Sunday Musing's

Steven King, the say anything Congressman from Iowa, wants Caucasians to have more babies.  He also wants to abolish the EPA.  Meanwhile, in China, which has seen widespread pollution increase over the last 30 years, there has been a sharp drop in the fertility of Chinese men.   So, while it is a coincidence, it is at least likely there is a link as heating food in plastic containers in a microwave has been shown to leach a substance from the plastic to the food and that substance reduces sperm count in men.  So if a lot of conservatives agree with Steve King on the need to improve fertility, then they should support the mission of the EPA.  But they don't.  Is that Hypocrisy or Ignorance?  I suspect it is a bit of both.

Meanwhile, there were two good op-ed's on potential reforms to the health insurance design of the U.S.A.  Unfortunately, one written by a Scandinavian and one written by a GOP pundit, both highlight the need for a different path from both ObamaCare and TrumpCare, one built around a form of a single payer plan.  Links are below.

Link to Ross Douthat on Singaporian Health Insurance

Link to The effective Finnish approach to Health Insurance

Meanwhile, someone finally unveiled some key statistics about where U.S. health care $ go.

As I wrote previously, 50% of Medicaid $ cover the care for elderly dementia patients.

Now I see that 84% of medical spending is for the 50% of the population with at least one chronic condition such as Rheumatoid Arthritis, Diabetes, and who knows what else.  50% of medical spending is for 16% who have 3 or more chronic conditions.  50% of the highest cost 10% receiving Medical Care this year will be in the same category next year.  It the GOP wants to really deal with the problem, they would sanction euthanasia for these people.  But they are against euthanasia and prefer to simply force these people to spend money they don't have on care they cannot afford. Which is simply a different form of death panel.  Maybe the painkilling epidemic is a GOP design on a form of death panel to deal with these type of costs.  But that would require thought, knowledge and a level of thinking never seen in politicians.

Link to worthwhile WAPO column