Two Lessons to be LearnedNatasha Richardson and Socialized Medicine*****When the news first broke of the accident that precipitated the death of Natasha Richardson, my first thought was, "Why are they driving her around bumpy roads when it is clear she needs a chunk taken out of her skull in order to relieve the pressure that will surely kill her if left untreated?"
*****My second thought was, "Ah oh, she's in Canada (Quebec to be exact), and that doesn't bode well for her receiving the treatment she needs." Not because Canadian doctors are less well trained than other doctors, or care less about their patients. No, it's because Canada has socialized medicine, the very thing our current President wants to cram down our throats, and it
doesn't work.*****The average Canadian pays more in taxes to provide "free" health care than any private insurer would charge for the same level of care, which under the best of circumstances is pretty poor. If a Canadian can afford to come to the states to have needed tests or treatment, they do so. If they can't afford that option, oh well.
*****Natasha Richardson died because there was no helicopter available to fly her to a hospital that could run the necessary tests and drill a hole in her skull. I think as reports continue to come out over the next few days, my thoughts will be confirmed. Natasha was beyond help by the time she entered the second hospital in Montreal. She was simply put on life support and flown back to the states so her family could make their last farewells.
*****Is there an option to socialized medicine? Yes. Will it work? Yes. Will we ever see it? No. We won't see it because over the last 40 or 50 years, the people of this country have been led down the path of socialization which breeds dependency. It started with Aid to Women with Dependent Children, a system designed to provide medical care for (in most cases) women with children born out of wedlock. That was the first time our government became responsible for essentially rewarding bad behavior in the guise of "protecting the children." Then came the idea that businesses should be responsible for providing health care for its employees.
*****Now we have gotten to the point where our citizens think it is their "right" to have health care and most importantly, that someone else should foot the bill. News flash for all of you. Health care is not a "right." Our Constitution includes no references whatsoever for the provision of health care.
*****When I was a young girl, families paid for what was called a "catastrophic health care" policy. It was designed to cover, well, a catastrophe. If you needed to see a doctor for that vexing hangnail you acquired working in your garden, you paid for an office call with
your money. Well, guess what? You figured out very quickly that trimming the hangnail yourself might be a good idea.
*****Now we have emergency rooms used as primary care facilities in order to treat that nasty hang nail. I have spoken to people who one would regard as being in the upper ranges of intelligence, who will look you in the eye and say, "but it's free!" No, it's not "free". We are all paying with lower wages and higher costs for products. And as costs go up, taxes go up, innovation goes down, equipment becomes old and obsolete, doctors become scarcer, and people die from hang nails for lack of a helicopter.
*****Get employers out of the health care business, return to a simple system of catastrophic coverage easily paid for (with money left over), out of the higher salary you will earn because your employer is not burdened with the cost and administration of your health care.
Second and Most Important Lesson
*****Natasha Richardson traveled to Quebec for a relaxing and fun vacation with her husband and children. She did not for one second think
(I'm guessing) that on that beautiful morning when she hit the slopes it would be her last morning on earth. God told us we would not know the time of His second coming. We are also, in most cases, not going to know when our last day will happen. We are to be watchful and prepared.
*****Are we to live in fear? No, our faith should fill us with hope and gratitude for the gifts we have been given through grace. But we should be watchful and always remember that the end of our earthly existence may come when we least expect it.
*****In his spiritual exercises, Ignatius outlined two ways of making a good choice. The fourth rule of the second way is:
******I should picture and reflect on myself standing in the presence of my Judge on the last day, and consider what election (choice) in the present matter I would then wish to have made. I will now choose that rule of life that I would then wish to have observed, that on the day of judgement I may be filled with happiness and joy. Tetlow, Spiritual
Exercises, pp60-61
Socialized Medicine: The Canadian Experience
by Pierre Lemieux
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A Canadian Doctor Describes How Socialized Medicine Doesn't WorkBy DAVID GRATZER I was once a believer in socialized medicine. As a Canadian, I had soaked up the belief that government-run health care was truly compassionate. What I knew about American health care was unappealing: high expenses and lots of uninsured people. read more
