tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post116212734867929006..comments2023-12-10T10:06:41.979+00:00Comments on mutations of mortality: Barak ObamaTerry Hamblinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06346629921055055879noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1162796850835848862006-11-06T07:07:00.000+00:002006-11-06T07:07:00.000+00:00Out of respect for the author of this blog and con...Out of respect for the author of this blog and consideration of its wide readership I am going to limit my response to anonymous's parodic rant about what I actually said. <BR/><BR/>However there is one statement in here so inaccurate that it must be challenged. This is:<BR/><BR/>"The statement that these 'uninsured' people have their lives shortened is poppycock, a statement straight from the Democrat talking points, without source and foundation."<BR/><BR/>There is a respected, peer-reviewed academic literature reaching back more than 30 years showing the effect of disparity of access to care and difference in mortality. I am not aware of any literature of such provenance seriously disputing this consensus - although there are, of course, disagreements about the precise mechanism and effect of these disparities.<BR/><BR/> I will link just one recent reference from the American Institute of Medicine of National Academy of Sciences. This organisation was created by the US federal government to be an adviser on scientific and technological matters. However, the Academy and its associated organizations (e.g., the Institute of Medicine) are private, non-governmental, organizations and do not receive direct federal appropriations for their work. Studies undertaken for the government by the Academy complex usually are funded out of appropriations made available to federal agencies. Most of the studies carried out by the Academy complex are at the request of government agencies. <BR/><BR/>The IOM produced a report entitled Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations in January 2004 - that is under the Bush administration's tenure. The board sponsoring its release is stuffed full of professors from leading US medical schools, as well as senior executives from Pharmaceutical companies and other senior health professionals. Its provenance in the US is second to none. Its credentials are impeccable, and its non-partisan nature a byword. It has published reports critical of both major parties and their administrations. <BR/><BR/>The report's opening line states baldly and without equivocation, "Lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States." <BR/><BR/>The full report can be found at<BR/>http://www.iom.edu/?id=19175Exiled in mainstreamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15621269957956075671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1162528422067085042006-11-03T04:33:00.000+00:002006-11-03T04:33:00.000+00:00I like what the Senator says, the fact he was brou...I like what the Senator says, the fact he was brought up by his mother is also a plus for me. I was also brought up by my mother and her mother and my father’s mother.<BR/>I believe that women are stronger and more caring people because they are the ones who give birth, they spend 9 months bearing the child. Mans role in the process is fleeting and gratuitous in nature, it could be a single act or a lifetime commitment, men make the choice. Women on the other hand are committed for life.<BR/><BR/>In my opinion the abortion problem should be settled by women only. Such a decision cannot be justly decided by men.<BR/><BR/>The care of babies after birth is lacking in America. Only those with Healthcare or a large supply of dollars can purchase proper pre-natal and post-natal care. This excludes 43 million who are uninsured. The people who need it most are excluded or have to attend E Rs a long and arduous business, <BR/>or beg some charity. Who wants to beg for a human right in the greatest country in the world, the champion of human rights. <BR/><BR/>The Healthcare System is arranged here by the employer although there is a small increment deducted from take home pay which goes to the Goverment for future Healthcare. <BR/>I believe I heard the Administrator of Medicare say that it totaled 1.9%. Made up from wages and employer contribution.<BR/>Then when one reaches their Senior years, they have to pay for Medicare Insurance a Supplementary Insurance and now a Prescription Drug Insurance. It would make more <BR/>sense to increase the working life charge and decrease the payment during Senior life, when most illnesses impact while on a fixed income.<BR/><BR/>One can go to the Emergency Room for medical care this is an arduous business at a time when the person is at a low ebb. I class it as a Katrina syndrome we know how arduous<BR/>and lacking in preparedness that was. I have been there a number of times, I had Medicare. One meets the melting pot of people with no healthcare or illegals. Everyone is <BR/>treated in order of arrival. It is a sobering experience, not because of one’s illness but because of the sheer number of patients due to the lack of Government organization.<BR/><BR/>The Bill Of Rights might say Life comes first without that<BR/>you cannot have the rest. But first there is birth and then there is<BR/>the living of life. Isn’t there some fundamental reason for the <BR/>Government to ensure that life continues from the birth they <BR/>mandate. Pre and post natal care would be a start. The mother <BR/>giving birth may not be able to support the child. It is not the fault of the child, it cannot help itself. <BR/>Shouldn’t there be some form of care arranged if the Government decrees no abortion.