It seems like I see a theme here... there is no standardization of compensation.

We have long since standardized a socket set that fixes our car.

Perhaps it is time to standardize health coverage compensation, instead of an every man/woman for him/her self billing policy set. (And let's let the greediest, brown-nosing doctors win...)

***********

Another thing I have noticed is a trend for doctors to often request the latest-greatest testing/operating/medical procedures. As with all technology (think home computers and the depreciation of computer technology) in 6 months or more the newest technology has become out-dated and is on the market for less money. And, as the leatest-greatest technology, it is the most expensive available, thus they can bill a newer and higher rate if they can keep up with the technological change advancements via conferences, trade papers, whate-have-you.

Instead of using the latest-greatest testing/operating/medical procedures, (EVERY TIME) doctors could just as easily use the older methods that cost less, ie., the "it ain't broke, why fix it?" methods. But it SEEMS the trend is to go for the latest technological advancements. Therefore, this keeps the medical process at a premium price.

As an idea....

The latest-greatest testing/operating/medical procedures could be standardized for price before being approved by the FDA for use on human beings. It could also include a depreciation value over the course of time, encouraging the invention of newer and better technologies.

The medical profession could learn something from the computer industry here. Let's take the Intel company for example. In order to thrive, they must produce newer and faster processor chips... constaly. Every month or every few months they come out with faster upgrades. They charge a premium price the market will bear, then as the newer technologies surface, the older technologies become less expensive.

Apply this to the medical profession. There are going to be people who demand the latest-greatest in technological advantages. They could be free to pay for it if they like, If insured, they pay a higher co-pay for that item if they choose to use it, but it has to give power AWAY from the doctors long enough to let the consumer decide. Part of the problem is that the doctors have too much power. They prey upon the unknowing public who is typically afraid of the unknown.

But by consultations, by pamphlets most can read, by simple education, clients can make good choices, too. Doctors are not the only people with brains. Actually, some doctors skimmed through med school on low grades, not every physician and surgeon (and nurse and medical professional period) got excellent grades in college. They are humans, not gods.

And if a client chooses to use a bit older technology to do the same thing, it should be available to him or her. It is their life, it is their hospital or medical bill, and their should be more power put in the hands of the medical consumer than we have today.

If health care costs were standardized coast-to-coast (like a socket set) it might help.

my 3 cents...

The OP's CNN link is dead, so here's the story on ABC:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/phoenix-family-lawsuit-cops-shot-homeowner-intruder/story?id=8756441

They need to fire the cop who shot this guy because he was such lousy pistoleer/rifleman, that he did not kill the guy. What kind of crappy cop training did this guy get anyways? They need to fire every body at the police academy, too. If your gonna defend yourself with a lethal weapon against a bad guy, when did the police academy start training their cops to miss the vital chest cavity, etc... thus letting the poor ba$tard recover and sue them? And what?????... no gung-ho head shot like in the movies??? Come on you gung-ho ba$tards, we want real blood and guts!!!

Sounds like a bad version of a Clint Eastwood spaghetti western...

Hand in your pensions and badges boys, you just plain SUCK !!!!

Jeez...

Ahhhhhhh.... see, if the media really jumps on this hard, they can use this case to get an over five-round capacity firearms ban in place by the end of the current Congress... maybe that is what this is all about... after all, isn't this just part of a normal cops day? Doesn't this happen actually quite often in the line of police work? Why all of a sudden do we hear about this ONE CASE, and not the (most likely) dozens like it that happen in the line of regular police work across the country??? You send a bunch of gung-ho linebackers out into the public armed to the teeth and trained to drool about the weapons they wield, what do you expect?? Human error is going to happen.

If I drive my car and plow into some little old lady, I just used deadly force to annihilate a life. But I doubt I am going to make it to CNN and ABC... and I was pretty gung-ho about my car, too... it has a fast engine and can do zero to sixty in about 6 seconds...

There is most likely a liberal agenda behind the liberal media jumping all over this gun/cop story...

...MARK MY WORDS...

