Christian Data Resources

I know a young woman whose 31-year-old husband had a severe accident one year ago.  Since then, he has been unconscious, in and out of hospitals and nursing homes.  During this time, she had their first baby, and her husband has never even met his own child.  Yet she somehow has complete peace, through a Christian faith that is too strong for me to understand (Philippians 4:7).  Here are some of her comments: 

The emotions I am experiencing will not make sense to you, but they are real and they are raw.  My thirty-one year old husband is now living in a nursing home.  If insurance decides they will no longer cover him I will be hit with all kinds of bills.  I have no idea if and when that will take place.  This is my life.  What am I feeling?  Peace.  Total peace.  I cannot explain it. 

As I sat in his room, I felt good about it.  In my mind that makes no sense.  There is nothing good about this.  But in my soul all I sense is goodness.  I’m highly emotional–I could cry, but it’s not because I’m sad.  It’s because God is so good.  My life is in shambles, nothing makes sense, I face uncertainty in all directions, and all I feel is the Lord’s love.  The Lord loves me and He is so very very good to pour that love out on me. 

I don’t expect that to make sense, because it doesn’t.  I guess that’s why it’s referred to as “the peace that passes all understanding”.  It’s kind of like how people ask, “How do you KNOW when it’s THE ONE?”  And the person answers, “You just know.”  That answer doesn’t make sense until you meet your “One”.  Then you get it because you’ve experienced it firsthand. 

Please join me in thanking God for his blessings, His guidance, His protection, and his continued presence.  Lord, grant us the complete healing and the miracle we have been praying for. 

I’m the kid in the rear-facing car seat.  I have no idea what’s on the road ahead of us or how many more miles we must journey to reach our destination.  In fact, I have no idea where we’re even going.  And it’s been this way for an entire year.  I’m just a passenger and might as well be blindfolded.

OK, here’s how to fix Social Security and Medicare.  However, nobody will like it, whether you’re 25, 45, or 65 years old, because benefits need to be cut across the board.  Everybody needs to make a sacrifice.  (“Does not man have hard service on earth?  Are not his days like those of a hired man?” Job 7:1). 

So far, most suggestions for saving Social Security and Medicare include the following: 

1) Raising the full retirement age for Social Security to 70, and / or raising the early retirement age from 62 to 65 (phased in over five to ten years). 

2) Raising (or removing) the salary cap on the amount taxed by Social Security. 

3) Increasing the Social Security tax from it’s present level of 6.2, and the Medicare tax from it’s present level of 1.45%. 

4) Changing the Social Security indexing formula from wage growth to price inflation. 

However, I suggest a more radical (and more fair) approach, without raising taxes.  Here’s how it would work: 

1) Social Security–Cut benefits across-the-board:  Decrease all Social Security benefits by 10%.  For those who are currently receiving Social Security benefits, ages 62 and above, the cut is immediate.  For those not yet receiving benefits, the anticipated benefits will be cut as soon as they become eligible; i.e., decrease the estimates on their annual statements. 

2) Social Security–Implement Fairness Testing:  At the point where a person has received as much as he has contributed, decrease the benefits by an additional 10%.  (Many retirees get back their entire contributions in about five years, and then reap another 300% of that amount over the subsequent 15 years.) 

3) Social Security–Implement Means Testing:  At the point where the person’s other income exceeds twice the amount of their Social Security benefit (after he has received as much as he has paid in), decrease the benefits by an additional 10%.  In addition, continue to cut the benefit by 10% increments, completely phasing out the benefit if the person’s other income exceeds $500,000. 

For example: 

 4) Apply these sames fairness testing and means testing to Medicare.  Those who have already collected more from Medicare than they contributed, and who have substantial other means, would pay an additional 10% deductible, with a reasonable cap–maybe $10,000 per year.  This would encourage beneficiaries to take control of their own health care and reduce the many unnecessary and costly tests and procedures. 

I would like to see a CBO estimate on the savings that this proposal would generate.  I’m sure that the exact amount of the cuts suggested (10%, etc.) could be massaged in order to make these programs solvent again. 

This proposal hurts everybody, across-the-board, and somewhat fairly, because it does indeed affect everyone.  Unfortunately, if we want to fix these programs, everybody is going to have to make a sacrifice.

Over the course of the past 75 years, the U.S. has strayed from the Biblical model by falling into a trap of massive government entitlements.  2 Thessalonians 3:10 says, “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”  The Bible calls for each of us to work, and to earn our own way, as much as we are able to do so.  Obviously, the sick and disabled need charity, as well as the poor who have fallen on hard times, but this help should come primarily from the Church (Acts 2:42-47)–not from the government. 

Most of our tax money now goes to entitlement programs and overhead.  I believe that the question at hand is:  Have we finally gone past the point of no return?  If you don’t receive a monthly check from the government, you’re in the minority. 

A society can reach a point where there are too many people receiving entitlements, because there are too few left who are funding most of that burden.  As an obvious example, if 1% of the population was taxed in order to pay for entitlements for the other 99%, there would no longer be enough wealth generated to sustain that economy.  Although we haven’t gone that far yet, I believe that it is quite enlightening to see just where we are on that scale, including the overhead (government employees) required in order to sustain our current model. 

Let’s consider how many people are receiving checks from the government:

 (Data from The Statistical Abstract of the United States–online)

The government writes at least 235 million checks each month, to (or on behalf of) about 180 million different recipients (60% of the population).  The average amount of each monthly check is close to $1,000. 

