Neighborhood Ministries

I had Polio at age two. For two days my life hung by a thread. I lived but was paralyzed from the waist down until a nurse developed physical therapy to restore muscle function. I was finally able to walk again after six years on crutches and in braces. I was one on the fortunate ones. Millions of children died from Polio and millions more were crippled for life. The Polio vaccine saved millions of children and their families from the disease but came 10 years too late for me. Children should get vaccinated against major diseases but I sometimes think they get too many too fast. Vaccines using live or dead viruses are a great life saver but the ones developed for Covid are artificial not real vaccines. They were never fully tested to how the body would react and may have done more damage then good. We need answers and have not been getting them. Maybe now we will with someone in charge who is interested in getting answers, not kickbacks.

The United States is no longer in the top 20 in life expectancy. The main causes are cardiovascular  disease, drug overdose deaths, gun homicides and suicides, teen suicides, and car accidents. Drug overdoses, gun homicides and suicides, and teen suicides result from the increasing frustration and hopelessness that stems from our failing society. The increase in car accidents results from the growing breakdown in respect for the law. We are seeing an increasing number of people ignoring speed limits, traffic signals, and other motor vehicle laws, as well as driving recklessly and tailgating, even at high speeds, as people no longer value life, their own as well as that of others. We will continue to see a decreasing length of life as long as we ignore the true value of life and the rule of law.

Kamala Harris is proposing a national health care system similar to the one she pushed in her home State. It would expand Obamacare to complete coverage for everyone under one system. Canada has one and it has been failing for years with delays in treatment for months for critical care and longer for routine care. Many Canadians come to the United States for treatment even though they have to pay out of their own pocket. In England a lot of people die every day waiting for emergency care and their system is so overwhelmed they have proposed supplementing the system with a series of private clinics. While proponents claims it makes care available to everyone,  it forces health care providers to get approval from government boards that weigh the cost against benefit and reject a lot of care to those who are critically ill or injured or are elderly, as not worth the cost. It results in endless delays due to layers of authorizations, and it depersonalizes care as decisions are made by government review boards and patients are seen as units rather than individuals. It is also not flexible enough to meet individual needs. While they say it cuts the cost of care to the individual, the true cost is hidden in taxes and the cost of health care increases as it adds layers of government bureaucracies.

A majority of coverage in the United states is still private insurance but Obamacare has increased the shift to government covered care. Canada is  now illustrating the natural progression many European countries have already experienced. As health care cost continue to rise and more companies fold, the government gains a monopoly and costs continue to rise. While insurance companies have to keep costs down to keep premiums affordable so they don’t lose customers to other providers, they have  to pay health care providers enough that they will continue to accept the insurance. They may not pay for services which they don’t feel are necessary but have to approve enough to insure the patient gets the care they need to keep them as a customer. The government doesn’t have to worry about its customers leaving because there is no other affordable policies for their client. We are already seeing many healthcare providers who refuse to accept Medicare and Medicaid because they don’t get reimbursed enough and have high costs for paperwork involved in getting paid. Service providers will often drop out due to the long delays in getting paid. That will result in long delays in getting care from the remaining providers. As costs increase, the government has to restrict services to control escalating costs. Government workers charged with approving payments are pressured to deny services which they don’t feel will be cost effective, which means those who are elderly or mentally challenged, as well as those with severe or life threatening injuries or illnesses.  Some patients will die without care while others will be encouraged to accept having their life terminated. Assisted suicides are spiraling out of control in Canada and in European countries. In addition, physicians will be encouraged to terminate the patient’s life without consulting them.