<BR/><BR/>If one has not experienced other Healthcare Systems how can they be <BR/>worse than this one. I think the Healthcare System here has many<BR/>great benefits, but it is very wasteful. In my opinion it is a hodge podge of ideas which is slowly being improved. This was stated<BR/>by Mark McClellan The Administrator for Medicare that he would be streamlining the system and making it more cost effective. <BR/>I do believe to be fair the size of USA makes a workable system difficult. <BR/><BR/>I have had a number of doctors in my 16 years of being an American, <BR/>some excellent some not. One has to be very selective to avoid the <BR/>production line doctor and the ones who are not up to speed. <BR/>I have also found that communication and documentation has to be carried by the patient and the patient has to educate himself all to provide the check and balance on the doctor’s actions.<BR/><BR/><BR/>I chose to become an American, I was not born here, so I have an informed opinion on other Healthcare Systems. I would like to make this one better.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1162325167350315912006-10-31T20:06:00.000+00:002006-10-31T20:06:00.000+00:00One poster makes the silly yet widespread mistake ...One poster makes the silly yet widespread mistake that if you don't have health insurance, you are denied medical care in the US.<BR/><BR/>Nonsense! There are many ways to get covered medical care, including just walking into an emergency room, where care, by law, has to be provided, to getting Medicaid from the federal and/or state government. <BR/><BR/>In California, that is called Medi-Cal, and it is a billion-dollar program.<BR/><BR/>The statement that these 'uninsured' people have their lives shortened is poppycock, a statement straight from the Democrat talking points, without source and foundation.<BR/><BR/>Now healthcare is a different issue than healthcare insurance, isn't it? The healthcare system in the US is widely regarded as the best in the world, with the most drugs discovered, the most research papers published, the latest in cutting edge treatment, and so on.<BR/><BR/>An American National Health Service would lead to worse care for all.<BR/><BR/>Why make this choice. If you want lower-quality care, move to Canada or the UK, where life-saving drugs are not approved, not because they are not effective, but because they are too expensive.<BR/><BR/>The latest is that an effective drug for blindness was deemed too expensive, leading to the conclusion that 50 Brits a day will go blind.<BR/><BR/>I guess that is OK in Britian. I don't want that in the US, OK???<BR/><BR/>Did you all know that in Canada, it is ILLEGAL to see a private doctor? No choice for you! See our doctor or die!<BR/><BR/>Obama is an admitted cocaine user, or at least he says in his book, he 'may have used' cocaine. I guess all the drugs have addled his brain.<BR/><BR/>Let's be totally, totally honest. If Obama wasn't one-half black, the senator with only two years experience would be a minor footnote.<BR/><BR/>This is another example of the 'great hope' that infects some Americans who think back to Jack Kennedy, who had a beautiful wife he cheated on over 100 times in the White House, but who looked good and spoke well. <BR/><BR/>The thought that if he wasn't assassinated, 1000 years of peace and harmony would prevail in the kingdom.<BR/><BR/>What a crock.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1162253852207876962006-10-31T00:17:00.000+00:002006-10-31T00:17:00.000+00:00he seems a nice fellow.but you know i much prefer ...he seems a nice fellow.<BR/>but you know i much prefer his mum.<BR/><BR/>she sounded like a cultured existential mind and fine humanistic nature.....sketching her death<BR/>sounds how it is.....<BR/><BR/>not so many people like this lady.<BR/><BR/>joeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1162250316972194102006-10-30T23:18:00.000+00:002006-10-30T23:18:00.000+00:00WOW--let's all hope that Obama can do this without...WOW--let's all hope that Obama can do this without being trampled by the media elephants. I will follow him closely....so far, I like what I have read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1162183554032047912006-10-30T04:45:00.000+00:002006-10-30T04:45:00.000+00:00Dear Dr Stearns,I recognise and respect the integr...Dear Dr Stearns,<BR/><BR/>I recognise and respect the integrity of what you are saying, and certainly find the abortion rates in the both US and UK horrific (although in US they have been declining since the Clinton administration). But what about the rights of the 43 million uninsured who don't have access to good healthcare - whose lives are truncated because of it, and particularly who have a higher infant mortality. Obama is the one person in this mid-term season who I've heard talking about healthcare as an issue.<BR/><BR/>Best Wishes <BR/>RichardExiled in mainstreamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15621269957956075671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19490962.post-1162175718867829592006-10-30T02:35:00.000+00:002006-10-30T02:35:00.000+00:00As an American I MUST vote for a candidate who wil...As an American I MUST vote for a candidate who will protect the rights of all its people - if they are in the womb they are still people. Our Bill of Rights first guarantee is that of LIFE even before Liberty and Pursuit of happiness.<BR/><BR/>Dr. Charles StearnsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com