Christian Data Resources

Health Care Costs Are Too High

Sen. Coburn:  “Cost is the number one thing that’s keeping people from getting care.  We should go to those areas where the cost is wasted, with a patient-centered, market-oriented approach.  Just on fraud and tort reform, we could cut costs by 15 percent tomorrow, and that’s for everybody in the country.” 

Rep. (Dr.) Boustany:  “We need to simplify, streamline, and standardize all the paperwork that’s involved because … it you away from patient care. It interferes with the doctor-patient relationship. It runs up cost in medical practices. 

Doctors are Performing Bad Medicine

Senator (Dr.) Coburn:  “… actually performing bad medicine…  We get stuck in the idea of treating the symptom rather than treating the disease.  One out of every three dollars that gets spent doesn’t help anybody get well and doesn’t prevent anybody from getting sick.  33 percent of the cost in health care shouldn’t be there…  We don’t do a good job of prevention.” 

Government Intervention is Driving Up Costs

Sen. Coburn:  “The government now directs over 60 percent of the health care in this country.  And if throwing money at it and creating new government programs could solve it, we wouldn’t be sitting here today because we’ve done all that, it hasn’t worked.” 
 
We Need to Reduce the Fraud

Sen. Coburn:  “15 to 20 percent of government-run health care is fraud ($150B).  If we fixed fraud, we could cut (total) health care costs by 7.5 percent.” 

Congressman Andrews:  “We should have a database–if you’ve committed fraud against Medicare once, you can’t make a contract again.” 

Sen. Schumer:  “How many times, when you look at your medical bill, you’ve undergone a minor procedure, and you see Dr. Smith, $4,000, and you sort of vaguely remember he just waved and poked his head in the door?” 

“Right now there’s some salesman talking to some doctor and saying, hey, my company will finance a machine for you for a million dollars, so you don’t have to pay for it, you can gradually pay it. We’ll show you how to fill it up all the time and you’ll increase your income by $200,000. And there’s another machine three blocks away that’s already working and available.” 

We Need Tort Reform

Sen. Coburn:  “A large portion of the tests we order every day aren’t for patients, they’re for doctors.  The reason they’re there is because we are risk-averse to the tort system and extortion system.  Between $625 billion and $850 billion a year of health care dollars are wasted.” 

We Need to Be Better Consumers of Health Care

Sen. Barrasso:  “Sometimes the people with catastrophic plans are the people that are the best consumers of health care.  A lot of people come in and say, “My knee hurts.  Maybe I should get an MRI.  Will my insurance cover it?”  That’s the first question.  And if I say, Yes,” then they say, “Okay, let’s do it.”  If I say, “No,” then they say, “Well, what will it going to cost?”  And what it costs ought to be the first question.  And that’s why sometimes people with catastrophic problem — catastrophic health plans ask the best questions, shop around, are the best consumers of health care.” 

“Half of all the money we spend in this country on health care is on just 5 percent of the people. Those are people, for the most part, that eat too much, exercise too little, and smoke. And as a result, we need to focus on those people. So the focus ought to be on the best possible care.
People are happy with the quality of care they get, the availability, but they sure don’t like the affordability because it’s not affordable.

This Bill is Not Equitable (Transparency)

Sen. McCAIN:  “This product was produced behind closed doors with unsavory deal-making: the ‘Louisiana Purchase,’ fining them $300 million for one state; the ‘Cornhusker Kickback,’ which has, I understand now, been done away with… the carveout for 800,000 Florida seniors exempt from cuts in Medicare Advantage program. There’s 330,000 seniors under Medicare Advantage in my home state of Arizona. They’re deeply concerned about that. They’re deeply concerned about the carveouts for Vermont, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Michigan, Connecticut.” 

Sen. Kyl:  “You don’t help small businesses by raising the Medicare payroll tax on them, which is what this legislation does. Besides that, it’s a job killer. ”

This bill raises taxes on the middle class.  Currently, medical expenses are deductible only to the extent that they exceed 7.5% of one’s adjusted gross income, and this bill raises that to 10%.  Of all things, 100% of medical expenses should be deductible–even before a mortgage, charitable giving, etc. 

Insurance Companies Aren’t the Main Problem

Sen. Alexander:  “If we took all the profits of the health insurance companies entirely away, we could pay for only two days of the health insurance of Americans.” 

Summary

- We need to lower health care costs, through reduction of fraud, tort reform, choice and competition in the free market, purchasing insurance across state lines, and using (high) risk pools to deal with preexisting conditions. 

