The Fall of America

While I have not blogged here again for a while, I hope to have more regular posts now that I have finished school and will hopefully have more free time to be able to devote to the readers of this site.

I feel compelled to blog today about not just one topic, but an array of several topics that have come up over the past several weeks. From Health care to "backdoor deals" being made in Washington D.C., to increased taxes on just about everyone in the country but those with special interests in Washington, I feel that our country is going down a very dark road, one that could lead to our status as the greatest nation in the world to be jeopardized.

As recent as last night, the President and other leaders of our country have made "backdoor" deals with Union Workers to delay taxing their "Cadillac" health insurance plans until 2018. When the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) priced the current health care plan, they may have estimated that it would cost less than a trillion dollars (That's 1 + 12 ZEROS my friends), it will actually cost much more than that after 2019, to the tune of over TWO TRILLION dollars. Our country simply cannot afford this most massive conversion of private industry to government bureaucracy. And now, with the White House and Congressional leaders making special deals for Congressional Members and Unions alike, the first portion becomes even more expensive, and is quickly approaching the trillion dollar threshold that the president himself promised wouldn't happen after taking office just last year.

I am a BIG supporter of common sense health care reform, including health care reform that makes it easier for people in the United States to have better health care, and more access to health care. I am also a big supporter of allowing health insurance companies to sell policies across state lines and removing the state-by-state requirements that are not common sense (such as certain states requiring insurers to cover massage therapy as a covered medical expense). This will make insurers compete for members, which will not only decrease the so-called risk pool, and allow monthly premiums to be significantly decreased. While I have not been able to read the entire 2000 page health care bill (which can be another blog post in itself!), I have not heard that this is a provision in the current legislation before Congress.

As a soon-to-be registered nurse, I know that all people should have access to health care, but all people should also have equal access to health care. While I understand that people on welfare cannot afford paying certain fees and co-payments for services and medications, I feel that alot of the current budgetary crunches in the states could be solved by increasing co-payments for patients on the state Medicaid programs. As I have just moved from one state to another, I have begun to realize that people on Medicaid get free health insurance (which I knew), and pretty much free prescription insurance with almost no co-payments. In Kentucky, people on the Medicaid program only paid $1.00 per prescription, and here in Georgia, they only pay between $0.50 to $1.00 per prescription. When even our nations heroes, our men and women in the armed forces who are fighting for our freedom and liberty have to pay more than that (generally a minimum of at least $3.00), while still making just a little bit above the poverty line themselves, I strongly feel that people on welfare should also have to pay at least a little more than nothing. We must all do our share to make health care reform a reality, including the poor and the rich alike.

While that was my discussion of health care, I cannot close this post without discussing the coming taxation that we will all be experiencing in this President and Congress get their way. We must understand what will happen when the President and Congressional leaders (Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid) get their way, and start to tax the citizens of our great country. Taxation will not only affect those that the taxes are aimed at (such as the newly announced tax on Wall Street banks), raising the corporate tax rates, etc, but it will also affect people who these taxes are not aimed at. Apparently our leaders in Washington D.C. have not even taken a simple basic economics class, because if they had, they would understand that by taxing people at the top, you also inadvertently tax people at the bottom as well. What this means is that regular normally people like you and I will pay more for those goods and services that are necessary to our survival and livelihood. When this happens, people will not be able to afford basic goods and services (vehicles, groceries, fuel), more people will end up on welfare, and more taxes will need to be levied on those that are not on welfare to pay for those are. This is a very dangerous road, because this system of redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor, these "Robin Hood Politics" if you will, will lead our country down a very dark path; a path that will lead to the destruction our lives as we know it.

My final message in this blog post to all who read this is this the following:

1. Be Informed! As citizens of this great country, we must be informed about what our elected representatives in Washington D.C. are doing to us, and to our country. We must understand how our government is currently corrupt, and how it needs fundamental change. Our government no longer represents the people of the United States, they only represent themselves and the special interest groups who lobby them (which should also be done away with!)
2. Write Letters and Make Phone Calls! We must make our elected individuals hear us, and we must make them understand that they answer to us, the people of the United States. Our elected individuals need to know that they are just that, OUR elected individuals, and that they work for us, and are paid by us, the American Taxpayers.
3. Finally, Demand Transparency! We must know what our Congress and White House is doing at all times. They are not elected by us to perform "backdoor" deals on health care and other EXTREMELY IMPORTANT issues facing our country. These important issues should also not be decided solely by our elected representatives, as they do not know how their big ideas will affect the "real world" until it is too late. We must be able to see what our leaders in Washington are doing at all times, because they do not have our best interests at heart, even though that is what they are elected and paid to do.

As a final thought, we are no longer the Republic that we were founded on. We no longer have the freedoms and liberties that our founders fought for and that our armed services members continue to fight for every day. While we are free to do many of the things that we want to do, our daily lives are also dictated by what happens in Washington D.C. While we technically still are a republic by governance, we are quickly becoming an oligarchy, where the rule of a few (our President and Congress) dictate the lives of the many.

A Letter To The President and Congress on Healthcare Reform

Hello!

I would like to share with you a letter that I have sent to my representatives in Congress, both in the House and Senate. I have also sent this letter to the President via US Mail. While I do not expect that the corruption in Washington will be changed with my letter, I hope that it will reach some members of Congress and the White House.

