Change Proposal

Change is the one constant that we all can depend on. Whether it is the weather or the seasons, the pressing issues of the moment, change is inevitable.

Many people resist change. “Why can’t it be like it was?” It is because like the seasons, we all change also. Some will change for the better as they experience and learn and others will resist changing no matter what they experience or learn to the contrary of their beliefs.

Nonetheless, change will occur. And in the context of what we live in as a world, the change that has been coming is not the change that most intelligent people feel comfortable with. But it remains constant.

Here in the United States, we get to elect a new President every four years, and if we are pleased with the performance during that term, we can elect the President for another term of four years. And how shall we measure that performance?

Some will say that during Obama’s term, their lives are better. Most will probably say otherwise. I include myself in the latter group, as I have witnessed the rise in unemployment, much of which is unreported since many of  those who collected compensation have exhausted their benefits and are no longer counted as unemployment claims or job applicants for that matter. Many jobs have just disappeared over the last four years.

Some will claim that the Affordable Patient Protection Act will help millions who currently have no health insurance to be covered. My experience is that the price paid for that coverage is less coverage for those who have been paying premiums and even those who have been using subsidized or government provided health care in the past. I have felt the change on a personal level by being denied coverage for dental and vision, and even for a medical device prescribed by a specialist.

The justification for denial of care is an accounting policy, not a medical one. And as more of the Obamacare policies come on line there will be more complaints and less coverage all coming at a higher cost to those who will be paying so that others, currently like me, will have coverage. But once again, having coverage and being denied treatment is still like having no coverage at all.

The candidates debate issues, many of which are targeting particular groups of voters. What they are not debating is the basic liberties and rights that are being taken from the American people. Sure they have justifications for doing so. They always can justify their actions and many people will believe they are justified in doing so.

So I am proposing change in our government, not just in who sits in the Oval Office, but those who legislate in both houses of Congress. I propose taking Democrats and Republicans out of office and replacing them with citizens like ourselves who have no vested interest in creating laws that benefit their lobbyists and themselves at the consequence of so many millions of America people.

I propose that doctors and not politicians help write health care policy without the interference of groups like the American Medical Association and their pharmaceutical manufacturing supporters.