Letter to Congressman Matheson

I received a letter from Congressman Matheson about health care that really upset me. This was my response. I know the response is too long to be effective, but it felt good to vent and put some ideas down on paper.

Congressman Matheson,

I wanted to respond to some points of your letter about health care.

Statement #1: "Skyrocketing health care costs are straining family budgets, threatening the survival of small businesses and exploding our national deficit."

I hear a lot about skyrocketing health care costs. Few politicians, however, seem to attribute this increase to its true sources. Greg Poulsen of Intermountain Healthcare points to utilization and technology as the greatest increases to costs. No longer is a two view x-ray sufficient for a sprained ankle - which cost about $60. Now a $2000 MRI is required - required either by the patient who is aware of the technology, by the lawyer who might sue for malpractice if the doctor doesn't give the most complete care possible, or by the physician who may own a fraction of the MRI facility.

All the government can do to stem those costs would be to limit the amount of money a facility can charge for an MRI. What would the effects of price limitations be? It would mean that people would no longer want to build MRI facilities because they wouldn't be worth the cost. Availability would go down, quality would go down, and pretty soon going to get an MRI would be like standing in line at the DMV.

Also, I am fine with paying for my family. I have some choice as a consumer how those dollars are spent, and if I want to spend it at all. I get more upset over the amount I spend for Medicare and Medicaid, of which I have no control.

Statement #2: "Health care costs are the number one driver of our long-term deficits."

I would like you to explain this one a little more. Are you saying that Medicare and Medicaid are expensive and we can't pay for them?

Frankly, medicare is the cause of many of the problems with the health system today. Insurers know that if they can hold off on a particular procedure until the patient is 65 (or whatever the age is), the government will pick up the tab instead of the insurer. So it pays them to ease the patient along instead of fixing the problem until the government will pick up the tab.

Statement #3: "A third of the $2 trillion spent on health care in this country goes towards administrative costs, not to patient care. We need a more efficient, less bureaucratic system."

This statement makes me laugh. The federal government is the cause for this overhead. So why would an additional system make the process less bureaucratic?

I work on a team for Intermrountain Healthcare that is responsible to submit CMS' "core measures" to the federal government. The report requirements, when printed, are 5 inches tall. AND THEY CHANGE QUARTERLY, sometimes even more frequently. Nearly a quarter of our staff worked on the project to keep our submissions updated. Eventually it became too complicated and we had to outsource the process. The government is the cause of the overhead. So how can you use this as the impetus of reform? Just change what you already created. Creating additional bureaucracy will not eliminate bureaucracy.

Statement #4: "Insurers should not be able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions."

Insurers are in the insurance business to make money. Unlike the federal government they cannot print money when they run out (which practice I wish the government would stop doing). By forcing insurance companies to pay for everything for everyone, you know you are forcing them out of business. In the end, then, there will only be a single payer left standing - not because they are the best, offer the best service, or have the best outcomes, but because make money by printing it.

Summary
At the fundamental core of this debate should be this question - Do I have a fundamental right to force you to pay for my health care?

My answer is no. And you don't have the right to force me to pay for your health care.

We are Americans. We ask how we can help our country, not what government programs we are entitled to.

We are Americans. We the people sustain the government, the government doesn't sustain us.

We are Americans. We believe that we were all created equal, not that we are going to die equal. We don't buy into socialism.

We are Americans. We created a limited federal authority and reserved power for states and local governments. We didn't and don't want a king. Give us back the 10th amendment.

Please reform health care by removing some of the federal influence, not by imposing more.

Brian Rawlings

PVC Rocket Launcher

So my friend Russ came over today and we made PVC rocket launchers. This was a project I wanted to do when we worked together in scouts but it never happened. Next weekend our ward is having a campout so I thought it would be a good excuse to put one together.

Russ bought his materials first and it cost him about $55. I didn't buy materials until after the first one was together and we learned a bit - so I only spent $30 on my materials. Russ', I think, is slightly better because he used a larger valve and it might be easier to turn. I think kids are going to have a hard time turning the valve on mine. But it works and it was fun to put together.

We used plans from this site: http://stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000143

I think this weekend is going to go well.

Praying muscles

Last night I got home after a weekend trip to Nebraska – about 600 miles one way. I like long drives because it provides an opportunity to talk and ponder.

One of the subjects explored was prayer. The LDS bible dictionary explains that prayer is a form of work. I pondered that often times it is the only thing we can do to change a situation. And just like manual labor, or any other type of work, we can get better at it, as if developing muscles. Then strong muscles would help with any task. At least, that is how my pondering went.

So when I got home from the trip I was tired and ready for sleep. But, finding a quiet moment I knelt and tried to exercise my muscles, and share a few concerns with Heavenly Father that I really don’t have any control over. It wasn’t a long conversation but I felt edified.

Also before going to sleep I wanted to do one more task. If I would have been at work I would have spent all day running a data load. I knew that people would be expecting it today so I wanted to get it started before going to sleep. Just as I was about to start the script I felt an unusual desire to check the date the script was last modified. I did, and after some further checking realized that the script was corrupt – that I had accidentally modified the master script last month when trying to fix another problem. Had I executed the script, I most certainly would have been up all night cleaning the data. But because of that feeling, and because I listened to it, I was able to restore a correct version of the script, start it, and get to bed with little delay. The script finished early this morning with no errors.

Some people might call that coincidental. I take it as a head nod from God. God is very gracious.

“As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7: 7-11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings.” (http://scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/p/54)