- We shouldn’t be fooled into thinking that the President’s health care summit suddenly added transparency to this issue.  As Rep. said, “Never have so many members of the House and Senate behaved so well for so long before so many television cameras.” 

- We need to hold our politicians accountable.  The President told Sen. McCain that “we’re not campaigning anymore. The election is over.”  Sen. McCain should have replied, “Yes, but elections don’t release politicians from the promises that they made during their campaigns.

In the health care debate, we often hear both sides touting the “fact” that the U.S. has the best health care in the world, but the facts show that this simply isn’t true.  According to the most recent study by the World Health Organization, the U.S. ranks 37th, behind most European countries.  (See below for the list of the top 37 countries.) 

Now, we can say that we’re in first place in terms of health care spending per capita.  This also puts us in first place for getting the least return on our health care dollars–spending so much to get so little.   (See http://christiandataresources.com/bibleblog/do-we-really-have-the-best-health-care-system-in-the-world/.)  No doubt we also have the wealthiest doctors and insurance companies in the world, and the most complex system of acquiring and using our health insurance. 

If our health care system was the best in the world, we wouldn’t still rank 39th for infant mortality, 43rd for adult female mortality, 42nd for adult male mortality, and 36th for life expectancy.  Among developed countries, the U.S. ranks last  in limiting preventable deaths (2008).  Why do we still have so many impoverished patients?  We simply need:  lower costs, easier access, and more bang for our buck. 

So, here’s who has the best health care in the world: 

1         France
2         Italy
3         San Marino
4         Andorra
5         Malta
6         Singapore
7         Spain
8         Oman
9         Austria
10        Japan
11        Norway
12        Portugal
13        Monaco
14        Greece
15        Iceland
16        Luxembourg
17        Netherlands
18        United  Kingdom
19        Ireland
20        Switzerland
21        Belgium
22        Colombia
23        Sweden
24        Cyprus
25        Germany
26        Saudi Arabia
27        United  Arab  Emirates
28        Israel
29        Morocco
30        Canada
31        Finland
32        Australia
33        Chile
34        Denmark
35        Dominica
36        Costa Rica
37        United States of America

For more info, just Google “best health care in the world.” 

OK, I may have just discovered the epitome of stupidity concerning airport security.  Just how stringent does security have to become before we start applying a little common sense to the process? 

The plethora of restrictions and procedures have already vastly changed the air travel experience.  It used to be a pleasurable and convenient way to cover a lot of miles in a short amount of time.  Now, if the trip is less than 500 miles, it’s probably faster (and far less stressful) just to drive, instead of arriving at the airport two hours early, waiting in multiple lines, sitting on the tarmac, etc. 

Sure, we’ve gradually become accustomed to inconveniences, such as: 

- Showing our photo ID up to four different times while walking through the same line. 

- Throwing away a beverage container because it contained more than 3.4 oz. of natural spring water (and then paying $5 for a “secure” bottle of water, after passing through the security checkpoints). 

- Taking off our shoes before walking through the metal detector, and then leaning up against a wall to put them back on again–increasing the delays for billions of passengers over the years, ever since one guy set his shoes on fire. 

Well, this morning, our daughter-in-law was passing through a security checkpoint with our ten-month-old granddaughter.  Have you guessed it yet?  At the security checkpoint, she was required to remove the baby’s shoes and pass them through the X-ray machine! 

Now, let’s even put aside any thoughts about inconvenience, or even health considerations for the baby.  For a moment, let’s consider only common sense.  Obviously, the baby’s shoes are miniature versions of adult shoes.  They’re only about three inches long.  Even is someone did have ill-conceived plans for those shoes, and even if the shoes were large enough to somehow establish a threat, two thoughts came to mind: 

First of all, any adult could have easily dropped this pair of shoes into his/her shirt pocket, and walked through the metal detector, without having the shoes subjected to the X-ray machine. 

Also, if the thin soles of the baby shoes had indeed imposed some threat, then the same threat could be imposed by a variety of objects that routinely escape the X-ray machine, such as belts, shirt collars, etc.  What’s next?  Will these items soon be scrutinized just as closely? 

Oh, no!  That brings to mind the “Underwear Bomber” whose plans were thwarted last Christmas Day.   I wonder if plans are underway to outlaw underwear.

