Regulations Are Undermining Our Health

My comfort and hope is in the gospel and everlasting life in the next world, because if my hope was in this world alone, I know my future would be grim in many ways. Healthcare regulations, insurance mandates, along with declining access to quality medical providers and facilities would only add to my woe. I am thankful that Dad was in good overall health for a senior citizen, and that his healthcare needs were less than most 80-somethings. But still, I had to interact with the medical and insurance infrastructure, on Dad's behalf, enough to know that serious trouble is coming. The warning signs are already evident; we're just ignoring them. What warnings, you ask? Life expectancy has been declining and mortality rates have been rising the past 3 years or so in the United States. And the more burdensome and onerous government regulations persist and insurance mandates rule our lives, these trends will continue.

Take one look at a Medicare reimbursement spreadsheet with all the write downs and confusing randomness, and your head will spin. Then look at the co-insurance statement that covers the same procedures and/or office visits, and the head spinning turns into headaches. Prescription costs and insurance coverage made no sense at all. Fortunately, Dad already had an established long-term relationship with a primary care doctor, but when it was time to schedule a specialist, it was an awkward and slow process to get scheduled and complete all the paperwork and medical history info. The bureaucratic nonsense (AKA trying to cover every base to avoid a lawsuit vs. providing quality efficient care) at doctors and hospitals was frustrating too. Being told, you can't do that, OR we can't do that, OR insurance won't allow that is an insult to the dignity of the life that God has created.

None of this diminishes the quality work by the doctors, nurses, and technicians who rendered professional care to my Dad, but the "system" is breaking down on every level, forcing quality professionals to leave it or avoid it altogether, causing costs to rise, and making access to care more difficult. All of us will be making tough financial, medical, and quality of life decisions in the coming years.

I urge you to be persuaded of Christ's salvation and find your hope in Him, because this world's madness will lead you to despair.