This system would put people back in charge of their own health care, bring down costs, and eliminate massive regulatory bureaucratic nightmares for both patients and providers.
Tort reform on a national basis would be an essential part of this plan. When doctors have to practice defensive medicine, some procedures are done and tests are ordered purely for medicolegal reasons. Virtually every other nation in the world has figured out a way to take care of patients who suffer as a result of attempts by medical personnel to help them. I practiced in Australia for one year as a neurosurgeon, and my malpractice premiums were only $200 a year at that time. Compare this with the $300,000 malpractice insurance fee assessed on a litigation-free neurosurgeon in Philadelphia today.
The quality of neurosurgical care in Australia was excellent just as it is in America, but at that time it was difficult or impossible to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit against someone on a contingency basis. In other words, you had to take money out of your own pocket in order to sue someone, which meant you were unlikely to do that unless you had a very good case. In our system you can sue and pay little or nothing while engaging in activities that might make you a millionaire. It certainly should come as no surprise to anyone that certain lawyers and patients alike would want to take advantage of such a medical lottery.
We need to have a national system that allows immediate and appropriate compensation for medical injuries. If a particular practitioner is responsible on a regular basis for patient compensation due to inappropriate care, that information would be available as a public record and savvy consumers who were vigilant regarding the distribution of their HSA dollars would be unlikely to frequent such practitioners. Retraining or disciplinary actions might also be easier to enact. This is another example of how the free market can be a positive force in ensuring excellence.
I am currently working with other health care providers and legislators to incorporate these ideas into a truly affordable health care plan that is relatively simple and puts patients and doctors back in charge of health care. It is vital that we emphasize the importance of working together in a bipartisan fashion, because sickness and disease have no party affiliation, nor should those who are trying to conquer them. If Obamacare continues to crumble and/or is defunded, no one should gloat or say, “I told you so.” This is not a time to proclaim victory, but rather a time to put aside our differences and solve a difficult problem.
In the meantime, I have frequently expressed doubts about the wisdom of imposing a gigantic governmental program like Obamacare without first testing its components. Common sense would dictate a piecemeal implementation of such a massive program since it profoundly affects virtually every American family. As the program is being rolled out, even its most fanatical supporters are starting to see major flaws and losing their enthusiasm for what is destined to be a disaster.
Many promises were made about the program including the famous presidential promise that “If you like your current insurance, you can keep it.” On an almost weekly basis we hear about organizations that are dropping or altering the insurance they offer and about health care providers who are retiring or changing the way they practice. This means that millions of Americans who were satisfied with their health care plans now have to make costly and worrisome changes. Many who previously had health care insurance have been demoted to part-time status, so not only do they lose their insurance, but they lose substantial income. The very fact that everyone is looking for exclusions so they don’t have to participate right away should be a red flag to any objective observer.
Learn from Mistakes
One of the prime indicators of wisdom is the ability to see a mistake and back away while learning from it. As Proverbs says, “As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness.” Ideology frequently renders one incapable of learning and instead makes its ideologues expert excuse makers. They always have someone or something to blame for the failure of their ideas, which in their opinion can’t possibly be flawed in any way. You will hardly ever hear the words “I’m sorry,” or “I was wrong” coming from their lips. When you see people who fit this description, common sense should tell you they are not to be trusted. Sometimes they are gifted with flowery speech and a pleasant persona, which makes them even more dangerous and misleading, particularly for the trusting souls who want so much to believe in them. There is nothing wrong with wanting desperately to believe in someone or some idea, but the application of common sense should tell anyone with a modicum of objectivity that if that person or those ideas consistently yield bad results, their allegiance should be reconsidered.
Set Priorities Wisely
Another key characteristic of wisdom is the ability to prioritize. One must have perspective in order to know which things are most important. Several administrations have talked about the importance of energy independence, yet we remain as dependent on foreign oil as we were years ago. This is because of a problem with priorities. The Environmental Protection Agency feels it has a duty to protect every aspect of the environment under all circumstances, and that priority has been placed above energy independence.
It is estimated that the amount of oil in the Dakotas and Montana is eight times greater than the amount of oil in Saudi Arabia. Yet the EPA has made it difficult for us to take advantage of the enormous amounts of shale oil available in that area of our nation because of pollution problems, and our government has not done much to find a new solution.
With the knowledge of the shale oil and the problems, a wise overseer would be encouraging the development of safe and clean ways to take advantage of this energy bounty rather than trying to shut down proponents of its use. If you were a seller of jewels and decided to extract them from a cave by using dynamite, but then discovered that the jewels would be ruined by the dynamite blast, you could just give up and say these dynamite blasts destroy air quality and don’t yield quality jewels. Or if you were wise, you could say let’s look for better and safer ways to extract a valuable commodity.