This is just the type of bull$hit news reporting that goes on in the propaganda war against the 2nd Amendment right to keep and bear arms. Cop makes human error in the line of duty, next thing you know they are trying to take away my pistols, rifles, shotguns and ammo. Mark my words... watch this be used for political B.S....

Μολὼν λαβέ >> "Come and take them!"

I might add this... since politicians are ranked with entertainers in discussions...

The political system of this country has become a means of entertainment, and not a true working governmental system.

We have actors that are now politicians... WTF ???

They might call the next guy President, but he is really only just a new clown who by name recognition and publicity, got his a$$ in front of the camera more than me, which makes him famous. Namely, just an entertainer.

I don't take any of this $hit serious.

Now, let's get serious about the statistics of our favorite sports heroes... I have an uncle that can quote statistics of sports figures in nearly every sport on the planet. I see it more of a mental illness and addiction than anything with entertainment value. He is cloning a sports caster for cripes sakes.

We have guitar players that want to clone Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, and countless others... and we have sports freaks that quote and clone the "knowledge" they glean from the sports caster's script lines... yikes...

Meanwhile, how many people died of starvation on the planet this week, can anybody quote me that figure? How many children were abused by there own fathers? How many people became homeless today because of unemployment?

Who the hell cares, an entertainer wants to buy into an entertaining sports team and we are all so damned entertained to death that we actually give a $hit.

Pass me the remote....

People... wake the hell up... Rush is a talk show host... and gets paid more money if he can get free publicity... so the more people think about him, the richer he gets.

It doesn't matter if he wants to buy an NFL team or not... all that matters is that the advertisers keep pouring money into the companies that host Rush's radio show.

The bottom line is always money, and concerning publicity... as Ozzie Osborn, who got partial fame from biting off heads of bats on stage... whether it is good publicity or bad publicity... it is all publicity...

As far as the NFL... they need the publicity, too... to sell those season tickets...

Rush ought to put some publicity toward the Detroit Lions, because those ba$tards suck....

For all the millions that are spent on worthless, useless, vain sporting events... we could do away with poverty in this country in 6 months...

I'm so glad I sold my TV ten years ago, never bought another one, and continue to be very happy having not watched one single stupid sporting event in all this time... what do you know... life goes on beyond the boob tube...

This country has what I call "entertainment-itis"

Sort of like appendicitis or tonsillitis, in that too much infection will cause the need for surgical removal...

Pry that damned remote control out of your little hand and get a life... most likely it is going to take an anesthetic and a good surgeon...

In case you didn't notice, Rush is an entertainer... the more crap he stirs up, the publicity he gets... like biting off the heads of bats... I don't think it would matter to him if he were conservative, liberal, a bat-head biter, or an owner of an NFL team... what matters most is publicity and dollars to an entertainer...

IN case you didn't notice, the NFL people are all entertainers, too. Sporting events are a form of entertainment. America is so wrapped up in entertaining itself that it is literally falling apart. Kiss this country goodbye in about less than 50 years... due to entertainment-itis. It is severely chronic now, and heading toward terminal...

Just look how many millions Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie make every time their faces are seen on the front cover of a tabloid... publicity... bat-head biting... and folks recognize them at the movie theaters and the DVD rental place...

Its all about money...

Wake up people...

Moooooooooooooooooooooo..... baah....baah...baah...

Unplug that damned TV set and get a life !!!!!

That's me on the right... official lifetime member.

Spiderman

"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me... than a frontal lobotomy."

drool..























oops...

I installed a video camera in the air conditioning vent in here... I'll share the video on YouTube later... (or maybe YouPorn depending on how crazy these gals get...)

The difference of an HMO and the coverage I have provided by the county, is that the HMO doctors are real doctors. I am a guinea pig because I am poor, and one of the only clinics I can go to is ALL interns, not even real doctors. Or, I can go to a doctor's office in the ghetto, surrounded by slum and crime, never knowing if I will get to the appointment without being mugged... God forbid I should actually be able to see actual WHITE (real) doctors in the rich section of town...

