BusterStronghart@Gmail.com
A Different Perspective on Health Care
There are many letters I could quote, but let me give you a counter for the statistics from last week from Raoul Pal of Spain. And of course, there are other statistics that can be brought in to make almost any case you want. But I found these to be very thought-provoking.
"Using the Economists World in Figures I think there is a very interesting and maybe appalling story to tell. In its simplest terms a healthcare system is there to extend the longevity of live of the population. It is the single best and simplest way to judge it because we can all find examples of where one country is better than another but the longevity stats don't lie. When we use that framework the picture is incredibly different. The US has many of the best doctors and medical care in the world but it doesn't work for the population as a whole and therein lies the problem.
"According to the Economist the total US spend on healthcare is 15.4% of GDP including both state and private . With that it gets 2.6 doctors per 1,000 people, 3.3 hospital beds and its people live to an average age of 78.2
"UK - spends 8.1% of GDP, gets 2.3 doctors, 4.2 hospital beds and live to an average age of 79.4. So for roughly half the cost their citizens overall get about the same benefit in terms of longevity of life.
"Canada - spends 9.8% of GDP on healthcare, gets 2.1 doctors, 3.6 hospital beds and live until they are 80.6 yrs
"Now if we look at the more social model in Europe the results become even more surprising:
"France - spends 10.5%, 3.4 docs, 7.5 beds and live until they are 80.6
"Spain - spends 8.1% , 3.3 docs , 3.8 beds and live until they are 81
"As a whole Europe spends 9.6% of GDP on healthcare, has 3.9 doctors per 1,000 people, 6.6 hospital beds and live until they are 81.15 years old.
"The list goes on. The truth is that in many cases as is pointed out the healthcare system is better in the US than in some other countries BUT US citizens must therefore get ill more often than any other country in the West in order to achieve the truly appalling statistic that they are the 41 longest living nation on earth with France, Spain, Norway, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Andorra, Holland, Greece and Sweden all featuring in the top 20 longest living nations and the UK and Germany at 22.
"This is the big failure of the US system. It is unforgivable. You may get a better chance of recovering from certain diseases but as a whole you will die younger in the US than most developed countries. ... Something is severely broken."
I had many letters from all over the world on this issue both pro and con. And some very lively discussions with health professionals. One pointed out to me that the uninsured in the US when they need a doctor often go to an emergency room for what should be a $50 office visit and end up with a $5,000 bill, which does not get paid and runs up insurance costs for those who do have it. As Dr. Mike Roizen points out in his many books, simply eating right, exercising and other common sense things would cut out much of our health care costs. When one-third of children in elementary schools are overweight, we need to get a grip on what we are doing to the next generation.
In the US, many of us are worried about government rationed health care. Others are worried that they have no access to health care at all. It is a very complicated issue. Let's hope that whatever Congress does really does help. And that the coming revolution in new medicines and procedures gets here as soon as it can for all of us.
John Maudlin
Sunday, June 07, 2009
BusterStronghart@Gmail.com
Scotty was just about the only Florida Friend I have made.
He was a Wall Street kid who like to brag that he had made a few fortunes and lived in Paris, Miami, LA, and NY. He started with a high school education, never went to college. He and a friend started a small over-the-counter brokerage house with no money. Then they made a lot of money in the days when brokers could mark up stocks as they pleased.
He's been all over the world. He married very early and divorced very early. Since then he's been a bon vivant, playing the market and losing a lot of money along the way. He ended a renter at Southpoint, but a few years ago made enough money to move next door into Hermitage, the best of Ft. Lauderdale, and maybe Miami and PB too. The only thing wrong with Hermitage is that it's in Ft. Lauderdale.
He gave Aaron some business.
But his real activity was in commodities and very esoteric derivatives. He managed to go broke during the recent debacle--but was confident that he would come back. He told me that he had been broke several times before.