All work is sacred to God.  The work of a missionary is no more sacred than that of a man or woman with a secular job, such as working on an assembly line.  In both cases, if that person is using his spiritual gifts by doing the work that God designed him to do, then he will find satisfaction in his job.  Meanwhile, he will not dread going to work because he is doing what he enjoys, what he’s good at, and what glorifies God. 

Many people don’t enjoy their work.  This should be a clue that they’re not in the job that God designed them for, and they should make a change.  However, we often have problems figuring out what God has called us to do.  This is especially true for young people just entering the work force.  There are three things that can help in this process: 

1) Each of us needs to decide what we’re good at, and what we love.  Too often we simply choose a job or a career based upon how much money we can make to buy all of the toys that we want.  God has given each of us specific gifts and abilities, and if we can recognize them and put them to proper use, then we will indeed glorify God, and in the meantime we will find gratification in our work. 

2) Younger people need to be able to depend upon older people for guidance.  When I went to college, I had no real career guidance.  I decided to be a software engineer, and I believe that it’s only by the providence of God that I chose the correct career path for myself.  However, I sometimes wonder if I should have pursued an advanced degree, and spent my life in research and development.  At the same time, I wonder if I should have spent less time on my formal education, and chosen, say, diesel mechanics as a profession.  Nobody was there to talk me through these various possibilities. 

3) Once we’ve found the right position for ourselves, we need to learn not to deviate from it.  When we enter a particular career, we will notice people in other jobs.  Some make more money than we do, and others might seem to enjoy their work more than we do.  We shouldn’t deviate from the right career path by trying to make more money, or by trying to do a job that is better suited for others.  If God made you to be an assembly line worker, and you’re offered a position in management, turn it down.  Don’t compromise by trying to make more money in a job where you will be lacking the required abilities (and gratification). 

We need to decide what we love and what we can do well, and then do that thing well.  If you’re a young person, make sure that you have explored all of your opportunities.  If you’re an older person, make yourself available to younger people, so that they can learn from your experiences, and your mistakes.

The Bible indicates that we should tolerate any problems that we might have by looking forward to the most important things.  Hebrews 12:2 says, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” 

As God, Jesus Christ created the faith that we have in Him, along with His perfect plan of salvation, so that we can spend eternity with Him (John 3:16). 

As a man, Christ endured the shame of the cross by looking forward to the joy of sitting down at the right hand of the throne of God the Father.   

Jesus should be our example.  Whenever we encounter (relatively minor) problems, we need to think of the joy that we will have in eternity with God.

Today I received one of those cute e-mails that circulates among family and friends.  It was about the responses from very young children when they were asked what love is.  I realize that we’re supposed to just appreciate these e-mails and pass them along, but this one included some very profound truths, “from the mouths of babes.” 

There is a lot of misunderstanding about what love is.  However, in Biblical terms, there are three types of love:  friendship love; sexual love; and, Godly love.  The childrens’ responses actually addressed all three types. 

Many of the children talked about love in terms of affection.  One child said, “Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.”  This indicates a friendship type of love, where we enjoy each other’s company, and we like to do things together, even if we have to overlook some of the faults of the other person. 

Another child said, “Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.”  This is also friendship love, which can even exist in a young child’s relationship with his pet, as well as in his relationships with other people. 

One of the children had a different kind of response when she said, “Love is when you kiss all the time.  Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.”  This indicates a sexual type of love, in addition to a friendship type of love.  This child was describing a man and a woman who love each other in a physical / sexual way, and she also noticed that they were good friends–enjoying each other’s company and conversation. 

Then this e-mail addressed the type of love that the Bible refers to as Godly love (”agape”)–a mental attitude free of any bitterness or ill will.  Some of the children captured this type of love in their responses.  One said, “Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” 

Another child said, “Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your french fries without making them give you any of theirs.” 

If you love someone, you are truly willing to pursue the welfare of that person.  This means that you want what’s best for them, to the extent that you’re willing to make sacrifices so that person can indeed have what’s best for them.  The examples about sharing food with someone you love does indeed indicate this sacrificial type of love. 

The e-mail also included the following story from author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia: 

A four-year-old child’s next-door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.  Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.  When his Mother later asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry.” 

C.S. Lewis said that when you love someone, you want to take that person’s suffering onto yourself. In fact, 1 John 3:16-17 says, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” 

Perhaps the best description of Godly love was from a child who said, “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore.  So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.” 

