My unique perspective of the health care issue does not stop at paying for insurance. I have worked in an office handling medical bills – which means I have dealt with all levels of insurance and seen how and what some of them pay. I also have a family of medical professionals – from x-ray equipment salespersons to nurses to surgeons to dentists.

From all of the angles that I have experienced, I can tell you whole heartedly that things are NOT perfect. I can also tell you that Medicare and Medicaid type programs (with the government in charge) are not the answer.

There are only two medical fields where the prices have gone down but the quality of care and technology has continued to go up – laser eye surgery and cosmetic surgery. Here the insurance does not pay so the clients/patients look for the best surgeons and the best deal.

In other words, when people have to pay for themselves or their family then they search out for the best options and the best deals. Doctors and businesses have to work to draw people to their offices. Everyone begins to do their part and the system begins to fix itself without the need for government intervention!

The actions of the government or the tales that have been told about blogs and internet in general pulled me back. The what ifs put a hold on my speech. I had enough on my plate without causing more stress through my opinions (and I have LOTS of them).

It has only been in the last few days that I have decided to not hold back any more. I can not tell my kids to do all that they can do and refuse to do that myself. It is time for me to stand up and speak my heart and mind and let the chips fall where they may.

3 Rants on Government that I have Held Back

1. President Obama thinks that children are not learning because they are not spending enough days in school. The truth is that teachers are being forced to teach for tests and not for education. Home school and private school children learn more in less time and for less money.

2. The government is getting too involved with my personal life. A mother, just helping out the neighbors, got in trouble for watching the neighborhood children until the school bus arrived to pick them up. This rant also includes neighbors who are too nosey for their own good because one of the neighbors had to have called and made a complaint.

3. There are so many issues when it comes to the government “fixing” the health care system that I’m not sure where to start. The truth is that most people have health care that they want and those who do not can find health care if they make choices to get that health care.

This is only the beginning. There are so many things that we need to talk about when it comes to our daily life. The government needs to hear what we have to say. I am still a bit nervous – I must confess – but I am stepping out.

See, with our cars, the everyday wear and tear isn’t covered by insurance. If we don’t want to spend big money on new brakes, a new transmission, new tires, or a new automobile altogether, we take care of the car daily. We take it to have the oil changed. The tires get rotated and balanced. The water level is checked and maintained.

Our bodies aren’t nearly as lucky. We push them and abuse them until they call for a time out with colds or hurt muscles and joints or something worse. If we treated our cars this way, no one would expect the government to come in and make it better.

On the flip side of this issue are the medical care professionals. Many of the doctors in the system today are there because someone told them they were smart and this profession was a way to use that intelligence to make money. It’s not all about caring for their patients.

Some of them have even adjusted their care to what the insurance will and will not pay. If the insurance won’t pay extra for a follow up visit (and the doctor will have to “eat” the cost) then he just doesn’t schedule a follow up visit. It doesn’t matter what is best for the patient – it is all about the bottom line.

Keeping with the earlier analogy, if I take my car to the mechanic up the road, he will fiddle with the car until he gets it right (and he doesn’t charge me extra for the privilege of getting my car fixed). I had to search long and hard for this mechanic because they don’t all work to the same standard. But he gets all of my business, plus as much business and I can send his way.

I also looked long and hard for a doctor that would take time to talk with me about my concerns or needs instead of herding me through the office like a herd of cattle. If my insurance didn’t cover his practice then I would pay the extra to still go there. I want a doctor that is as concerned with preventing issues in my body as he is with getting my insurance money.

So what is the answer? Hilary Clinton recently released a health plan that requires everyone to have health insurance. This isn’t the answer. The answer is to take health insurance BACK to what it was intended to be (insurance against catastrophic costs) and pay for the rest ourselves. If people had to pay for emergency room visits, there would be less people in the waiting room with simple colds.

More government involvement will not help. Personal responsibility will be the only way we can fix the health care system in America.