Written by Mark J. Kittleson on 14 July 2009
Folks, we’re slowly making progress on the new HEDIR.org web page. It’s been a real struggle for I am having to learn a new system that is truly foreign to me. I am hoping that this will make for a more exciting HEDIR.
Once completed, all subscribers will have an opportunity to be listed in the Member Directory (and they will be able to update their own files); receive HEDIR list messages; and (and this is big) be able to post to the HEDIR Blog.
Currently we are requiring all new HEDIR subscribers to go through this new system. Starting around August 1 we’ll start opening it up to all subscribers (currently about 1,800). I’m creating a series of tutorials to help walk you through this process.
Written by hedir on 03 July 2009
We’re moving into our new space and should have it available in a few days. In the meantime, you can access the ‘old’ HEDIR web pages at www.kittle.siu.edu/hedir.
Written by hedir on 13 June 2009
Does anyone really believe that private sector businesses can manage health care better than the government?
In the past several days, President Obama and HHS Secretary Sebelius have been ramping up their efforts to generate a groundswell of support for reform of the American dysfunctional non-health care system. Top Republicans have declared there will be no government health care system. Given that the World Health Organization’s most recent rating of health care provided by nations rates health care services in the good ol’ USA as 37th among the 191 nations and worst among those with the largest economies, while health care provided in France is rated as best, maybe we should look to Western Europe for ways to improve the health care provided in our country.
Supporters of government involvement in health care point to the fact that the US government is already assuring health care for the aged, those with low incomes, veterans and government employees, including members of Congress. The federal and state governments of the US already pay for more than 44% of health care costs in our country. Also, they note that thecost of health care in the US is above 17% of GDP, while it is 11% of the GDP of France. According to an article in The Dallas Morning News of May 18, 2009, the average cost of health care for an individual in the US in 2006 was $6,714, while for the individual in France it was $3,450. While anybody living in France for more than three months is covered by the national health insurance program, it is estimated that approximately 45 million citizens of our country have no health insurance.
The French health care system is not perfect; people of lower middle income complain that they cannot afford supplemental health insurance available to those who can afford it. As a result, many have to pay more for their medical care costs than the rich and the poor, with the latter having their supplemental health insurance paid by the French government. France is struggling to cover rising health care costs within its national budget, but its problem is considerably smaller and more manageable than the health care costs problems facing both the government and private citizens in our country.
Germany has per capita health care costs similar to those of France. The average cost per person in Germany in 2005 was $3,628, which was just over half the cost in the US, and German health care costs were 10.7% of GDP, as compared with over 16% in the US in that year. The World Health Organization rated the German health care system as 25th or 191 national systems, or 12 positions ahead of the US “system”.
Of course, there are reasons to suggest we look to the Far East for a model for health care reform. Japan enjoys the lowest per capita health care costs, which are less than half of those in the US at US$2,908 in 2005, or 8.2% of GDP, which is almost half of 16% of GDP in the US in that year. Japan enjoys the highest life expectancy of any major nation in the world.
While top Republican leaders say government cannot run a health care system a well as private sector businesses, we have decades of evidence that governments in other countries are running their health care systems more effectively than the combined governments and private sector businesses management pattern in our country. American private sector businesses failed badly in recent years in managing the real estate market, banking, hedge fund investments, automobile manufacturing and marketing, high tech corporations, utilities distribution and insurance businesses. Why should we buy the old saw that private industry can manage health care better than governments?
Related websites:
http://republicanleader.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=131326
http://www.allhealthcare.com/news/articles/3480-is-french-health-system-a-model-for-us
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/republican-senate-leader-obama-essential-healthcare-reform
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthranks.html
http://www.photius.com/rankings/healthy_life_table2.html
http://www.photius.com/rankings/who_world_health_ranks.html
Written by hedir on 04 June 2009
Recently, I picked approximately five gallons of dewberries, which average about 1/3 the size of blackberries and grow on bushes closer to the ground. The dewberries grow wild on property managed by the Army Corps of Engineers that surrounds the neighborhood in which I currently reside. While I was picking these berries, I was reminded of picking blackberries with an aunt in 1951.
At age 10, I convinced my parents to let me live with my favorite aunt, an uncle and my paternal grandfather. My parents had five sons, so it was reasonable that they could spare one to help care for my “invalid” grandfather; there were no children in my aunt and uncle’s home.