Although many people misunderstand what love is, I believe that this child definitely had the right idea.  This grandfather had a mental attitude of Godly love toward his wife.  He wanted what was best for his wife.  I’m sure that painting toenails wasn’t one of his favorite hobbies.  Like most men, he probably didn’t even understand how painted toenails could be very important at all, in the grand scheme of things.  Yet, he knew that it was important to his wife.  So, he was not only willing to perform this act of love for her, but he also did it repeatedly.  He even showed that his love for his wife was sacrificial.  Even when “his hands got arthritis too,” he endured the pain, just so that his wife could have painted toenails. 

I believe that the key to this Godly love is the characteristic of being unselfish.  If a husband truly loves his wife, he doesn’t find faults in her; neither in the things she enjoys, nor where she might have failed to live up to his expectations.  Instead, he unselfishly wants her to have the best things, even if he has to make sacrifices to acquire those things for her.

There are about 80 verses in the Bible that reference Satan, or the Devil.  Of these, we get a pretty good idea of Satan’s abilities, as well as his limitations.  Here is a list of the things that Satan can do: 

- Incite (prompt) people to take some action (1 Chronicles 21:1, John 13:2)
- Present himself to God (Job 1:6)
- Roam the earth (Job 1:7)
- Incite God to tempt man (Job 2:3)
- Make accusations against us to God (Zechariah 3:1)
- Tempt us, and persecute us (Matthew 4:1, Revelation 2:10)
- Drive away demons that he himself sent (Matthew 12:24)
- Sow weeds among good seed (Matthew 13:39)
- Cause men to stumble (Matthew 16:23)
- Cause men to rebuke God’s Word (Luke 8:12)
- Cause disease, and physical crippling (Luke 13:16)
- Lie, be deceitful, and murder (John 8:44, 2 Corinthians 11:14)
- Possess (enter into) the hearts of the lost (John 13:27, Acts 5:3)
- Take power over people (Acts 10:38, Acts 26:18))
- Outwit men–He is smart–He schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11)
- Afflict men with demons–a thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7)
- Perform counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9)
- Take men captive (2 Timothy 2:26)
- Possesses the power of death (Hebrews 2:14)
- He has been sinning from the beginning (1 John 3:8)

Here are Satan’s limitations: 

- God can rebuke him. (Zechariah 3:2, Matthew 4:10-11, Jude 1:9)
- God can crush him. (Romans 16:20)
- God can bind him. (Revelation 20:2)
- He flees when we resist him (James 4:7)

We need to be aware that Satan is powerful.  However, it is often difficult to tell whether our sin is a result of our own flesh, or of the temptation of Satan.  Either way, the good news is that God possesses ultimate power over Satan, and Satan will flee from us when we resist him.

John Edwards recently admitted that the child of the woman he had an affair with is his child after all.  First he lied about having an affair at all, adamantly proclaiming that these accusations were false.  Then he said that he did have the affair after all (while his wife was battling cancer), but he lied about the baby, claiming that it wasn’t possible that the woman’s baby was his.  Now he has admitting to both the affair and the baby, as well as all of the bold-faced lies.  Isn’t it scary to think how close he came to being vice-president, and even president? 

During the Democratic primaries for his 2008 campaign for the presidency, Edwards had the audacity to cite the failure of moral leadership among our national leaders, convincingly portraying himself as our moral savior.  Somehow, politicians (especially lawyers, it seems) have an uncanny ability to stand in front of television cameras and tell bold-faced lies (both Democrats and Republicans). 

One doesn’t have to look very far to find moral failures among politicians.  Below are just the main ones among governors and senators during the last two years: 

- Former vice-presidential candidate and Dem. Senator of North Carolina John Edwards admitted this affair, and fathering an out-of-wedlock child. 

- Rep. Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina admitted an extramarital affair. 

- Dem. Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois was accused of attempting to sell President Obama’s U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder. 

- Rep. Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska was found guilty on seven federal counts of failing to report gifts received, a violation of the Ethics in Government Act. 

- Dem. Governor David Patterson of New York and his wife both acknowledged extramarital affairs. 

- Dem. Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York resigned from office due to a prostitution scandal. 

- Rep. Senator Larry Craig of Idaho was arrested for homosexual lewd conduct in a men’s restroom, entered a guilty plea to a lesser charge, announced his intention to resign from the Senate, then refused to resign. 

Looking back a few more years, the list goes on and on:  Dem. Governor Jim McGreevey of New Jersey (extramarital affair and homosexuality); Dem. President Bill Clinton (lying in a sworn deposition, impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice, sexual harassment, and numerous adulterous relationships); President Richard Nixon (resigned from office rather than face impeachment for the Watergate cover-up, accepting illicit campaign contributions, and illegal wiretaps).  Dem. Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts (sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse and even leaving the scene of an accident in the suspicious death of Mary Jo Kopechne in 1969, although he suspiciously escaped further charges which may have included negligent driving, DWI, manslaughter, or even murder. 

