It is good to see people talking about changes to health care, not only the payment for health care but also the delivery of services.

It is interesting to see that most of the discussion centers around how to steal money from one or more groups to pay for someone else’s health care.

Next thing you know there will be groups wanting others to pay their mortgages. Oh you say that is already being considered. Well where have I been?

By the way, I am looking for someone to pay my car payment, and while they are at it I really would like to have a better car or at least a more expensive one, I also would like to visit Starbuck’s twice a day rather than once a week or so that I can afford, and certainly not the last thing I would like someone else to pay for is a week in some different, exotic vacation spot every month. Who wants to volunteer?

If you want to fix the health care system then you really have to look into history and see what groups have had negative impacts on health care and how the financing is accomplished. Then start to work on changes.

Check this out, as you should everything that impacts your life, but I think the medical insurance industry got major impetus during the “New Deal” and World War II, when wage and price controls were in effect, however, employers could add certain programs to their workers income that were not considered cash income. These programs did not put cash directly in the employee’s pockets that they could use to buy consumer goods and services. This would have driven prices up due to the scarcity of autos and a host of other products. I believe this led to the over use of the insurance, because if there is something you can have and you don’t have to pay for it then you think it is your right to have as much as possible.

This is now coming full circle; major and not so major companies are looking for someone to pay for the health care for retirees that they had promised to pay for life. Now of course when they originally made those promises health care was much less expensive.

This isn’t the only area that needs some changes. Thinking back over the 14 years or so that I have had Type 2 diabetes I cannot remember a cure for this situation. When I visit my personal physician everyone rejoices, but me. He says, “We have to get the glucose reading down, there’s a new pill for that, your blood pressure is a little above the recommended pressure that has just been reduced by someone, there’s a new pill for that, and your cholesterol is too high there’s two new pills for that, so after adding three or four new prescriptions to my over medicated life, I go to the pharmacist who is very happy to see me.

Even the insurance company is happy to see these transactions. They no doubt own interests in the drug companies and if my costs are two high they raise the premiums next time around. So everyone is happy? Even the side effects are happy.

Then I tell my M.D. who is in the “practice” of medicine that some day he may get enough practice so that he can really be a healer, not just be a pill pusher. Of course, my attorney, my accountant, my dentist, my foot doctor, and others are all just practicing.

Then there are the governments at all levels whose interest in health and medical care has nothing really to do with health or medical care. It has more to do with getting votes.