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Politics : Ask Michael Burke -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KPHinds who wrote (110529)	1/13/2008 10:02:44 PM
From: KPHinds	Respond to of 132070

(By the way, I am an actuary, so I am a bit biased in thinking that Bolnick has the best analyses on these issues.) He does a great job in breakout out the significant issues with different systems. Again, the biggest issue with our system is that about 30% of the dollars go to administration. The smartest approach to "solve" issues with the current system involve reviewing how the current system works, determining the biggest breakdowns and figuring out how to redesign so that the current waste is eliminated. Waste most obvious w provider contracting, marketing, it systems (as currently set up). Reform would almost have to be federal to be effective, and the first stge would have to be some sort of limited benefit mandatory healthcare. yawn. I'm glad I'm already sortof rich, although I want to make sure that I am in good shape when things do start to change in the US.

To: KPHinds who wrote (110529)	1/14/2008 8:39:56 AM
From: Freedom Fighter	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 132070

Kerry, I had a 20 minute lunch break from work the other day. I ran into a McDonalds and bought a fruit salad (I try to eat healthy). There were about 50-60 people there. They were eating double burgers with cheese and some kind of mayo, bacon, thick shakes, large orders of fries, drinking sodas that were twice the size that any person could possibly need to quench their thirst etc... The vast majority of them were already overweight or obese. You can see the same thing in hundreds of thousands of fast food restaurants around the country. How do you adjust for the fact that Americans eat terribly, don't exercise, and are practically begging for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes etc...? When these people start dropping like flies, it's not the fault of doctors or healthcare. It's actually even worse than that. I can give you a great example at my job. On more than one occasion I was working next to an obese person. For a snack I typically have a multigrain bar and some water. The person next to me is often eating junk food, candy, coke, cake etc.... I've even had a person like that tell me she's trying to cut back because her diabetes has been getting worse.