About five years ago he had a CA lung problem but read deeply into the literature, and decided for something that he called the Cyber Knife. He was okay for the last five years, but six months ago his doctors insisted that he had to take chemo &/or radiation or he would have only six months.
He took the six months. Five and one-half of them were pretty good. He died a few weeks ago.
He had a girl-friend, a Frenchie from Quebec. They had lived together but also lived apart on and off for about 25 years. He met her here at Southpoint--
She was with him solid for the past five years, but lived in Deerfield. During his six month death wait she lived in his apartment with him. They went to Rome, Bermuda and Nova Scotia, but mostly stayed here.
He had a brother who is "very well off" (Scotty's description) and lives in Baltimore. They didn't speak for many years. I don't know why. There were no other relatives.
When he died Frenchie, was there. He was in her arms.
She arranged for his cremation and called the brother. The brother came, told her to take the ashes, and then told her to get out of the apartment. (I would guess 1.5 million dollars, maybe a little less.)
A search for a will turned up nothing.
I can't believe it. It's the same as with Hal. Both Hal and Scottie knew that they were dying. Why didn't they take care of the ones they loved?
The brother will gets whatever is left. I have a feeling, however, that it will be very close to nothing. Scottie was the type who wouldn't hesitate to mortgage everything.
Frenchie, a devoted and very honest woman would not take anything--not even Scott's watch or a ring that he always wore.
Okay, now there's another part:
Frenchie decided to take the ashes and spread them out in the sea in front of Hermitage. This is fitting as Scottie used to call himself "The Beach Lover" and could often be seen back stroking up and down the beach, a few miles, almost every calm day. If he wasn't swimming he would be on the beach, sunning himself, and achieved, as you might see in the photos, a very deep tan--the kind of tan that Dad would get.
I asked Scottie what part of Russia his folks came from, as I have a very retro theory of racial physiognomy.
I believe that facial types and body characteristics exist and that only the recent (last 100 years) of racial and ethnic mixing have melted away these recognizable characteristics. My theory would be called eugenic and racist these days so keep it to yourself. Calling it retro is a euphemism.
I have seen many men with Dad's forehead and eyebrows, the line of his mouth and chin, his thin hair and his hairline. I believe that they all came from the same part of Russia, or the same Jewish clan even further back.
So Frenchie took his ashes to the verge of the sea one morning at six AM. She wanted to be alone, so I got up and watched from my terrace. I saw her come to the beach before sun-up, and so she waited, sitting on the sand, a small paper bag at her side.
When the sun peaked over the horizon she waited a few more minutes, and then went into the water, about knee deep and spread the ashes very carefully into the sea. She went back to the beach, sat down and waited about five more minutes. Then she took some roses out of the bag and spread them out over the ashes.
She turned her back to the sea and went over the dunes and disappeared from my view.
Immediately, on her disappearance, a second woman, a blond, about sixty, dressed in Capri pants, a pink blouse, and Jackie Kennedy sunglasses appeared from the north. She walked exactly to the spot in the ocean where Frenchie had spread the roses and the ashes and placed herself in what would have been the middle of the ashes and the roses.
She stirred up the water with her hands, as though attempting to wash herself with Scottie's ashes. She splashed some of the water on her body and on her face.
After a few moments she turned around and walked away, northwards, up the beach. I watched her as long as I could but then, she too disappeared.
Later that morning Frenchie had a small memorial service for Scott at Hermitage, over looking the beach.
The woman in pink did not appear.
Scotty was just about the only Florida Friend I have made.
He was a Wall Street kid who like to brag that he had made a few fortunes and lived in Paris, Miami, LA, and NY. He started with a high school education, never went to college. He and a friend started a small over-the-counter brokerage house with no money. Then they made a lot of money in the days when brokers could mark up stocks as they pleased.
