I didn't mean to...does it matter?

Isn't it true that it's rare that we hurt someone else intentionally? It's usually the unintended consequences of our intentional actions that cause others around us to suffer. And it's usually because we're not thinking of the unintended consequences when we do things; we're focused only on achieving our desired outcome.

Businesses experience this lapse of judgment as well. And that's one of the reasons for legal contracts - to protect each party against both intentional and unintentional damages. I surmise that it's usually the latter that ends up being litigated, but the purpose of the contract is also to serve as a set of boundaries for actions. No company really wants to end up in court; they'd rather have everyone play by the rules of the contract, and only use legal means if absolutely necessary.

So perhaps the idea of "social contracts" needs to come into play (not a new idea, I know). The idea that we consider, prior to engaging into a personal friendship/relationship, what the boundaries need to be in order to avoid unintended consequences (since, as I opined earlier, it's rarely the intended consequences that cause damage). This contract should then live inside our heads and serve as a way to "think before you speak/act" checkpoint, so that we reduce the likelihood of mistakenly hurting those around us.

Healthcare Bill: This is what our lawmakers "don't have time to read"

I don't usually post things on my blog that are political in nature, and don't usually post things that are forwarded to me via email, but I feel compelled to have my little community of followers review this summary of the Healthcare Bill being "pushed down" in the legislature. Regardless of your political affiliation, you owe it to yourself to at least look at this list and decide whether it warrants you looking further into the proposed bill and how it will/may impact you.

Keep in mind that there is likely political bias in this list, so as with most things, read the bill yourself and see if you agree with it (it's 1400 pages long, so make sure you have a strong pot of coffee). I must say, however, that I am hearing more non-government people expressing criticism rather than praise for the policy. Regardless, remember that you don't have a right to complain later if you aren't willing to raise concerns now (hmmm...I think I can use that on my kids...)

Little gems from the Health Care Bill
Posted on Friday, July 24, 2009 6:12:23 PM by CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)
• Page 16: States that if you have insurance at the time of the bill becoming law and change, you will be required to take a similar plan. If that is not available, you will be required to take the gov option!
• Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure!
• Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed!
• Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process)
• Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide health b enefits for you. You will have no choice. None.
• Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services.
• Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard.
• Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer.
• Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (example: SEIU, UAW and ACORN)
• Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange.
• Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans)
• Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens
• Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan.
• Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter.
• Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed.
• Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the governme nt will set wages.
• Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives.
• Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families.
• Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll <>BR • Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll
• Page 167: Any individual who doesnt' have acceptable healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income.
• Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them).
• Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records.
• Page 203: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." Yes, it really says that.
• Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors and the poor most affected."
• Page 241: Doctors: no matter what speciality you have, you'll all be paid the same (thanks, AMA!)
• Page 253: Government sets value of doctors' time, their professional judgment, etc.
• Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private healthcare industries.
A 2 Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs.
• Page 272:20Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing!
• Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions.
• Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government.
• Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies!
• Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval.
• Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on "community" input: in other words, yet another payoff for ACORN.
• Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing.
• Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc.
• Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals.
• Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare by phone).
• Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia?
• Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time.
• Page 425: Goverment provides approved list of end-of-life resources, guiding you in death.
• Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life t reatment; government dictates how your life ends.
• Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans. An ORDER from the GOVERNMENT.
• Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life.
• Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN.
• Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs for ACORN.
• Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. Government intervenes in your marriage.
• Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services.

Options

If you're like me, you rarely find yourself without options. Sure, we all like to think that we "have no options", but if you really think about it, our options are usually limited by us and our self-generated circumstances. Not always, of course, but usually.

So, with our recent move down to Florida, our family has been presented with lots of options. Where to live, what house to buy, what schools to send our kids to, what church to attend, etc. And I'll have to admit that there have been MANY times during this journey that we have felt like our options were limited, and in a sense constraining. Almost to the point of wondering if this was the right decision to move. After all, most of those "option" elements were already resolved in Atlanta.

But then, as we sat back, relaxed, prayed, and...wait for it...."waited", we saw more options come to bear. Those of you that know me know that waiting is not the most fun thing for me, but I think I am getting better at it through a variety of circumstances where I have had no choice but to wait.

As of today, we still have options floating around unresolved, causing a bit of discomfort But, after we got back from the beach yesterday (our first visit a whopping one MONTH from the day we moved here), we realized that there is much that has been resolved for us. Our family. Our faith. Our health.

And that very, very beautiful beach at our doorstep.

I'm going to choose to focus my emotional well-being on those points of resolution, rather than on our "options", and let the other side of my brain worry about our options and how to resolve them.