InSpiritry

We all profit if our healthcare system is transformed…

and that profit will not be just financial! 

This week in Washington, the hot topic is healthcare. Those with an eye on the cost and scope of expanding healthcare are calling for reform. Those with a heart for medical care as a humanitarian mission are calling for healthcare to be transformed. Most of us, confused and concerned with how to provide healthcare for our own family and others, are somewhere in between.

The trouble is that, for everyday Americans, the national discussion seems to leave us out. Politicians, insurance executives, lobbyists, medical groups and activists shout at each other and exaggerate catastrophic implications with code words like market forces, public option, universal coverage and efficiency.  What do they really mean?

Actually, in reporting on the financial crisis over the past year, the media has given us plenty of understandable vocabulary that fits the mess that we call American healthcare: A Culture of Excess, Greed, Lax Oversight, Systemic Risk. Yes, Americans have abused our medical care system just as investors abused the markets and with similar results. Notice I didn’t just say doctors or insurance companies or politicians. I said Americans. Here’s why:

While we overeat, drink alcohol, use tobacco and resist exercise, Americans want access to unlimited cutting edge medical care and highly proficient, caring doctors and nurses. We want that care to be at our convenience. We want to choose which tests to have, which medicines to take, which technologies to use, which professionals to see, which habits to embrace and how much medical care to get, all at discount prices (even if some therapies are not needed or are too expensive and others are unpleasant but effective!).

While we say medicine is a mission, American doctors, hospitals and healthcare companies operate as capitalists. They want to be able to perform procedures and offer services that pay well, to choose patients who are easier to take care of, to offer the procedures Americans like to have, to expand duplicated services to compete with other doctors, hospitals and healthcare companies (even if all these things drive up costs without always improving health!).

While we say healthcare “coverage” is important, private American insurance companies are also profit driven. They want to be able to take advantage of America’s obsession with medical technology, to profit from our aversion to healthy lifestyle choices, to cover only those people with no pre-existing medical conditions, to leave out the poor and to control costs by deciding which things are covered, all while chasing higher and higher profits (even if this means that struggling patient families end up paying for huge insurance executive salaries). 

Last but not least, politicians purport to represent us and to have American’s best interest at heart, then use healthcare as a political tool to bolster their conservative or progressive agendas.

This has to stop.  No other country in the world is foolish enough to think this is how healthcare should work, and now we, Americans, are seeing that, in fact, it doesn’t work: America is less healthy than the rest of the world and our system is in crisis. Whether or not you are a Republican or a Democrat, it is time to think compassionately and creatively about healthcare.

Here are some ideas we might consider:

Americans will need to recognize their responsibility to healthcare quality by being more healthy, getting preventative care, having one primary care doctor who coordinates their care, following all medical recommendations and not expecting someone else to always pay the bill for bad personal choices.

American doctors and hospitals will need to return to the Hippocratic mission of medicine, to work together to coordinate their care of whole communities, to carefully use healthcare dollars, to scientifically determine and follow best practices, to favor quality over quantity and to guide patients in making wise decisions about lifestyles and therapies.

American insurance companies will need to go back to the original idea of insurance: collecting premiums and paying claims as a way to allow “all of us” to collectively pay for “all of us.” If they are unwilling to include “all of us”, they will need to compete with a public option for those they leave out. They will need to join the medical community to finding ways to keep America healthy.

American politicians will need to turn away special interests and step beyond self interest to creatively construct a healthcare system focused on the highest quality of care instead of profits, a system that is based on compassion for each American and a system that can sustain our desire to enjoy long lives of health and service to each other.

This is not just President Obama’s problem. Each of us has a part to play. It’s a lot to ask, I know, but the future of healthcare and America depends on it!

InSpiritry Question for the Day: What do you want to change about healthcare?

When We Are All Healthy, America Can Be a Blessing!

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“Every so often, I take it out and read it again.” A friend talking about her favorite book

With summer here, the topic of books to take on vacation came up this week. Headed to the beach with a bag of books, a friend of mine was lamenting that, with her busy schedule, she didn’t usually have time to reread her favorite books – young adult novels that make her remember what she loved about childhood in a small town.

Books have a way of doing that – opening up places in our hearts and minds we have kept dormant. Fiction with its characters that seem like old friends. Creative nonfiction with its reminders that reality can be even more entertaining than anything we writers make up. Poetry with its ways of presenting life as mysterious and inspiring. Even nonfiction these days — banking, medicine, history, social issues, foreign policy, religion – is full of surprises!

Reading for pleasure not only allows us time away from our daily grind, but gives us insights into our wider world. What could be better for the Greater Good than that!?

What about you? Are there books that have been important in your life? Titles that remind you of a place, a time, a person? Are there novelists or poets or inspiration writers that reaffirm what you think is important? When this summer could you escape with a book for a while?

InSpiritry Question for the Day:  What book do you wish you had time to reread?

When We Reread Our Favorites, Books Can Be a Blessing!

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“Poverty, Violence, War, Earthquakes, Floods…all reasons families are forced to live in Third World conditions.”

Last night, a line of dangerous summer thunderstorms raced across North Texas, full of sky-splitting lightning strikes, damaging winds, tornados, heavy rain and hail. As our huge, old trees heaved in the gusts and thunder rattled our windows, we heard a high pitched POP! and then total silence. Lights, fans, clocks, refrigerators all clicked off. Lightning had struck the transformer out on the road; the electricity was off. For the rest of the night, my husband and I were jostled every few hours by limbs falling outside and heavy downpours, but no real damage.

