| Letters
to the editor from this week's Chronicle:
To the Editor,
With Proposition 2 Idahoans are faced with a clear choice with respect
to their health care needs and health insurance: Socialized Medicine or
the Free Market. The choice is simply either a command and control top
down federal government and state agencies making these choices for you
OR you being in charge yourself. And if you believe for one moment the
snake oil the Democrat Party is selling with a yes on Prop. 2 I have a
bridge in Arizona I would like to sell you.
I will make a prediction that expanded Medicaid will not save Idahoans
one red cent as forecasted by prominent Democrats in Idaho County. They
completely ignore the reality that all we are doing is transferring the
burden to our federal government that is $21.6 trillion in debt and saddled
with another $115 trillion in unfunded liabilities. We might be Idahoans
but we are also part of the federal government.
We only have to look to the current rates of increases from the debacle
that is Obama Care to realize the truth. Over the next ten years expanded
Medicaid is expected to add 1 Trillion dollars to the National Debt; and
this is a best guess scenario. To further understand the underestimation
of this “best guess” we need only to look to the 2014 Congressional Budget
Office (CBO) projected Medicaid expansion cost. In 2014 the CBO projected
that Medicaid expansion would cost the federal government $42 billion in
2015; that number was low by a mere 62%. What is an additional 62% of $1
trillion?
In Idaho alone it is estimated that Obama Care’s expanded Medicaid
would add more than $4.7 billion to the national debt over the next 10
years. Remember this is an estimate. For those states that have chosen
expanded Medicaid the cost have been much higher.
They say that the federal government will pay 90% and the state will
pay 10%. These were the same promises that were made when Medicaid was
originally sold to the states. It eventually became a 70% / 30% split.
Given the current shambles of the federal debt how is it going to maintain
this 90% / 10% shared responsibility? It is not a matter of if but when
we return to this split; and when we do the numbers are not pretty for
Idahoans. You will either have to slash all statewide budgets or cut expanded
Medicaid funding to balance the state books. Or you could massively raise
taxes on Idahoans. Why would we set ourselves up for failure?
Some also tried to say there is a contraception controversy. There
is no contraception controversy there is an abortion controversy. He talks
of approximate premature deaths; but does he consider abortions as premature
deaths? In 2016 there were 1,289 abortions in Idaho. These numbers are
real and Medicaid expansion will fund abortions in Idaho.
Do we look on impassively at the hard truths before us or accept the
failed ideologies under the cloak of political correctness. Idahoans have
a clear choice Nov 6th: The Free Market or socialized medicine.
Jim Chmelik
Former Idaho County Commissioner
To the Editor,
Editor’s Note: The article below was submitted by Kerry Uhlenkott
with permission of the author.
It’s our duty to care for the sick and afflicted, not the government’s
Over the 41 years of my medical career, my first patient is still one of
the most memorable. I saw him my first night of surgery duty at St. Al’s
in 1988, a 65-year-old man who had been diagnosed with Down syndrome at
birth. He came to the emergency room with his mother and father, both almost
90-years old and his legal guardians. In talking to the family, I found
that all had lived their entire lives in Emmett, Idaho. As their son could
not take care of himself, he required the full-time attention of the couple—for
his entire lifetime.
But the parents were not alone in their endeavor. I observed that my
patient was attended to by many friends and neighbors in the Emmett community,
including members of the family’s church, the women’s club, and many other
organizations that banded together to help the family. For example, on
Tuesdays and Thursdays, ladies would come to the home for four to six hours
at a time, so that the patient’s mother could get out of the house, shop,
run errands, and enjoy some alone time. These sweet saints attended to
the family’s needs for more than 65 years.
This case stuck with me. Several years ago I worked with discharge
planners at the hospital to estimate the cost to society had that patient
been institutionalized as a child. The answer? More than $1.5 million.
Similarly, last year, my wife’s mother passed away. She lost her husband
13 years ago, and within a year she suffered a stroke herself. My mother-in-law
was unable to walk and had severe left-sided hemiplegia, but thanks to
the dedicated kindness and support of her neighbors, friends, and family
in Blackfoot, she was able to live in her own home until her death.
These are the kinds of situations a recent Wall Street Journal article
addresses. “The U.S. is running out of health caregivers,” the article’s
author reveals. The article notes, soon there will be more than 55 million
people in need of in-home health care. Because of changing demographics,
there will be a 13 percent increase in available caregivers—family and
friends—but a more than 185 percent increase in the number of patients
who require home health services.
This number seems shocking, until you consider the health services
Americans already provide. The Wall Street Journal article also pointed
out that there are 35 million people, mostly friends and family members,
who provide in-home health services to 55 million patients (mostly family
members) for free. Such is truly charitable care, unfunded by private or
public sector dollars. The price tag for this care: more than $500 billion
a year. And this sum doesn’t factor in lost opportunities for the caregivers,
who could otherwise have been working more hours or holding a second job.
The $500 billion is almost equal to annual state and federal government
Medicaid spending.
Last week, I met with several prominent business leaders and politicians,
and we discussed the issues that surround Medicaid expansion. A refrain
I heard more than once, “As a society, we have an obligation to take care
of those in need.” I couldn’t agree more, except for the fact that I believe
we as individuals—and not society—can, and already do, carry that obligation.
We are indeed called upon to be “our brother’s keeper,” but nowhere in
the New Testament can I find that it is the province of government to be
the conduit for charity.