We cannot expect moral leadership from our government and its politicians.  Indeed, they should have live moral lives, but they have proven to us that very few do.  Sadly, it’s even becoming more difficult to expect ethical behavior from our Christian leaders.  I suppose that because of the failure of man’s flesh, we can look only to the Bible for moral leadership. 

Jeremiah 7:9-10 says, “Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe”– safe to do all these detestable things?’” 

For those of us with some moral values, it’s very tempting to just stop voting because we can’t believe any the campaign promises from our politicians.  However, of course, not casting a vote would be worse.  I suppose that we just have to decide whether we’re going to vote for lying Democrats or lying Republicans.  What a sad commentary on American politics.

Psalm 15 gives us God’s guidelines for living lives of integrity, in all areas of our lives:  

1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? 
2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart
3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman,
4 who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts,
5 who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken. 

Note that verse two says, “…who speaks the truth from his heart.”  This command from God applies to blogs like this one.  Not only should we hold to integrity when writing new blog posts or comments, but I believe this is actually telling us that it is necessary for us to write such comments when we have truth in our heart about an issue.  This passage doesn’t say that we should just have the truth in our hearts, but that we should speak it (or blog it). 

When you have truth in your heart about a blog posting, don’t hesitate to post your comments, , even though others may disagree with you.

The current debate on health care has revealed the fact that it comprises 16% of our economy.  Regardless of where one stands on this debate, this statistic alone should concern us.  Our annual GDP is about $14.2 trillion, and we spend about $2.3 trillion every year on health care.  Of this, 31% goes to hospital care, 21% goes to physician services, 10% to pharmaceuticals (5 billion prescriptions), 8% to nursing homes, 7% to administrative costs, and 23% to all other categories (diagnostic laboratory services, pharmacies, medical device manufacturers, etc.) 

The primary problem with health care is that costs are too high.  Congress should be concentrating on costs instead of universal coverage, a single-payer option, etc.  We pay too much for the care (and the outcome) that we get.  Some have estimated that we’re overspending by at least $710 billion per year, or 31%. 

One aspect of costs that is rarely mention is the principal of supply-and-demand.  Consider how many Americans have the following diseases: 

- Obesity - 102 million
- Heart Disease - 81 million (451,000 deaths)
- Arthritis - 46 million
- Diabetes - 24 million (75,000 deaths)
- Asthma - 21 million
- Cancer - 11 million (559,000 deaths)

These are only the top six diseases, yet the total number of Americans with any of these diseases (285 million) almost equals the total population of the country.  Considering that there are thousands of diseases, a conservative estimate would say that, on average, every man, woman, and child in America has two to three diseases. 

Given the advancements in medicine and technology over the years, this statistic sounds quite alarming.  Below are some possibilities for this number being so high: 

- Advancements in the early detection of diseases
- Our lack of knowledge as to what causes certain diseases such as cancer
- Our neglect of what we do know about the causes (obesity, smoking, etc.)

According to the statistics above, on average, each of us Americans gets about 16 prescriptions per year.  If half of these are short-term prescriptions, and half of them are on-going 90-day prescriptions, then, at any point in time, each of us is taking about three prescription medications.  This is in addition to many over-the-counter medications.  Adding the cost of these medications to our doctor visits, tests, surgeries, etc., we spend about $7,500 per person on our health care every year. 

One of the best ways to drive health care costs down would be to decrease the demand for health care, and perhaps the best way of doing this would be to address the issue of neglect / prevention.  Obviously, many diseases are not (yet) preventable, but we could make a serious dent in the demand for health care if we (as individuals) were better at controlling the demand for the treatment of preventable diseases by taking better care of ourselves. 

We also need to decrease the many tests, screenings, and unnecessary procedures / surgeries.  This is more difficult, and it would require a joint effort between providers and patients.  Concerning providers, tort reform would result in providers being able to provide more common sense in recommending tests and procedures (instead of just recommending a whole suites of tests only to avoid potential lawsuits).  Likewise, patients should apply more common sense to their response to their doctor’s recommendations.  As patients, we need to be willing to spend some time educating ourselves on diseases and tests, and then help our providers to make better decisions.  After all, who knows our own health better than ourselves?