This morning, we awoke to the unnerving reality of getting ready for the day without electricity. Shaving for him and putting on makeup for me were interesting at best. We had to use a flashlight to find clothes in the closet. I couldn’t check emails or listen to NPR. He couldn’t watch the financial news. No coffee may have been the biggest shock. Waiting for the power company to come, I tried stay busy, but I couldn’t wash clothes or dishes. I couldn’t vacuum. I finally decided to try to revise poems and make notes in the dim, rainy light and humid, stuffy air; it was less than comfortable. By the time, mid morning came, I was ready to move operations elsewhere.

Happily, pretty soon the SWEPCO truck arrived and within minutes the workman had fixed the problem. When I went out to thank him, he looked tired and said he had been working since 11 pm the night before. That’s when I realized the blessing of living in a place where we can depend on simple but essential things like power, water, gas, postal delivery, safety and comfort. I had only been without electricity for a few hours, but around the world (and in our own towns) millions of families don’t have basic services for months at a time because of poverty, violence, persecution, political upheaval, weather and natural disasters. We see them on television and hear about them on the news, but for most of us, they are literally a world away.

Thank goodness for groups like CARE, the Red Cross, the ONE Campaign, PLAN International, the United Nations and Engineers Without Borders along with the many governments and peace organizations working for better conditions for all peoples. They continue to need our financial support. Find more of these peacework organizations on my InSpiritry Links Page.

Today, give some thought to the everyday blessings of orderly society that you enjoy. Think for a minute about how much you depend on that. Realize, without electricity and our other services, how much you would suddenly have in common with people in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, North Korea and other ravaged parts of the globe. Imagine yourself as one of them. That kind of empathy is what leads us to a Passion for the Greater Good!

InSpiritry Question for the Day:  What do you miss the most when you don’t have electricity?

When We Feel Empathy for Others, We Can Be a Blessing!

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The best part of living in a small town…

Yesterday, I had lunch in Honey Grove, Texas. I was speaking to the Friends of the Library there, a group of 75 people dedicated to supporting the public library in a community of descendants of farming families. Some had lived there all their lives, but many have retired from successful careers to this struggling town of historic buildings and fond memories. My topic was Celebrating Small Town Life — I told stories, read poems and asked audience members to consider the blessings of family, faith, community and connection to the land. By the time I left we were all like old friends.

Honey Grove is not so different from many towns across Texas and America where optimism prevails despite difficulties in sustaining economic growth. While young people are moving away to pursue careers in urban centers or to find more open-minded acceptance; older people are moving in to reconnect with the slower paced, more compassionate communities they remember. While industries are hesitant to invest capital, e-commerce connects entreprenuers to the larger world. While entertainment opportunities are limited, chances to enjoy relationships abound. While there is fewer places to shop, there is less need to buy. While there is less anonymity, every child and adult belongs to everyone else. While values tend toward the conservative, traditions provide a sense of belonging. While new architectural projects are infrequent, natural surroundings offer inspiration. While there are few upscale neighborhoods, in small towns people who are rich and poor, black and white and brown, old and young work and play and live and learn and worship together.

In fact, many of us who live in small towns believe, with the greed, distrust and intolerance in the world of late, we would all do well to reconsider the wisdom of small town life as we work toward our own life goals as well as  the Greater Good!

InSpiritry Question for the Day:  What is something you love about small town life?

When We See Our World as a Community, We Can Be a Blessing!

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“There aren’t enough days in the weekend.“       Rod Schmidt

It’s Monday. Again. Time to rise and shine, grab a cup of coffee and a bagel and leave the weekend behind. For some of us, this past weekend was full of time with family and friends.  For some, it was a chance to hit the lake for fishing. Others enjoyed three days of yard work or home repair or a service project. Lots of us spent Sunday in church and maybe even at a church picnic. Many of us went to concerts or had a night out for dinner or had friends over. Of course, some of us were at jobs that don’t stop on Saturday or Sunday. Sadly, a few of us felt compelled to keep working and worrying and waiting for things to change (you know who you are!) Read the rest of this entry »

“When a teenager wants to learn to drive, don’t stand in her way!”

There are many rites of passage for kids growing up in America in the past half century: the first day of school, spending the first night away from home, learning to ride a bike. With each experience, adults help children move away from the safety of home to acquire new skills. Each event is an important step towards independence — that ultimate goal of childhood!

Another of those experiences most of us remember is learning to drive. Read the rest of this entry »

“Everything changes. Nothing remains without change.” Buddha

Our jobs. The economy. The weather. The planet. Our relationships. Our families. Our faces. Everything does change! Read the rest of this entry »

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this…I can take the next thing that comes along.“ 

Eleanor Roosevelt

While none of us wish for fear–and many of us avoid it at all cost–it is true that we grow from experiences that make us feel afraid. Read the rest of this entry »

“We are what we repeatedly do.“   Aristotle

Think about how you spend an ordinary day. Much of our time is filled with things we repeatedly do! Aristotle reminds us that as we take actions over and over again, they become our habit of living and finally our way of being. Read the rest of this entry »

“President Obama has announced that Sonia Sotomayor

is his nominee for the Supreme Court.“ 

Yesterday, after several weeks of consideration, President Obama introduced us to the woman he is nominating as the next Supreme Court Justice. Read the rest of this entry »