Health Care Is NOT a Right!

In this political season, "Affordable Health Care For All" is a popular slogan. It sounds well and good, but should we ever get to the point where everyone is guaranteed insurance coverage at little to no cost, the already deteriorating health of this nation will turn for the worse.

The problem with universal coverage is, there is absolutely no incentive to stay healthy. "It won't cost me nothing to have that triple by-pass, so I don't have to eat right or exercise..." Health care should cost money, and a lot of money. Your health is the most valuable asset you have. To maintain any valuable asset, you have to spend considerable time, effort and money to keep it. There is an old saying, "If you can't afford to be sick, you better do all you can to stay healthy."

Health care costs in this country are so high because no one wants to take the responsibility to prevent illness. Our emergency medical system is so good, and advanced, we can bring you back from the dead. It's too hard to eat right, get plenty of rest, and exercise (whine).

I do not like either candidates position on health care. Both are wrong! The best solution is affordable, high deductible catastrophic insurance combined with a Health Savings Account (HSA). When people have to start paying out of pocket for their health care, they will be more careful on how it is spent and will look for ways to save.

Health care (insurance) is not a right anymore than food, water, shelter, etc.. are rights. These are your responsibilities. You are responsible for feeding, clothing, sheltering your family. You are also responsible for keeping yourself and your family healthy. Almost every disease and illness is preventable. If you choose to not actively prevent illness, don't expect the rest of us to pay for you irresponsibility.

I would love to hear your comments on this post.

Chemical Treatments for Physical Problems

With the topic of the high cost of health care, we need to look at what is driving the rising costs. Some blame doctors and hospitals, others blame illegal aliens, or mandated insurance coverage, etc... The biggest expense in our health care system is prescription drugs. Not only do these drugs have a high cost, their side effects add to the cost. Reports have shown, for every dollar spent on prescription drugs, we spend $1.31 for treating the side effects. Proponents of prescrition drugs claim these are life saving medicines and thus justify the cost. Viagra is life saving? The fact is, no drug has ever cured anybody of anything. Antibiotics come close, but even they only knock bacteria down enough for the body to take over. Most meds only prolong illness or shift symptoms. How long do you need to take blood pressure meds?, Insulin? or any other medication? Meds don't cure you! If they did, you could stop taking them at some point.



The worst thing is, many health problems are "Physical" in nature. Aches, pains, chronic injuries, arthritis, and of course, spinal mis-alignments that affect the controlling nerves to various organs. Taking a pill cannot have any curative effect on a physical ailment. It would be like giving your car a tune up to correct a dented fender!



To bring down the high cost of health care, physical medicine must become a larger part of the treatment options, and perhaps the primary form of care. If a patient responds to physical treatments, there is no need for expensive, ineffective medication. However, if physical treatments fail, medication is still available to those who may actually benefit from chemical treatments. Unfortunately, pharmaceutical companies are much too powerful and have too much influence to allow this to happen. But if there is enough public demand for physical medicine, the demand cannot be ignored.

Many studies have shown, those patients that receive physical treatments (chiropractic care) take fewer medications and have higher health indexes.

So, before you seek chemical treatments for your ailment, seek physcial alternatives. Give your chiropractor, osteopath, accupuncturist or naturopath a call for evaluation. These doctors are highly trained professionals, and if they cannot help you, will know who may be able to help you.

Amber Ale now in the bottle

Another fine home brew from the Lab Rat Brew Team has just been bottled. Our "Flat Tire Amber" came out fantastic and should be very drinkable in about 2-3 weeks. The Lab Rats have been brewing for 3 years now and we are getting pretty good at it. If you ask nicely, I may be able to share one with you.

Football-off injured reserve

My knee injury has come a long way since ACL reconstruction in December. Now I am ready to return to the grid iron and help the Fox Valley Force defend their WSFL title. Our next game is Sept. 6 vs. the always tough Oostburg Rebels. I hope to play at least 50% of the snaps.

63 Impala

I bought this car in 1980 as a Junior in high school for $250. Spent the next summer scrounging the local junk yard for parts, cleaning and fixing as much as I could. Had it painted just before senior pictures. That's me and my future wife in the picture. Being a North Dakota car, it was rust free (too cold to use salt on the roads). So, when I moved to Minneapolis to attend chiropractic college, I put her (the car, not my wife) into storage for teh next 5 years. Of couse not driving it for 5 years, seals dried up, mice ate up the interior, and it was time for a complete restoration.

Moving the car to Wisconsin went well, and the dismantling process began. Then came children 2,3, and 4, starting a business and life in general. this put the Impala project on hold. I did have time to customize an '86 Suburan (lowered suspension, engine, tranny, exhaust upgrades, shaved trim, mag wheels, phantom grille, roll pan with relocated tail lights, killer stereo, etc...). I could take cloverleafs posted at 35 doing 60 without a problem, and if I hit the accerator just right, I could chirp the tires when it shifted into 2nd gear. Put over 100,000 miles on it after I fixed it up with many family vacations. Due to rust and gas prices (12mpg, 40 gal tank), I had to junk it.

Now as the kids are getting older, the Impala will begin its restoration very soon. I'd love to take it back to a high school class reunion.

Measles Outbreak

Recent news reports show an increase in the incidence of measles. the prevailing theme is to blame parents for not vaccinating their chidren due to an "unfounded" fear of autism. The interesting thing about these reports is they state, "nearly half of those infected were not vaccinated." Pretty scarry huh? But read that quote again...If nearly (less than) half were not vaccinated, then most (more than half) were fully vaccinated!

How is this possible? If the vaccine actually worked, then wouldn't the vast majority of measles cases occur in the un-vaccinated? The vaccine is supposed to keep you from getting measles isn't it? Yet most cases occured in the full vaccinated. Doctors try to blame the unvaccinated for bringing the disease from foreign countries and infecting the population here. Change the subject when you don't have an answer can be an effective technique.

As far as the unfounded fears of an autism link to the measles vaccine, there is no scientific proof linking the vaccine to autism, and there is also no scientific study that proves no link either. We do not have a definitive answer on this subject. However, the vast number of healthy, normal developing babies changing and showing signs and symptoms of autism shortly after receiving a dose of MMR cannot be ignored. The major problem with most vaccine studies, is the lack of a control group to compare reactiions to. A retrospective study comparing a vaccinated population to an unvaccinated population in similar environments for autism and other auto-immune disorder rates would be very simple to do. the big question is, why has this not been done.

I am not against vaccination, but I do oppose forced and mandatory vaccination. Forcing parents with scare tactics to inject a chemical soup that has no long term safety or efficacy studies done is just plain wrong! We must have the freedom to choose. The government must not have the right to force any medical procedure on any person.