It takes years of intense training and experience to become a true Road Dog Dog. The lineage is rich with history and strength. The latest aspirant to the title is progressing at a good pace. She's met the basics (vehicle adaptability and assumed ownership of space, including high scores in window awareness and scourge to anyone who takes her seat). She also scores high in beer ingestion (only the last few drops, mind you - but god forbid you forget to give it to her). Moderation in all such things is key to Road Dogdom. She is well on her way to developing the intangible attitude that goes with the position of Dog's Dog. She's developed the ability to intimidate beings several times her size with a wiry dexterity and loud growl when necessary. She's developed the patience to allow small beings to play, cuddle, poke and prod to a point. She then growls to let them know it's time to move on. These are key developments. A Road Dog, and a Road Dog's Dog's Patience should never be mistaken for weakness by large or small. The true Road Dog knows when to convey the message. This one knows how to place teeth in appropriate places without pain. Good sign. On yesterday's sunny afternoon, she reached the next level in the 'tude category. After adjourning to the front porch for a cold one, she took her lap position to survey the 'hood and the watch the activities. After a minute of that, Dog boredom set in and it was nap time. This gave opportunity for the "hat test"; one of the most challenging to be completed. Road Dogs must be comfortable and secure enough in their surroundings to nap with hat over their eyes. This does not mean Dogs are oblivious to their surroundings, just that they are secure in their being. Pain awaits the being who doesn't understand the difference. Previous tests were met with the hat being shaken off immediately. This time the hat went on and she went on to sleep. She met all of the time and noise requirements. She zoned in the zen of porchdom, and stirred only when a group of passers by, with dogs, came upon the scene. She went on alert, greeted the visitors with a watchful eye, and then resumed her zendom. She was given an immediate promotion to Road Dog Apprentice.
"All is flux." Hericlitus said that in 450 AD. One might assume that he was talking about healthcare reform. The Dog wrote a paper on the crisis in American healthcare in 1978, and could pretty much just update the reference from Jimmy Carter to Barack Obama and republish the same paper. We read... and hear... and read... and hear.... about all of the pending reformations to our healthcare system; and some of us actually believe it. You know, as I think about this.... I'm not even sure if we know what we believe. (That's your deep thought for the day). Ask someone what healthcare reform really means? Whoa... Bottom line road dog realities:1. Healthcare in America is an unlimited demand for a limited resource. Americans go to the doctor for things they don't need to go for; and don't go for things they should go for. If your nose is running, just wipe it. If your nose has been bleeding for over an hour, go see the doctor. We have too many runny noses clogging up the system. We need a decongestant. 2. The American healthcare system will never be reformed by the "government" until someone realizes that the system is based on "cost-reimbursement"; and so it will never have any incentive to reduce cost. Duh, read your basic economics book. Some of this should be in an IQ test. 3. The system is focused on treating disease, NOT maintaining good health. There's no incentive to be heatlhy. Should healthy people get a better deal than the unhealthy? Can you spell "political suicide"? Consider the idea of providing free medicine for everyone with diabetes, IF they agree to follow guidelines for diet and exercise, and maintain regular medical check ups. Diabetes would go down, and so would drug costs. Pity the poor fool who suggests that idea, much less tries to enforce it. 4. The Healthcare industry is not one industry. It is doctors, nurses, hospitals, administrators, group practices, numerous associations and other groups all representing their own vested interests rather than the greater good. Everybody's got their own lobbyist working against everyone else's. 5. The American healthcare system has become so good at keeping people alive as an animal, vegetable, or mineral, that a lot of people have forgotten the basic fact of life that "everyone has to die" at some point. That doesn't mean creating death squads, that means life ends at some point. Sorry. Consider that a dollar saved on treating terminal patients could be used to maintain a family's lifestyle, or even redirected to research for prevention of a disease. The vast majority of cost is expended in the last 18 months of someone's life. A lot could be saved if terminal patients were allowed to die; but who's going to vocalize that? Who's going to determine "terminal" with all of the potential for breakthrough cures and treatments? Who's going to decide? Who's going to tell the terminal patient? 6. Americans have an over-inflated sense of entitlement in too many ways. We can't have great healthcare and not expect to pay for it. Unfortunately asking the questions, "what do you want?" and "what are you willing to pay ?" are political death wishes. We want it all, but we don't want to pay for it. 7. Likewise, some Americans have no sense of accountability for their health. For some reason, some of us think that it's okay to eat everything that isn't moving while we sit in our lounge chair gurgling with our remote. For exercise we'll smoke a few cigarettes as we waddle over to get on our ATV and get some fresh air on the trail to the country bar where we can slam a few cool ones before we double-vision it back. Never fearing for our health, because we know the doctor can fix us up !! 8. Even if all of the above were addressed, America is a very big country. The healthcare needs of one state maybe be vastly different from the healthcare needs of another. Do you think the same system that would work in Mississippi would work in Alaska? How about California and Rhode Island? Hawaii and Wisconsin? If you think one size fits all, you're wrong. 9. And, if you like that one, think about some other "demographics". Should the plan be the same for the twenty-something as it is for the fifiy-something? 10. Drugs. Everybody carps about the high cost of pharmaceuticals. Yes, they are, because we are a medicated society. "Better living through chemicals", the mantra of the '60s is playing out like we never thought it would. But...forget that and forget the fact that the drug companies fund a lot of research in creating the drugs you take. Seriously, forget all that and just take a minute to consider that if you have a pension plan with any sort of mutual fund in it, odds are that you own stock in a pharmaceutical company. If that company doesn't make a profit and loses money, the stock value goes down and so does your retirement plan. Hmmmm, never thought about that one. Last point: "Coverage for everyone" is another one of those phrases we've been hearing for years and years and years and years. Everyone should have a basic set of benefits. Okay, what is that? Seriously, is it the basic plan that covers everything from sneezing to proshtheses, with a $10 co-pay... or is it the basic plan a $500 deductible with a few exclusions? Who's going to decide that one? No politician this dog has ever seen. The good news? The system was broken and in crisis 30 years ago and, somehow, it's still functioning. How do they do that?
