Now, admittedly, I haven’t been paying much attention to all the hype over this new proposed healthcare plan, but I did receive some interesting information this morning, via email:

*A government committee which will decide who receives what treatment/benefits.

How is this even possible? Is it just me, or does anyone else envision a group of dusty old men sitting around a large conference table, surrounded by stacks of papers, millions and millions of healthcare requests?

*Your healthcare is rationed.

Huh? It’s not rationed now, healthcare is a service, not a product; the only reason many people don’t receive healthcare now is because they can’t afford it, not because it isn’t available.

*Healthcare will be provided to non-citizens.

Well, that’s pretty much the situation now; any illegal alien can walk into an ER and get care; some, I’m sure, don’t pay for it – just as some citizens don’t pay for it. And taxpayers pick up the bill.

*The government will have access to your bank accounts and electronic withdrawal.

Right. Just don’t see that happening. If it does, we have a lot bigger issues than healthcare.

*National ID card issued, for healthcare purposes.

So? Most of us have government-issued ID cards now, or driver licenses. Big deal.

These were just a few “points” made by a fellow who Tweets on the topic, forwarded by a friend; I, myself, haven’t slogged through this 50K-page mess. Most of what I saw this morning is quite repetitive, which helps explain the 50K pages….

Okay, okay, lest I be accused of exaggeration, what was sent to me are comments and line-items of just the first 400 pages.

I have been a Medicaid recipient; I have been without insurance and, currently, do have a very good insurance plan. I think I can pretty much see all sides of this issue.

I do know that in countries where they do have a national healthcare plan, the tax base is very high – as in 40%-ish, give or take.

I do know that in some countries which have national healthcare, there is quite a waiting period for some services and procedures.

I should also correct a statement above: my kids were on Medicaid. I was deemed to be too financially established to qualify for medical services for myself. How much sense does that make? Parents can’t get healthcare, so if something happens and they can’t work at all, who takes care of the kids?

But I digress. When my kids were on Medicaid, there was no “shortage” of healthcare. On occasion, it took a few phone calls to find a provider who accepted Medicaid, but I never failed to find one. The most difficult to find were dentists. Now, a person can certainly live without teeth, if he has to, but really – brushing and flossing can take care of 90% or more of teeth problems. How hard is that?

And, by the way, the government had all my information at that time…big deal. I’m sure they could have found it, even if I hadn’t filled out the forms – far as I know, they never used it against me. Will that really change with Obamacare, or is it a scare tactic?

When we were without insurance, we paid, most years, about $2K in healthcare costs, plus maybe another $2K for prescriptions. Now, with insurance, we pay about $15K. How much sense does that make?

Of course, all insurance is a “just in case” proposition, so national health insurance would also be a “just in case” scenario – how many, really, would need that “just in case”? Haven’t a clue.

I do think people should have basic healthcare; if someone has an infection, they should be able to see a doctor, without an excessive charge for an office visit. The healthcare is available, but who among the working poor can afford $150 for an office visit? That, in my book, is just ridiculous – $150 for ten minutes with a medical professional? Yet that same doctor will bill an insurance company $250.

We don’t need national healthcare, or Obamacare, we just need these silly costs capped. Since when does a pill cost $30 to research, manufacture, and market? Why does a CT scan cost $1800? Is that one patient paying for the entire machine? Or a urine culture – really, it costs $145 to stick a tube of pee in a centrifuge? Oh, wait – one more – $827 for a hospital bed, for one night. No, that doesn’t include all the hookups, tests, IVs, and so forth. Just the room. Some people don’t pay that much, each month, for their home.

The issue isn’t availability, it’s cost – and until we begin to seriously protest the outrageous fees that medical institutions and professionals and pharmaceutical companies charge, we’re all in deep, deep trouble.

I know I’ve commented on this before but, naturally, as we go along in our journey of dealing with overinflated bureaucracy, we come across even more issues.

A month or so ago we were subjected to another family “team” meeting; all but two people traveled an average of 30 minutes in order to participate, and we were again lectured to speak without “blaming or shaming”. Blech. Seriously, must we rhyme, as well as expound so pedantically?

Seems like no one is ever at fault in these situations, but when you dig just a bit deeper it finally comes out that you, the parent, are to blame. But we mustn’t use that word, of course.

According to the assorted social workers, we are good parents, but we need to do things differently. How so, you may wonder? Well, no one has told us; most likely they don’t have a clue. Why not? Well, because they want everything to be hearts and flowers and rainbows and fuzzy teddy bears – and they wonder why, oh why, the world can’t be like that?

Ha. In their line of work, you’d think they know the answer. Which, of course, is why I so often question their collective intelligence.

They don’t know the answer because mostly all they’ve done is read. Maybe they got all As in their classes, maybe they were average students; but most have no children, no pets, some not even a spouse – in other words, they have no real life experience. Of course, they think they do, because they’ve worked with a number of families in crisis situations and that qualifies them because…? Oh, yes, probably because they think they’ve “seen it all” – and maybe they have, but they haven’t dealt with anything remotely similar on a daily basis.

Take this one comment: “Perhaps the mother and son shouldn’t communicate at all outside of therapy.”

Huh? Because I said that sometimes my son starts badgering me? How old am I, anyway, that I need someone to hold my hand? I told her that I simply get offline, or say goodbye and hang up the phone. Much easier now, since when I used these tactics at home he merely followed me around or refused to leave the room. Which is one way to deal with teenagers when they get out-of-line and you’re at the end of your conversational rope.

But she doesn’t know this, because she’s never had teenagers. All she’s done is read the hearts-and-flowers version of a textbook.

Oops – I was going to write about visitation. Okay, here’s the deal:

As per the court order, we are now allowed unsupervised visitation. Naturally, it’s at the discretion of DFS or its designated agents. Which means caseworkers. The caseworker passes the buck to the supervisor, who has determined that these visits must be scheduled in advance and approved.

Just another page in the book of overinflated bureaucracy – and overinflated self-importance.

My son happens to work within walking distance of our house, and his foster-mother’s office is nearby as well; he asked, a week ago, if he could come by and pick up some clothes and I said, sure. After numerous phone calls, I was told about the scheduling part and then I never heard back from anyone.

Of course, it’s entirely possible that he changed his mind and lied about all the confusion and permissions involved; but I did see the caseworker a few days later and she said we’d “talk about this at the meeting”. You bet we will. Similar incident over this past weekend, when he wanted to come over and was told no, that there was unsupervised visitation and that he had to do what the caseworker said.

I think they’re dealing with someone who refuses to jump through their ridiculous hoops, and they just aren’t sure how to handle this. How many of their parents are educated? How many are confident? How many retained an attorney? And last, how many are dealing with an out-of-control teenager who is on probation?

Oh, I’ve asked these questions. No one can answer. This is so typical – if there’s no answer, let’s just engage in more pop-psychology and try to throw everyone off-track. Just so very typical. They must try to control those things about which they are clueless, or they might be out of a job.