My aunt was a good teacher, although she only had six years of formal education. She took me along with her when she went to pick wild blackberries. It was easy to convince me to help pick the berries; I knew she would bake a berry cobbler and whip some cream to place on top of the portion I would eat. When we were in the berry patch, she would draw analogies between things we would encounter there and things I would encounter later in life.
A good example of a lesson learned in the berry patch is: Many things in life have risks associated with them. When picking berries, a person faces the risks of briar scratches, mosquito and tick bites that could lead to infections (Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, West Nile virus [In 1951, we were not yet aware of Lyme disease and West Nile virus]), snake bites, etc. My aunt would warn of risks in life from unwise use of alcohol, speeding when operating a motor vehicle, unwise use of a tool, including guns, axes, knives and chainsaws, and unwise affection for a disloyal person.
Another lesson learned in the berry patch was: A “gathering” approach to selection of berries to pick is better than the “hunt and shoot” approach. If a person focuses too intently on the biggest juicy ripe berries, she or he is apt to overlook many other ripe berries nearby. She would demonstrate that she could pick far more berries than I could in the same period of time. She was seeing far more berries nearby, while I was moving about trying to pick only the biggest and nicest berries I would see. My aunt said that men and boys seemed to prefer the “hunt and shoot” approach to the “gathering” approach generally preferred by women and girls. She made this observation in 1951, well before this concept was popularized through a comedy skit and published literature.
A third lesson learned in the berry patch was: When one reaches too far, she or he is apt to lose her or his balance and increase exposure to the risks of unintended injuries and fail to achieve the successful outcome desired. If one loses her or his balance, she or he is apt to fall, brush against one or more briars, or expose oneself to a snakebite. Copperhead snakes tend to inhabit brushy areas where blackberries thrive. My aunt saw this as analogous to living beyond one’s means, which could lead to financial ruin, or trying to attract the affections of a person who would be disinterested or highly likely to be disloyal to the relationship.
I have been grateful to my aunt throughout my life for lessons she taught me in the berry patch, the stable and the garden.
Written by hedir on 04 June 2009
Recently, I picked approximately five gallons of dewberries, which average about 1/3 the size of blackberries and grow on bushes closer to the ground. The dewberries grow wild on property managed by the Army Corps of Engineers that surrounds the neighborhood in which I currently reside. While I was picking these berries, I was reminded of picking blackberries with an aunt in 1951.
At age 10, I convinced my parents to let me live with my favorite aunt, an uncle and my paternal grandfather. My parents had five sons, so it was reasonable that they could spare one to help care for my “invalid” grandfather; there were no children in my aunt and uncle’s home.
My aunt was a good teacher, although she only had six years of formal education. She took me along with her when she went to pick wild blackberries. It was easy to convince me to help pick the berries; I knew she would bake a berry cobbler and whip some cream to place on top of the portion I would eat. When we were in the berry patch, she would draw analogies between things we would encounter there and things I would encounter later in life.
A good example of a lesson learned in the berry patch is: Many things in life have risks associated with them. When picking berries, a person faces the risks of briar scratches, mosquito and tick bites that could lead to infections (Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Lyme disease, West Nile virus [In 1951, we were not yet aware of Lyme disease and West Nile virus]), snake bites, etc. My aunt would warn of risks in life from unwise use of alcohol, speeding when operating a motor vehicle, unwise use of a tool, including guns, axes, knives and chainsaws, and unwise affection for a disloyal person.
Another lesson learned in the berry patch was: A “gathering” approach to selection of berries to pick is better than the “hunt and shoot” approach. If a person focuses too intently on the biggest juicy ripe berries, she or he is apt to overlook many other ripe berries nearby. She would demonstrate that she could pick far more berries than I could in the same period of time. She was seeing far more berries nearby, while I was moving about trying to pick only the biggest and nicest berries I would see. My aunt said that men and boys seemed to prefer the “hunt and shoot” approach to the “gathering” approach generally preferred by women and girls. She made this observation in 1951, well before this concept was popularized through a comedy skit and published literature.
A third lesson learned in the berry patch was: When one reaches too far, she or he is apt to lose her or his balance and increase exposure to the risks of unintended injuries and fail to achieve the successful outcome desired. If one loses her or his balance, she or he is apt to fall, brush against one or more briars, or expose oneself to a snakebite. Copperhead snakes tend to inhabit brushy areas where blackberries thrive. My aunt saw this as analogous to living beyond one’s means, which could lead to financial ruin, or trying to attract the affections of a person who would be disinterested or highly likely to be disloyal to the relationship.
I have been grateful to my aunt throughout my life for lessons she taught me in the berry patch, the stable and the garden.