Healthcare Coverage for all is a necessity, but it must be done in a way that does not have astronomical costs to the American People, and does not infringe into the personal rights and freedoms that Americans are granted because of our freedom as a country. We must find free market solutions to this problem, and not have government infringement into the choices that individuals and their doctors make about the best course of actions regarding medical decisions.

Here is my letter to our representatives in Washington. I strongly urge anyone reading this blog and letter to write one of your own, and share your opinions and ideas with those who are being paid to make decisions for us.

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Honorable President Barak Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20500

Ryan Kuyers
7315 Saint Andrews Woods Circle, Unit #202
Louisville KY 40214

May 22, 2009

RE: A Letter on Healthcare Reform

Dear Honorable President Obama:

I am writing to you today regarding the current healthcare debate that is being waged between Republicans and Democrats in our nation’s capital. As it stands right now, our current healthcare system is at a difficult impasse, with new solutions and new ideas being brought forward to solve the crisis that we face, both now and in the future. While there is significant disparity between citizens in our country, a comprehensive solution can be found, with benefits being gained by all Americans.

I have reviewed some of the solutions by members of Congress on various websites that serve as a way to provide comparisons and contrasts between these suggestions. We simply cannot mandate coverage for all citizens, because of evidence provided by countries that have done just that. By mandating coverage, we will effectively cause our citizens to be put on waiting lists for needed services and be denied access to necessary medical care. I strongly urge you to consider and approve legislation that was recently introduced by Senators Coburn and Burr, and Representatives Ryan and Nunes. After reviewing the summary of the “Patients’ Choice Act”, I strongly feel that this legislation will create a free market solution that will ensure solvency in our healthcare system for decades.

As a citizen of the state of Kentucky who has previously worked for a major health insurance company, and who now works as a pharmacy technician while completing schooling to become a Registered Nurse, I feel that I have knowledge about how various components of our healthcare system operate. While I agree that every American should have some sort of health coverage, the way to achieving that goal requires comprehensive reform of many aspects of healthcare. The Patients’ Choice Act achieves many of these comprehensive reforms, but there are certain items that this legislation does not cover that should be included. These items include:

· Parity for mental health treatment for patients with acute and/or chronic mental health conditions. This should be included in legislation to ensure that health insurance carriers provide coverage for mental health disorders that is equal to the coverage for medical disorders. In patients with mental health disorders such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder that is poorly treated or left untreated, these patients have much lower outcomes and experience more frequent hospitalization than those who are adequately treated

· Review and revise the requirements for Medicare and Medicaid. As an example, currently in Louisville, Kentucky, a Federally Funded Medicaid HMO called the Passport Health Plan provides care to low income individuals, families, and disabled citizens. While I feel that this program is very beneficial to the people who participate in it, it has gone too far in providing low cost services for its enrollees. While I am a strong advocate for low income individuals and families to receive the care and medications that they need to maintain adequate health, I feel that these individuals also need to have personal responsibility while receiving this care. Currently, patients who have prescriptions on this medical plan pay only $1 per prescription for adults, and nothing for prescriptions for children. In contrast, our currently enlisted military service members who have Tricare coverage are required to pay $3 per prescription, three times that of those on the Passport Program. There must be increased parity between all citizens, with low income citizens being required to maintain a certain level of personal responsibility and financial commitment. We must make all Americans responsible for healthcare, and not allow certain citizens to feel that they are entitled to receive care at a cost below that of the servicemember men and women who keep our country free. Also, patients who shield their income in certain ways to appear that they are income eligible for Medicaid should not be allowed to participate in the federally funded program and instead should be allowed the option of private healthcare coverage.

· Decrease the costs that lead to increased healthcare costs. While it is understandable that many dollars go into the research and development of cutting-edge medical equipment and medications, the current costs of these items directly lead to increased costs incurred by patients who seek healthcare services. Machines that costs millions of dollars to hospitals, such as CT scan and MRI machines, most likely do not cost that same amount to build. We must rein in costs in every aspect of our healthcare system, and reducing those costs is a first step that we must employ immediately. We also must reduce the costs of prescription drugs, and require the use of lower-cost generic alternatives when available. The Passport Health Plan mentioned above requires pharmacies to fill certain brand-name medications even when generic alternatives are available. The recent proposal by the healthcare community to reduce costs by 1.5% each year over 10 years, estimated to save approximately $2 trillion, must be considered in any legislation brought before congress. We also much review medical malpractice litigation, and propose placing caps on this type of litigation to reduce costs of services provided by doctors and nurse practitioners. In a current climate where courts award hundreds of millions of dollars to individuals and groups, it is unsustainable for providers to provide quality care and worry about having to pay extremely high malpractice premiums. Maximum award caps should be considered on medical malpractice lawsuits.

I strongly urge you to consider the Patients’ Choice Act with the above additions as the best solution to America’s Healthcare problems. The Patients’ Choice Act provides the most comprehensive fix to our healthcare dilemma, provides for incentives for health promotion and disease prevention, and allows our citizens to be personally responsible for their health. By providing for all Americans to have access to quality and affordable healthcare, we can insure that future generations have a healthcare system that works for them, each and every time.

I thank you for your time and considerations regarding this very serious and important matter facing our great country. I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,


Ryan Kuyers
Louisville, Kentucky 40214