tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4766448249041816731.post8673479865615504013..comments2023-06-24T07:27:43.577-06:00Comments on Kate's American Life: The Challis Bipartisan List of 21 Things Government Should Do to Reform Health CareKatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15460904865132759494noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4766448249041816731.post-53640408371985678052010-03-20T14:47:00.530-06:002010-03-20T14:47:00.530-06:00Michael (not Mykle), the reason I kept stating &qu...Michael (not Mykle), the reason I kept stating "we like this because we think it's intelligent" was to drive home the point to my family that we don't think a certain thing because it's of one or another party line. I guess my intent was unclear. Sorry. I'm just a bit tired of my liberal family members thinking my politics are conservative because I married into a conservative family, and my conservative family members thinking my politics are liberal because I am from a liberal family (great, with that sentence, I have single-handedly managed to offend every single one of my relations who bothers to read the comments on my blog! I apologize in advance!). Our politics have to do with what makes intellectual sense to us. Sorry to come across as cocky. <br /><br />I think you also totally misconstrued my point about med school reform. There shouldn't be a limit on what doctors can learn, at all (did you read the part about mandatory continuing education for doctors so they can stay abreast of new discoveries, technologies, etc? I'm pretty sure that it already exists, actually. That isn't about limiting education?). If a doctor elects to go to extra school, go for it. <br /><br />The fact is that currently, all med students are required to ace organic chemistry and physics. Being a good doctor has nothing to do with acing organic chemistry/physics/etc., it's just a tradition that has been in our system since the early 1900's. We think the requirements should be reevaluated to reflect the realities of being a physician. We think that right now, to be an MD requires too many pointless years of school. School in itself does not increase one's intelligence.<br /><br />People always have and probably will always have the choice to go to either an ER or a UCF. I guess the way I see it is that the choice exists, but how much of a choice can you really qualify it as if people don't know about it? Free Agency requires multiple choices, and I guess I would qualify that as multiple choices that the chooser knows about. The reason I specified "unintelligent" and "ignorant" was not very nice, I'll admit. I do apologize for my snooty tone.<br /><br />Back to medicare: Maybe I don't quite understand the system completely. This is what I understand: medicaid is for the poor who don't have medicare, and medicare is for the elderly. Why can't we expand medicaid requirements to include more old people? As I understand it now, you are not eligible for medicaid if you are over a certain age. That makes no sense to me. Economic status and age don't have a corresponding relationship. Probably there will have to be somebody way smarter than me to figure out medicaid requirements, because yes, they probably SHOULD be more lenient for people who live from their retirement money and no longer work. But the current system, as I understand it, allows all kinds of people to be eligible for medicare even if they are wealthy enough to buy an insurance policy. But perhaps I do not understand the system? <br /><br />I think a co-op system would be GREAT for the elderly wealthy sector. The problem is that people who don't work can't get good insurance because they have to buy it on their own. But if a bunch of people with similar health problems went together, they could get coverage that would maximize their personal cost. Or it could be indemnity insurance, like Aflac.<br /><br />I don't begrudge people for being old! They are a vital generation in our society. I just don't see how age IN ITSELF should be a factor in providing Government aid. Explain to me why it should. I'm open to other opinions.Kate Challishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12635514280917316353noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4766448249041816731.post-41085331952957592152010-03-20T09:57:22.059-06:002010-03-20T09:57:22.059-06:00You have some good ideas, but the overall tone of ...You have some good ideas, but the overall tone of this comes off as being terribly elitist.<br /><br />"Unintelligent, illiterate, or uneducated people should be given a choice about going to the UCF."<br /><br />Really? Why can't we just say "people?" Punctuating that and all other sections with "We support this because we think it's intelligent," does not increase the appeal or writer/reader friendliness. We get it. You think you're intelligent--much more so than those poor imbeciles who need to be told about UCFs.<br /><br />Also, I totally disagree with your idea of capping the amount of learning that can happen at a med school. Doctors' jobs are to heal and save lives using methods based firmly on scientific inquiry. Learning how to do that takes a lot of time and money. Plus, I have a soft spot for Dr. House.<br /><br />The other really big thing that I completely disagree with is the abolishment of Medicare. I DO think that the elderly have a right to highly supplemented health care "Just because you're old." I do not think that institutionalized neglect of the aged is "intelligent" or moral. I have several near and far eastern religious leaders backing me up on this. If we don't help the people who need health care the most, and for whom it is most expensive, why even bother with any kind of health care legislation?<br /><br />All that said, I really do think you have several well-argued and valid and genuinely helpful points--most of which I had never considered before.<br /><br />But jeez, Kate.<br /><br />Intelligence is over-rated, anyway.Michael Wyatthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00003444910891591389noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4766448249041816731.post-91113358515580297342010-03-17T16:20:18.003-06:002010-03-17T16:20:18.003-06:00This is awesome. I'm linking to you guys from ...This is awesome. I'm linking to you guys from my blog-- these are awesome. I think I have similar sentiments almost all of these-- with the possible exception of abortion, just for reason that it's a complex issue and I'm not sure exactly where I stand yet. I had not heard about the Health Insurance Co-op idea, but dang I'd love to see that happen. I feel that major parts of our health care problem are the lack of a free market, and the lack of pricing transparency. I love having intelligent in-laws/relatives.<br />You guys rock.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com