No.... I'm poor, so I am not allowed on that side of the tracks...

I feel that is partial discrimination.

I am poor, therefore I can't see better, proven, experienced, real doctors. Or, the only doctor I can go to see is in a ghetto, surrounded by crime. There is something wrong with that picture.

On a national level, depending on geographical location, a person could end up with really $hitty health care, or being assigned a health care provider in a slum or ghetto where they would not normally travel for business. The problem with a national system is that it brings down the quality of health care. There will be no incentive to the research and development crowd to invent better ways to provide health care. Instead it will invite more corruption, and medical professionals who will spend even more time trying to figure out how to beat the system and bilk it for every penny possible.

As an idealist, one could wish for universal health care, but as a realist, it doesn't fit a capitalist economy where the incentive to better one's self is connected to being able to be compensated for it monetarily. Socialism and health care wipe out the incentive to do any better. We have the amazing medical technologies in this country because researchers have had the compensatory incentives to create and invent new forms of health care. Socialize everything, make it so there is no incentive to grow, and there will become a stagnation in the system, and a severe decrease in quality over time.

The answer is not in socializing the system... As I stated above, policy and regulation needs to be tougher in the billing side of health care. Right now doctors do not have enough regulations on how much they charge the insurance companies for medical services, etc. This has allowed health care costs to inflate beyond what the average working person could possibly afford and puts a greater burden on the insurance industry. Today, if you are not insured, and you go to the hospital, you are pretty much screwed. It should not be that way.

Taxing the rich and middle class to pay for socialized health coverage of the poor is not the answer.

But to the poor, it makes no difference because the poor will always be trodden under the feet of society. Health care or no health care, there are a hell of a lot more battles in life due to poverty than simply health care.

We live in a society and culture that cannot help but be discriminatory toward the poor. If you do not have money, then you cease to be of any importance to our culture. It doesn't matter if you are Republican or Democrat, if you are poor, you will eventually be treated like crap in America. Throwing the homeless and starving a bread crumb called health care is a futile liberal politician's attempt at being nice to a possible voting constituency.

I have it...

...keep the poor alive long enough to vote for me in the next election...

... in reality, that is the bottom line and only motivation for any of this.

After all, dead people can't vote....

thanks lady

Other poems in this series:

The Island Flower
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251086

On A Quiet Night
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251087

Swimming
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251090

Flying
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251143

Healing Hands
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251144

Other poems in this series:

The Island Flower
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251086

On A Quiet Night
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251087

Swimming
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251090

Flying
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251143

Healing Hands
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251144

Other poems in this series:

The Island Flower
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251086

On A Quiet Night
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251087

Swimming
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251090

Flying
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251143

Healing Hands
http://mingle2.com/topic/show/251144

I have many sides, and until someone really gets to know me, my most common side is a repellent side because of years of being mistreated and now not trusting anyone at the onset... but I am a very deep and compassionate man... a true romantic that sends flowers, writes poetry, and knows how to share emotions... but... very few do I ever allow to see inside of who I really am... it is a special place, and I have learned to not cast my pearls before the swine...

I'm sort of like one of those many sided dice:

Healing Hands
by Telephoneman (composed April 24th, 2006)


Sometimes your heart might get heavy, and life can sometimes be a drag
That's when my hands will touch you, and everything will be alright
Don't worry about the current situation, those days are numbered and will end
Then I'll be able to show you my touch, and you'll feel my healing hands

My hands are warm, and they are really strong, and they would feel good against your shoulders
Exploring the places where your freckles touch, just making you feel right at home
My heart speaks through my healing hands, and you'll feel that touch some day
Maybe soon, if the time was right, and we could be alone for a while

Just close your eyes, and I'll heal your wounds, as if they were never there
No matter what battle you had to endure tonight, I'll take care of it all very soon
I'll be very careful to spend extra time, on the muscles that can get so tense
Then bring you to a place where you feel content, all because of my healing hands

