Tonight ABC will broadcast an infomercial addressing the President's plan on healthcare.  I'll be chiming in and commiserating with friends at Cindy's blog.  Before hand though I just want to recommend a good book and give a little example.

Dr Waters wrote 2 Days That Ruined Your Healthcare last year before the election in order to address the political candidates' positions on healthcare.  It is an easy-to-read, well-documented presentation of the state of affairs of medicine and health insurance.  I highly recommend it.

In the afterward he aptly recommends that we get in sync with the laws of nature. He's referring to the genius of inventors who solve problems successfully.  Dr Waters wishes that our legislators would take into account the laws of human nature when proposing solutions.  In short, nowadays because the patient is so far removed from the dollars associated with the medical care he's receiving, there is little or no accountability in the transaction.

My supporting example comes from a family story.  Here's the link to my grandfather's association with the *discovery* of penicillin.  And in case you dont have time to read the entire newspaper article or overlook what I'm talking about, here are the few sentences.  Please dont take this out of context.

The father said, "I have used it many times before, and it worked." I asked him why he didn’t give it to his children this time. "Because I have hospital insurance," he replied.

It appears that since the parent didnt have to pay for visit (medical evaluation) that's the main reason he decided to take his children to the hospital.  I'm suggesting that even in the 1920s, people tended to (over)use care even when it might not have been medically necessary.  Human nature...

There are a plethora of articles commenting on healthcare reform. They're some especially good ones over at The American Spectator (Betsy McCaughey & JT Young) and John Goodman's heathcare blog.  Take the time to inform yourself and tailor your actions to suit your family's situation.  In other words, take responsibility and take control.

That's the secret to understanding ABC's infomercial.

PS  Dont trust the rhetoric in political pitches.  Hillary Clinton's actual written proposal did not match what she proposed to Congress in 1993 (pg 63)

Currently TWO DAYS That Ruined Your Health Care By William Carter Waters see related