>>> John Boone on Biofuzz 
 JB> Your comments about alternative medicine were on target.  
Thanks.  Not all that satisfied with nautropaths either.
Dental work is more satisfactory but recent dental increases!
 
 WE> You have an alternative for medicare?  What's weird is the linking of 
 JB> Yep, but one not likely to be instituted.  IMO, medicare is immoral;
 JB> as, I view medicare the forcefull taking of money from some to give 
 JB> to another without their free consent.   
Libertarian view, is it not?
 JB> My general response is to peripheralize medical decision making as 
 JB> much possible including pecuniary ones.  
Privatise?
 WE> health insurance to employer.  What do you think?  HMOs?  My 
 JB> The link you express is another variant of the dissociation 
 JB> between patient, the one getting the service, physician and the 
 JB> one paying the bills which is IMO wrong or weird.   
More to the point would be individual insurance.  Insurance companies are 
also responsive for this twist as they demand group insurance.  More direct 
group insurance would be union, church or other membership based 
organizations.
 JB> And, IMO, more important, the HMO is an example of the dissociation 
 JB> between the one getting and giving the service and the one paying 
 JB> for the service.  
And if a person can't pay?
 JB> IMO, the story would be quite different if the decision making 
 JB> was local, physician and patient. 
Yup, banks rental agency have made changes that I don't like as required by 
the government.
 JB> Yes, it would, but it would also cut down on the high cost 
 JB> of health care with drastic increases in productivity 
 JB> and reductions in cost in other areans such as manufacturing; 
 JB> as, patients would then begin to question about tests, 
 JB> medications, etc. 
I like the new way prescriptions are passed out with an explanatory page.  
What I detest is the reluctance for doctors to talk with you.  There's no way 
that I can judge a new doctor by talking with him -before- I make an 
appointment.  Naturopaths are much easier to talk to.
How does establishing a patient doctor relationship decrease costs?  My 
mother has been uncannily correct about when she needs to see a doctor.  
Super high tech is a big costly burden.  The by-pass operation for weight 
loss is an example of worthless medicine.  Regular exercise instead of 
coronary by-pass is good medicine.  Colonic instead of colondectomy.  No 
smoking instead of lung cancer treatment.  Clean air instead of more children 
with ashma medications.  
Doctors against tobacco companies is a worthy public relation.  Next doctors 
against junk food as the American Cancer Association has speared headed.  
When will doctors take a loud stand on chemical and air pollution?  As for  
personal experience, fasting instead of antibiotics for staff, a couple of 
five day water only fasts.  
 JB> I once asked a women, what would a Burger King cost, if all 
 JB> she had to do was pay, one pennie, every time, she wanted or 
 JB> needed a whopper? 
$.01 not including the tropical rain forest destroyed by South American beef 
growers.
 JB> Another story, an individual -once- on medicaid, asked, "do 
 JB> I really need that test?"  Followed by, "since, I -now- have to 
 JB> pay for any test done" with "I have no problem getting it if 
 JB> -someone- else would pay for it." 
Yup, unneeded testing.  But dang, dental and medical instance upon xrays is 
too much.  Not that some aren't needed.  Some are, but not so many.  I asked 
the technician to sit with me for subsequent shots.  As he refused, so did I.
As for insurance, I was glad I didn't have any.  Saved me from an operation 
that wasn't, months later, needed.  A friend of mine had a very questionable 
operation done that was pushed upon her as she was insured.
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