There's a beautiful thing in my fingertips, it's a blessing God put there himself
It's something that helps me play my guitar, as I strum with my healing hands
Then my voice comes alive, and my tongue forms some words, another blessing is found
A music man I, that is who I am, and I'll sooth your ears with my sound

You might need a hug, and my hands will use my arms, to bring you close to my chest
Then with my hands on your shoulders, pull you to me, and it makes your breath into a sigh
'Cause my healing hands knew what you needed, as they stroke evenly down your shoulder blades
Release it, my love, just give it to me, and I'll make all this pain go away

Then just lay in my arms, so simple, so silent, not a word between us is read
Smell my cologne, I'll smell your perfume, and you'll feel my healing hands
A lot can be said in a simple embrace, to just hold someone close in your arms
Touching their freckles with my gentle fingertips, brings a smile to the top of their skin

Maybe just then I would kiss you on the neck, and we'd find I have healing lips
And my breath would be warm, as I would whisper your name in your ear as my mouth would pass by
Then one of my healing hands would shift to cradle your head in my palm
You might even drift, you might slightly faint, but I'd hold you and let there be no harm

Fly away, fly away, let yourself drift, feel my touch, feel my chest, as I hold you to me
Nothing between us, not an inch of space, as our muscles pull us yet closer still
Somewhere in giving, I learn to receive, and I find that you have healing hands
And maybe just one tear would roll passed my cheek, and then you'd heal the heart of this man

Let all pains go away, and all pleasures rush in, as we gently and evenly sway
One hand down the arm, to the wrist, then entwined, fingers to fingers in hand
Cherish this moment, for it would be the first of many to come
Thumbs caressing thumbs, fingerprint to fingerprint, healing hand to healing hand

The hairs of my chest touch the freckles of yours, and we smile and look in our eyes
I see who I want, barely inches away, full of life, full of new healed lands
She looks back at me, and her eyes are aglow, and I know that I've touched her true heart
Belonging began with the touch of our hands, so content has this life now began

Nature wakes up, and we close our eyelids, and together it shall take it's course
If lips should meet lips, let the hearts first agree, then no thing in between shall we lay
I want to grow old, with your healing hands, and to find you would love to have mine
Whatever the course, tower, train or path, let us go hand in hand to that place

Highest of heights, my lover would go, and we'd bring each one back once again
Showing us healing we could never dream, in our touch as the course ran its stream
Fill me, my love, take my heart as a cup, and for you, I will make overflow
Passion and passion and nature's true way, we will find in each healingest hand

To the top of the pillar, then descendant waterfall, in the evening away from it all
Love me, my lover, take me, my best friend, lean on me as I lean on you
Give and receive and receive and give, nature winds through us both
Find what God made in us, find who we are, and find ways to give it each back

Crescendo, crescendo, it builds and it builds, and I take you as never before
This poem has a healing, a loving, a song, and a promise of true healing hands
Wherever we go, whatever we feel, we'll feel it as one in this night
Together, we've joined, together we fly, together our hearts entwined

Then contented we lay, as two lovers content, who have healed each other this night
My fingertips finding your freckles, and your freckles finding my might
As the strength of that moment turns to a sweet gentle purr, as your cheek finds my shoulder to light
And with legs all entwined, every savor delight, relax gently in each others hands

For this night I have found what my heart searches for, and my soul craves touch and display
'Tis love that I want, and love that I've found, and love that we'll redefine here
For whatever we've shared outside of us two will pale to the love of our heal
My love, I have hands, sweet healing touch hands, in the grasp of this wonderful man

So bathe in rose petals, let me brush out your hair, take a towel and finish you off
Put the beauty inside you with my healing hands, and a glow on your face so content
Body lotion and perfume, then some beautiful clothes, wrap you up for the world to see
I would come to the very ends of the Earth if only you would ever love me

Flying
by Telephoneman (April 1st, 2006)

Finally, finally I decided how I'd come, yes I found a way to get where you are
I decided to soar like an eagle high above, and to come to your flying through the air
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a guy coming your way, with blue eyes and a guitar in hand
A suitcase or two, and hope in his heart, ready to make a new start

