I'm doing. And now, not as much time to blog. But, as I looked back on previous posts, I found them humorous, cathartic, and sometimes very narrow minded and realized that I needed to have this outlet again. Plus, any type of writing practice is good. This year is flying by. I have been extremely busy at work up until a couple weeks ago, and I leave tomorrow for 2-weeks of vacation. After that, things will be fairly hectic until the end of the year. I'm approaching several milestones in life. In the next 8 months, my son will turn 12, which means he officially moves from being a kid to a pre-teen. When he first asked me for a cell phone (when he was 7), I told him he had to wait until he was 12. And trust me, he hasn't forgotten my promise. Also, my youngest starts kindergarten. This means all of my kids are in school. For the first time in 12 years, my wife will have no children at home for several hours each day. She will really miss having the kids around, but is also looking forward to her new found freedom. A third milestone is my 35th birthday. I mean, that's old. I don't feel that old. Though I suppose I'm not sure what I thought being 35 would feel like. Working at a university, it is easy to feel young. I'm surrounded by 18-22 year olds. It really hit me the other day how long it's actually been since I was that old when I saw some pictures of a high school acquaintance who was attending their own kids graduation (granted, this woman got pregnant our sophomore year, but still). But, I look at what I've got. Degrees from two great universities. A loving wife of nearly 13 years. Three great kids. A job that the longer I'm here, the more it feels like the job I always dreamed of. Life has been good to me these last 16 years since I left home. To celebrate all of these milestones, I've decided to run a half-marathon. The last couple of months, I've been re-building my cardiovascular fitness and at the same time losing the bulk of my dissertation weight. Starting at the end of August, I will really start training, with the race on October 31 in Miami Beach. I have set a goal of 1 hour 45 minutes, which means I'll have to run 8:00/miles for 13.1 miles. This is definitely feasible, but I need to stay focused on my training and my nutrition. Well, next time will come sooner and I hope to start talking about all of these amazing issues that we're facing as a nation - health care, investing, caring for the poor, weapons of mass destruction, and so many other interesting things. Until then.