Thanks for your comments. Years ago I used to ride and show American Saddlebreds and it is interesting that somehow that website has our little farm’s web address for some strange reason. Guess it is another farm they are trying to list, but with the wrong address.

Anyway, in response I would like to mention a few things. First, I do know that the pharmaceutical companies are a big part and problem with the high cost of health care. What to do about this is the debatable question. Many medications have good and necessary uses, but then many have terrible side-effects and are best used for the shortest amount of time, if deemed necessary. While many are unfortunately dependent on prescription medicines, what we should all be working towards is a state of health not dependent upon drugs. This may seem to pie-in-the sky to some, but I know it is possible many times by changing one’s diet, exercising, and using super foods and high quality supplements. While you can spend a fortune on high quality supplements, you can also get the same effect with a few choice super foods and eliminating a lot of junk and processed food from one’s diet. This takes determination and discipline and can be done without a lot of money. But I have done this and know others who have as well and gotten great results.

That the US is 34th in infant mortality is indeed pathetic. I believe the primary reason for this is the poor condition of the mother – not being well nourished herself. Anyone in the horse business for example, knows that the better the condition of the mare (and stallion too), the better likelihood for a live, healthy foal. But there are people who treat their animals more conscientously than they do their own bodies. If you want to know how to raise healthy babies, start by reading Westin A. Price’s work called “Nutrition And Physical Degeneration.” I am not writing this lightly because I am due to give birth any day now to our 9th child at the age of 46. I still rely on the LORD GOD to deliver and help me give birth to a healthy baby, but I have done all I could to eat right and well, and to take extra steps to ensure the baby and myself are well nourished. We managed to get through the H1N1 flu without anything but a little Tylenol and some herbal mixtures and cod liver oil and lots of good fluids – and the grace and mercy of God.

Right now I don’t see how this country can afford to revamp the health care system in the expensive way it is currently detailed. If you want to deal with pharmaceutical companies we can find a better way to do that – surely Congress could. If we want to decrease the cost of insurance, open up the state borders so that insurance companies can be more competitive and encourage them to lower their premiums. Allow naturopaths and nurse practitioners to be covered under insurance as well. Encourage doctors to volunteer service to low-income people, perhaps as a tax incentive. And of course, trying to encourage healthier eating and habits helps everyone.

The final thing I would note is one that some would think harsh and controversial. But biblically, one would have to say that as a country, the United States has been extremely blessed in so many ways. But en masse, her inhabitants have turned their backs on GOD. They have said, for almost 50 years now, that He does not have a place in government, in the schools, and even in people’s worldviews. Since I believe that He is the giver of all life and blessings, and if you go back to the Bible and read through it and give it a chance to teach wisdom to whomever takes the time to read it, then repenting of unbelief and rebelliousness is a big step to getting out from under the curses we have brought on ourselves by turning away from Him as a Nation. There is no reason why we should be so sick as a Nation when we have it otherwise so good. But our arrogance and atheism has gotten the best of us as a Nation. We think we can figure everything out without His help.

Finally, I have lived in both Germany and Central Asia. I would still rather receive health care in the U.S. Yes, there are some things we could learn from the Europeans, but why not just incorporate those things, and stick to the set-up we already have. There is room for improvement for sure, but entrusting Congress and President Obama at this time in history when they are already bankrupting the country with a massive overhaul is to me just not wise or even feasible.

I respect your opinions on the health care debate that this country is undergoing right now. I do have issue with some of the things you say though. I am a health care professional as well and if you have been in this field you know that it is being run by the pharmaceutical companies not the hospitals or doctors. Something has to be done. My father was in the Army so I grew up in a “socialized” medical environment – which the military medical facilities are. I have to say that there was never a time I left the hospital with some highly priced new drug that the doctor was paid to push as the “latest thing” so he could get a kick back from Phizer. Where does it say in the bill that you will not be able to deny vaccines? You state that “There is a scale based on income that will be used to determine what you must pay. And when you fill out all of the paperwork to enroll in the government system, you will be subject to government investigations into your IRS taxes to make sure that you actually make the amount you claim on your forms.” I have news for you, you submit your tax forms to the government every year – when they look at it they are auditing it. Do you honestly think the government has the manpower or the time to audit every persons taxes to verify they are telling the truth…here is an idea – why don’t we all just tell the truth anyway? Then we wouldn’t have to worry about audits or penalties for lying to get away with something. As a health care professional you must know that the average law abiding citizen who pays their taxes now is paying for the poor and illegal immigrants in this country to receive health care. How many people walk in off the street without health care that the hospitals are not allowed to turn away?

The US is 34th in infant mortality—with a level comparable to Croatia, Estonia, Poland and Cuba! To what is this attributable to? I agree that preventative medicine is the key – but who can afford it. My sister is self employed. She had to pay almost $12000 into a fund over a year before she was allowed to go to the hospital for the first check up! Is this right for the richest country in the world? In overall life expectancy, the United States ranks an astonishing 42nd, behind not only Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and all the countries of Western Europe, but also Israel, Greece, Singapore, Costa Rica and South Korea. The US spends twice as much money per capita on health care as any of these countries, but its citizens live shorter lives. Having lived in Germany and traveled extensively in Europe and Asia including Australia, they don’t live any differently than we do. McDonald’s is popular everywhere and so is TV.

Most industrialized countries, and many developing countries, operate some form of publicly-funded health care with universal coverage as the goal. According to the Institute of Medicine and others, the United States is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not provide universal health care. And if you don’t think it works look at the list above – Canada, Australia, et al, each one has a “socailized” medical establishment. Are they all wrong and we are the only ones right – again?

You state that “Socialism is all about putting the interest of the State over the liberties of the individual. This is contrary to our Constitution.”. Nobody is saying that we are going to become a socialist state (which in this country means communist). We are talking about socializing medicine which just means that the state ,i.e. the government, funds the health care system. No where in the Constitution does it state that the people will form a better union by paying for health care themselves out of their own pocket and only the people who can afford it are entitled to it.

When Medicare and Medicade were first proposed it was called a socialized form of medicine…how many millions of people have been helped by these two programs (I know it is not perfect but it works better than public health care). Nobody is saying now that we should get rid of it, but isn’t the proposed health plan just a way of providing Medicare for everyone?

I came to your site interested in American Saddlebred Horses not medical plans but I must say I do enjoy your site and am looking forward to reading the rest of your blog.

Blessings to you!

Christine

For the past few years, most of my family and I get yearly vaccines for the “normal flu” and now I’m hearing this could either help prevent or even make worse one’s bout with the specific swine strain should they get it.

Would love your thoughts!