I find quite the opposite: Jesus says to render unto Caesar that which
is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s. Charity is between the giver,
the receiver, and God. My Catholic Catechism describes a charitable act
as a covenant between the giver and the receiver, to which God is a party—”what
you do unto the least of my brethren you do unto me.” Charity is personal.
Thus, I have two main concerns with expanding Medicaid. My first and
biggest concern: Medicaid expansion will allow many people to believe that
when government steps in, they are discharged of their personal obligation
to take care of their own family, friends, and neighbors.
Let’s remember a few things about private charity. It is never coerced,
and therefore the outcome of a gift has more relevance to the giver and
to the receiver than a forced tax that is collected and distributed without
accountability. And, let’s look at how Americans already give hundreds
of billions of dollars worth of care to their friends and relatives, without
compensation and without force. These are meaningful and charitable relationships
that once shifted to the public dole will lose both a sense of personal
connection and responsibility, and cost taxpayers and families millions.
My second concern is, because of changing demographics—smaller, more mobile
families, and the loss of community that results from a reliance on government
programs—the final cost for government medical care will make it impossible
to support the other services that are truly the province of government.
Consider this. The interest payment on the federal debt is between
six and eight percent. Medicaid spending runs about 13 percent of the combined
federal and state budgets, which is a sum very close to the $500 billion
in uncompensated home care given today. What will happen when growing debt-interest
payments draw money away from the Medicaid budget? Without active charitable
systems in place, the Medicaid system will implode. First and foremost,
such a breakdown would hurt those in the system for whom Medicaid was first
designed: women, children, and adults with disabilities.
Let’s strengthen Medicaid by first taking care of those for whom the
program was designed: people with chronic diseases who, through no fault
of their own, cannot afford to take care of themselves. Putting money into
the pockets of large insurance and provider monopolies which already receive
millions of dollars of subsidies, and make billions of dollars of profit,
does absolutely nothing to aid those on the margins.
As medical markets evolve, demographics change, and governments at
all levels assume the costs that traditionally have been the responsibility
of friends, family, and communities, we as individuals will no longer be
responsible for ourselves. This not only results in dangerously increased
costs and lower quality care, it endangers the charitable spirit by which
Americans already care for their friends and families.
Medicaid expansion is simply not the Idaho way.
Dr. John Livingston, Surgeon
Boise
Dr. John M. Livingston, a Boise resident, performed general and
trauma surgery for more than 35 years, including 12 in the U.S. Navy and
25 Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise. He is currently
retired. He attended medical school at Ohio State University and interned
at Portsmouth Naval Hospital. He performed trauma surgery at Norfolk General
Hospital and pediatric trauma surgery at the University of Florida. He
also performed trauma surgery at Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center,
and served as a staff surgeon at a naval hospital in Kelfavic, Iceland.
Gov. Butch Otter appointed Dr. Livingston to the Your Health Idaho
oversight board in April 2013.
Redneck Review!
No. 181 - 10/8/2018
This article amounts to what might be called a "strategic retreat"
from the first three words used to introduce the past two reviews!
The "Wake up America!" was probably a bit harsh! BUT... make no mistake
about it, disasters have sneaked up on people and nations many times in
the past, and it might be wise to believe it could happen again!
Consider for example, the destruction of the Twin Towers on 9/11/2001.
Was that expected in advance by the average citizen? Or the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor 12/7/1941? Or another example. Imagine the shock
in Japan when the first atomic bomb was dropped there August, 1945. Finally,
what about the collapse of the stock market in America in 1929? The question
is, were these events known in advance by all but a very few?
Last week a summary of the possible threat facing our nation by our
exploding debt on the one hand, and the slow but insidious creep towards
socialism happening in our country over the past several decades were examined.
The question is, what if anything, can the average concerned American citizen
do about it? That was the question left at the end of review 180.
Let's start by saying it is essential that a person be informed.
And a warning here! Please do recognize that it is common knowledge
by people who are really in the know, that our current press, TV, and most
national magazines are solidly camped on the liberal side! The same
is true of Hollywood and a majority of its actors. And sad to say,
it is also true of a large number of our colleges and universities, and
the instructors who teach there. Some very credible sources claim
that all three of these areas lean heavily to the liberal side 80% or more
on most important issues.
And what would be some of the "liberal" positions today? Health care
for all financed by state or the federal government if needed. Education
- free or subsidized by government for all who find payment difficult.
Abortion? - A woman's right to decide. Taxes? - Heavier percentages
on the wealthy with the goal of equality of living conditions for all.
Politics? - Vote Democrat since the positions above can be found on their
state and federal platforms. Supreme Court? – Select justices whose decisions
are less influenced by the Constitution and what is a more evolving position
more up to date with modern thinking and current times.
A quick disclaimer! Being a Democrat myself once, it is not claimed
here that every person who votes that way today holds to all of the positions
listed above. But it is well accepted that the old Democrat party
has moved "to the left," which means more liberal positions are taken by
it on the issues above. Barring a meaningful revolt on the part of
faithful old Democrats, that is the way it is today, and the way it is
probably going to stay!
In future reviews, the question of exposure to both sides of critical
issues will be raised, and a look at some sources supporting positions
differing from the majority liberal ones will be taken. Now however, let's
ask, "Can the average individual do anything significant to support or
to oppose issues today?"
We give here a resounding YES! Prayer is the answer, a tool available
to all who choose to use it! As conditions and events become critical,
why not you and myself and all other citizens step up our efforts in this
regard? Maybe a little more effort to join in church prayer services,
or just a bit more time spending time in prayer alone. Amazing are
the results of individual prayer efforts in the past! Amazing enough
to be taken up in a future review or two!
Jake Wren |
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