If it took doing battle with a great big bird, one that could carry me all of the way
The my sword would I take, and I'd win that big bird, and I kindly climb on his back
On the runway we'd go, down the runway we'd go, until finally up in the air
To my Flower I'm coming, to see her at last, to that island oh so very far

I'll cut through the wind, like a sharp iron knife, piercing clouds as I pass them all by
My desire is you, love, my passion is you, and I'm flying to find what I want
On landing that plane I'll find your close kin, and he'll sweep me back to mt room
Later on we'll all dine near your store and we'll have a great time

I'm so happy my Flower, to climb aboard that airplane, to climb into the air toward you
I've planned it very well, and this is all that I want, and I'm finally coming at last
Got some things to bring with me, and some music to share, and a heart full of the deepest desire
I long to see you, touch you, feel you, to hold your warm touch in my hand

I thought I would swim, but I didn't have to swim, and I thought I would row, but I didn't have to row
I would fly, by the air, through the air, in the air, to you, where you are, waiting for me, watching
Yes, good things are going to start very soon, things that will make us both very glad
Just fall in my arms, and let me hold you so close, let me hear your breath as you breathe

I want you, I need you, I'm coming to you, and I'm flying even before I take-off
My body is here, but my spirit is already there, as it has come little piece by little piece
Soon my body will be there, with my spirit and you, and my delight will be in your smile
To see your eyes shine, to see your pretty smile, to just stand there and take it all in

My life's greatest joy is about to unfold, as we meet and we fly to the same place
We two can then love, we can embrace, and we can share whatever pleasures nature will unfold
Come to me, my love, and don't be shy, I'll show you my strength and my strong arms
My fingers that heal, and my hands that will hold, never weary of bringing you hope

Can you see it, can you feel it, can you close your eyes and envision
The same thing that I can see, as if looking out over the ocean, feel the breeze in your face
It's about to begin, as I fly toward you, this wonderful wonderful love
I need you, I want you, I would do anything to get to you, let nothing stand in my way

To nuzzle your neck, to smell your sweet perfume, to let you smell my cologne in return
Yes, to be THAT close, that is what I want, in private times, in private ways, we can share
To cuddle with you, to relax in your arms, to have your head on my chest
I'm not afraid to let you know what I want, it warms you, it touches you, it turns you on...

So, I'm flying to you, but I'm flying already and for months I've been flying and flying
My flower, my woman, sweet lady, you're awesome, I want to tell you this all of your life
My eyes they will see you, my hands they will at last feel you, and you'll be right there before me
I am so happy, so joyful, so exhilarated, so excited, and yes, so turned on...

The hope light is floating, the hope it is lit, and we should let it just float right on up
Because it is oh so rare that two people like this meet, it is something to cherish on end
I'm flying to you, baby, I'm coming your way, I'm boarding that jet and taking off
And I feel you are waiting... so happy... so waiting... to see this Michigan man

I'll be there by the 'morrow, I'll see you as the sun sets, I'll warm my belly with some food
The whatever the night paints, I'm sure we'll both appreciate, knowing well that we are together at last
Like magnets we are pulling toward one another calling, and the force is drawing us near
Open our hearts, sweet Jesus, Father God and the Spirit, let us love is my only prayer

FWIW/FYI...

I wrote this poem to a woman I met on the Internet, of whom I became very fond of, and her of I, she was on the island of Guam, 3,500 miles west of Hawaii. Thinking she was the "one"... I boarded a jet plane and flew 9,000 miles from Michigan to Guam to meet her.

We decided to remain friends and never did have a relationship out side of friendship, howbeit I am sure we both still adore each other. She is now married to a wonderful man, and we still write once in a great while. And from the writing of this poem, which I sent to her just before coming to visit, until now, I still call her "My Island Flower."

I wrote her a series of poems... the next one is posted here as well, called "Swimming".... then I wrote one called "Flying"... they both were written to her... and originally sent to her via e-mail.