I thoroughly believe that we have a duty to protect our environment not only for ourselves but for the next generations. However, we also have a duty to develop our economic potential and free ourselves of unnecessary stress and dependency on volatile foreign sources of energy. As a bonus, energy independence for us means decreased revenues for radical terrorist elements who aim to destroy our way of life. Wisdom would lead us to find solutions reflecting those priorities.
Humility Comes Before Wisdom
How does one acquire wisdom? First and foremost, one must be humble enough to recognize that one doesn’t know everything. “The more you know, the less you know.” This saying means that a wise person understands that on any given issue, there is still much knowledge to be acquired, while the foolish glory in their limited knowledge. It is essential for the prosperity of our nation that our leaders be endowed with knowledge and wisdom.
The acquisition of knowledge is relatively straightforward, but wisdom has to be sought prayerfully from many sources. First, anyone who is trying to live her life wisely should imitate my mother and observe carefully what is going on around her. If you can learn from the triumphs and mistakes of others, you can move further and faster along the path of success. Second, you can also learn a great deal from your own failures if you are willing to admit failure. Finally and most important, consult God, the source of all wisdom. I ask God for wisdom and guidance on a daily basis, and His answers were instrumental during my surgical career, especially when dealing with situations that were unique and extraordinarily complex. His wisdom is at least equally important in my retirement. Pray for wisdom and believe that you will receive a positive answer to that request as the Bible commands in James 1:5. He always provides what is necessary and will guide us in the best way to serve Him and love our neighbors.
Action Steps
Ask an older and wiser person for his or her perspective on a controversial issue.
Read the first
four chapters of the Book of Proverbs in the Bible this week. Glean the wisdom that is there for the taking.
Think of a recent mistake you made and determine to learn from it.
Consider your priorities—should you be spending your time differently?
MY BROTHER’S KEEPER
Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but those who help the poor honor Him.
PROVERBS 14:31
In the mid-1960s my aunt Jean and uncle William were finally able to escape the inner city of Boston and move to a rural home in the town of Holly, Michigan. They had lived in Michigan before moving to Boston a decade earlier and had always dreamed about returning home. Uncle William still had a lot of friends in Michigan and under his supervision, and with a lot of backbreaking effort, they were able to build a reasonable home.
Uncle William had a brother by the name of Albert who was developmentally disabled, or retarded, as they used to say. There was no possibility of Albert’s ever being able to care for himself and my uncle felt it was his responsibility to make sure that all of Albert’s basic needs were met. He and my aunt constructed a small home on the property for Albert, and he was pretty reclusive. Even though Albert could not read, write, or even communicate in a way that most people understood, he was capable of hard work, including transporting heavy objects, loading and unloading trucks, and other activities where brawn was more important than brains. Albert was always proud when he put in a good day of labor and he enjoyed a good meal. He trusted Uncle William and was very obedient.
The children, including yours truly, were frightened of Albert at first, but as time went on we got to know that he was actually quite benign and very shy. By the time I went off to college at Yale, I had grown quite fond of Albert and my girlfriend Candy, who later became my wife, liked him also.
Albert had never worked outside of the home nor had served in the military, so there was no source of public assistance to help with his care. My relatives never complained about the care they provided for Albert and in fact they felt it was their duty.
My aunt and uncle are examples of a mind-set that seems to be dying out in recent years. Until recently, it was expected in America that families would take care of their own disabled or poor, regardless of whether the government provided any assistance. There was a strong sense of responsibility for family and neighbors in need, a sense that unfortunately is much rarer today. Instead of caring for the disabled and elderly, many Americans expect the government to care for them, resulting in a lowered standard of care and a ballooning national debt. Compounding the problem, many others have embraced models of government assistance that actually push the poor into deeper cycles of poverty. Until these patterns are broken, our nation will continue to decline.
Socialism: A Deterrent to Charity
In many socialist societies the basic needs of the elderly and poor are provided by the state. This is expensive, a problem that is partially resolved by denying certain medical treatments to the elderly. Socialism demands that every member of society have their basic needs provided for by the government, but it is nearly impossible to stay ahead of the expanding costs in this type of governing structure so the citizens become enslaved by governmental debt.
Does capitalism offer a better solution? The answer is a resounding yes, as long as personal responsibility and compassion are included. Capitalism practiced without such elements has given the entire idea of a free market a bad rap, when in reality, every economic system is insufficient and undesirable when it is devoid of virtue. Capitalism certainly should not mean “every man for himself” but should instead allow every man to freely earn and freely share with his neighbor.