He's been all over the world. He married very early and divorced very early. Since then he's been a bon vivant, playing the market and losing a lot of money along the way. He ended a renter at Southpoint, but a few years ago made enough money to move next door into Hermitage, the best of Ft. Lauderdale, and maybe Miami and PB too. The only thing wrong with Hermitage is that it's in Ft. Lauderdale.
He gave Aaron some business.
But his real activity was in commodities and very esoteric derivatives. He managed to go broke during the recent debacle--but was confident that he would come back. He told me that he had been broke several times before.
About five years ago he had a CA lung problem but read deeply into the literature, and decided for something that he called the Cyber Knife. He was okay for the last five years, but six months ago his doctors insisted that he had to take chemo &/or radiation or he would have only six months.
He took the six months. Five and one-half of them were pretty good. He died a few weeks ago.
He had a girl-friend, a Frenchie from Quebec. They had lived together but also lived apart on and off for about 25 years. He met her here at Southpoint--
She was with him solid for the past five years, but lived in Deerfield. During his six month death wait she lived in his apartment with him. They went to Rome, Bermuda and Nova Scotia, but mostly stayed here.
He had a brother who is "very well off" (Scotty's description) and lives in Baltimore. They didn't speak for many years. I don't know why. There were no other relatives.
When he died Frenchie, was there. He was in her arms.
She arranged for his cremation and called the brother. The brother came, told her to take the ashes, and then told her to get out of the apartment. (I would guess 1.5 million dollars, maybe a little less.)
A search for a will turned up nothing.
I can't believe it. It's the same as with Hal. Both Hal and Scottie knew that they were dying. Why didn't they take care of the ones they loved?
The brother will gets whatever is left. I have a feeling, however, that it will be very close to nothing. Scottie was the type who wouldn't hesitate to mortgage everything.
Frenchie, a devoted and very honest woman would not take anything--not even Scott's watch or a ring that he always wore.
Okay, now there's another part:
Frenchie decided to take the ashes and spread them out in the sea in front of Hermitage. This is fitting as Scottie used to call himself "The Beach Lover" and could often be seen back stroking up and down the beach, a few miles, almost every calm day. If he wasn't swimming he would be on the beach, sunning himself, and achieved, as you might see in the photos, a very deep tan--the kind of tan that Dad would get.
I asked Scottie what part of Russia his folks came from, as I have a very retro theory of racial physiognomy.
I believe that facial types and body characteristics exist and that only the recent (last 100 years) of racial and ethnic mixing have melted away these recognizable characteristics. My theory would be called eugenic and racist these days so keep it to yourself. Calling it retro is a euphemism.
I have seen many men with Dad's forehead and eyebrows, the line of his mouth and chin, his thin hair and his hairline. I believe that they all came from the same part of Russia, or the same Jewish clan even further back.
So Frenchie took his ashes to the verge of the sea one morning at six AM. She wanted to be alone, so I got up and watched from my terrace. I saw her come to the beach before sun-up, and so she waited, sitting on the sand, a small paper bag at her side.
When the sun peaked over the horizon she waited a few more minutes, and then went into the water, about knee deep and spread the ashes very carefully into the sea. She went back to the beach, sat down and waited about five more minutes. Then she took some roses out of the bag and spread them out over the ashes.
She turned her back to the sea and went over the dunes and disappeared from my view.
Immediately, on her disappearance, a second woman, a blond, about sixty, dressed in Capri pants, a pink blouse, and Jackie Kennedy sunglasses appeared from the north. She walked exactly to the spot in the ocean where Frenchie had spread the roses and the ashes and placed herself in what would have been the middle of the ashes and the roses.
She stirred up the water with her hands, as though attempting to wash herself with Scottie's ashes. She splashed some of the water on her body and on her face.
After a few moments she turned around and walked away, northwards, up the beach. I watched her as long as I could but then, she too disappeared.
Later that morning Frenchie had a small memorial service for Scott at Hermitage, over looking the beach.
The woman in pink did not appear.
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