This leaves only about 120 million people (40% of the population) who receive no checks from the government.  While it’s true that a good portion of the 60% of recipients of government checks pay a certain amount of taxes, it’s also fair to say that most taxes are paid by the other 40% (and businesses and corporations). 

These findings were further substantiated by Dick Morris in January, 2009. When he estimated the effects of President Obama’s economic stimulus package, Morris said that it would result in 57% of Americans being off the income tax roles, while only 43% would be paying all of the income taxes. Now, with the passage of the health care bill, these numbers become even more unbalanced.

As noted in The Role of Government, the number of people receiving government checks already outnumbers those who don’t (and who are paying most of the taxes).  Furthermore, this trend is continuing, especially with the massive spending of the Obama administration, but it cannot be sustained.  Unfortunately, with over half of our population already dependent upon a monthly check from the government, we have probably already reached the point of no return.  We believe that we can’t cut entitlement programs, because the recipients are dependent upon (and “entitled” to) their monthly checks from the government.  We feel like we can’t reduce the role of the federal government to its proper size because so many government employees would lose their jobs, and retirees pensions would be in jeopardy. 

Now, those receiving Social Security benefits can justifiably argue that they are “entitled” because they paid into the system for so many years.  Likewise, government retirees can argue “entitlement” because of their many years of service. However, this still doesn’t change the fact that this trend cannot continue, because soon there simply won’t be enough tax money generated in order to make all of these payments.  (Yes, we’ll print more money, but inflation will destroy the value of our currency.)  Yes, it would be unfair if retirees didn’t receive 100% of their expected pensions, but this is happening in the corporate world every day. It’s also unfair to have most people collecting a check from the government each and every month.

Can we recover?  Probably not.  Over half of our $4  trillion national budget goes to entitlement programs and overhead, and this trend is rapidly increasing.  We have now given in to socialism, like so many of the European countries.  We simply have too many people dependent upon the government.  If you don’t receive a monthly check from the government, you’re in the minority.  As stunning as this sounds, it’s true.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 says, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” 

This verse is telling us that history repeats itself, but I believe that it takes a certain amount of history (i.e., age and experience) for each of us before we can really believe this.  I’ve seen this principal in our social arena, as well as in economics and politics. 

I remember the tumultuous decade of the 1960s, when so many people (especially our youth) were rebelling in so many different ways.  I watched as people fought for civil rights, and as the sexual revolution unfolded.  Many of the things I saw seemed unprecedented at the time.  However, as I subsequently learned more about history, I realized that history was simply repeating itself, sometimes from when our nation was younger, and sometimes from other societies many centuries ago. 

When the stock market turned down in the year 2000, many analysts warned of a coming depression.  At the time, most analysts (and traders) were relatively young, due to the rapid growth of Wall Street during recent years.  However, some of us could remember the “crash” of 1987.  Although the market lost 20% of its (over-inflated) value in one day, what followed was the huge bull market of the 1990s.  By the time of the downturn in 2000, this bull market was the only market that most traders had known.  However, to those with more experience, this pull pack was a reasonable expectation after such a run up.  Once a person has lived through both bull and bear (and stagnant) markets, then he begins to see the bigger picture.  Likewise, those with more experience were less rattled by the next downturn in 2008. 

As a result of my personal experiences, I have come to learn that we should be careful with our use of the word, “unprecedented.”  Many times something seems unprecedented to us only because of our limited knowledge.  After a little more experience, aging, and education in history, we see that there was some precedent for what we were seeing after all. 

The economic situation in 2008 resulted in major changes in the political world.  Democrats blamed the “unprecedented” economic downturn on the previous Republican administration, and we witnessed a Democratic sweep in the 2008 elections, including both the presidency and the Congress.  Then, only one year later, the Republicans are citing “unprecedented” spending and low approval ratings of the President and our Congressmen, sparking hope among themselves for the 2010 elections.  Again, those with more years of experience and observations can more easily view these changes as more of the normal ebb and flow of politics. 

Rest assured that we will see more changes in society, economics, and politics.  The economy will bounce back–we just don’t know when.  Meanwhile, in just the last 30 years, I’ve seen the market move from 700 to 14,000, so the current level of 11,000 doesn’t seem like such an “unprecedented” disaster.  I’ve seen Democrats and Republicans swap power time after time.  The fact that the Democrats currently have so much power only reinforces my expectations that the Republicans will once again return to power some day, only to move the country so far to the right that the people will then vote them out of office, etc., etc.  Indeed, “there is nothing new under the sun.”

Did you know that the wisdom books of the Bible include some sound concepts for investing?  Consider the following: 

1) Proverbs 13:11 says, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” 

The best way to invest our money is to do so “little by little.”  A good example of this is to contribute to a retirement account via payroll deductions.  It’s best not to get impatient, just steadily investing a little here and a little there.  Just keep it up, and your nest egg will grow.  This concept also teaches that we should avoid wild speculation, investing in a long shot, or gambling, hoping to get rich quick.  That’s not the Biblical way. 

2) Ecclesiastes 11:6 says, “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well. 

This verse teaches the concept of diversity.  We shouldn’t keep all of our eggs in one basket.  It’s best to spread our investment funds around a little bit.  Some will do better than others, although we don’t know which ones.  We just need to keep working at it, and exercise patience.

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.