Respectful Care for the Elderly
Caring for one’s family is a basic responsibility that is becoming increasingly crucial in today’s economy. Rapidly shifting population demographics indicate a need to reconsider how we care for the elderly in our nation. Less than half of the population can now look forward to a comfortable retirement at age sixty-five because retirement plans have been derailed by a stagnant economy with no signs of a lasting and meaningful recovery. Many older couples can certainly pay their mortgage, car notes, utility bills, and supply food and some level of entertainment without much difficulty as long as they continue to work. With the job market undergoing many changes, it will be hard for many elderly individuals who do not have appropriate skills to keep up and they may be forced into retirement.
Unfortunately, the proliferation of nursing homes and elder care facilities in our society indicates that many families are reluctant to exercise enough compassion to care for their own parents and relatives. In some cases people must work outside the home to earn a living and have relatives who cannot be left alone, and these cases are understandable, but those who expect others to care for their parents and don’t even visit them should remember that these people took care of them when they could not care for themselves.
In cases where the problem is due more to circumstances rather than lack of character, we need to work together to find solutions. The task of providing full-time care for the elderly or disabled has become progressively more difficult in families where everyone is working outside the home and no one can be a full-time guardian for the person(s) in need. Fortunately, there is an old saying that “necessity is the mother of invention.” The importance of caring for one’s own remains unchanged, and our society needs to create new ways of doing this.
In some ways, this is already happening. A whole new industry known as adult day care arose because of this necessity. It has created many jobs and provided a stimulating and safe environment for millions of elderly and incapacitated individuals. Many of these adult day care centers are independently owned and operated with little or no assistance from the government. Community living with the ability to pool and share resources can provide a healthy social environment while reducing financial obligations. A variety of such communities can be built around the nation quite economically, allowing freedom and peace of mind to those who deserve a period of relaxation in their lives. These are the kinds of organizations that should be encouraged as time goes on, particularly in light of the growing number of elderly individuals in our society. If we just depend on government programs as the number of elders increases faster than our young population, it will accelerate our rate of debt accumulation, which will negatively affect us all.
We also need to encourage everyone to feel a responsibility toward taking care of their elderly parents and disabled relatives. It should be anticipated that the day will come when it will be necessary to do this, as it probably will be for each of us to be taken care of by sons and daughters, nieces and nephews, in-laws, or other relatives in the future. This care can be expensive, but it is not nearly as costly as nursing homes and other full-time care facilities. If these expenses are anticipated and resources are set aside accordingly, undue hardship and guilt can frequently be avoided.
I know there will be some people saying, “I can barely care for my own needs, how can anyone expect me to provide for someone else, even if they are my parents?” During the time in America when these kinds of questions were not asked, people didn’t necessarily have to have multiple vehicles, flat screen televisions, multiple cell phones, iPads, and a host of other “necessities.” This begs the question: Is it more important to take care of your extended family or have the creature comforts pop culture demands?
Compassion for the Poor
Anyone familiar with the Bible knows that our responsibilities to care for others don’t end with our families. There are numerous Biblical references to our obligations to care for the poor and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And even if you don’t believe in God and/or the Bible, there are commonsense reasons to exercise compassion toward the poor. Most of us have an innate sense that it is right to care for those less fortunate than ourselves, and even those with the hardest hearts should understand that elevating the social status of the poor is bette
r for the economy as a whole.
Compassion, however, should mean providing a mechanism to escape poverty rather than simply maintaining people in an impoverished state by supplying handouts. By doing this we give them an opportunity to elevate their personal situations, which eventually decreases our need to take care of them and empowers them to be able to exercise compassion toward others.
The Problem of Government Dependency
Having established that we should care about our neighbors, the next question is who is my neighbor and where does my responsibility end, leaving the government in charge? My answer will come as a great surprise to many, but I do not believe the government has any obligation to take care of able-bodied citizens who are capable of providing for themselves. Private citizens, on the other hand, should be encouraged but not coerced to provide as much aid and opportunities to their neighbors as they are capable of. Indiscriminately providing for the needs of people who can provide for themselves is not only unwise, it is cruel because it tends in many cases to create dependency and robs people of their God-given dignity.
The only reason I can imagine that it would be a good idea for government to foster dependency in large groups of citizens is to cultivate a dependable voting bloc that will guarantee continued power as long as the entitlements are provided. The problem of course is that such a government will eventually “run out of other people’s money,” as Margaret Thatcher once famously said.
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