A few more thoughts

Meditation continues. It's noon on Saturday the 4th, and I have just returned from another session. For me, today's session felt unusually warm, due to my own body energy being generated.

I heard lots of valuable stories about the value of qi, and the importance of proper feng shui as it applied to various people. More revealing, however, is the tyranny of South Korea's multipayer healthcare system, which overrules many of the doctors' decisions in the interest of maximum profits. It's actually driving many honest doctors out of business, leaving only the crooks who are able to beat the system to maximize their own profits at the expense of the patient. I've been told that this dysfunctional healthcare system is based pretty much on the US system, and it does look that way to me; although my state, California, does not offer government healthcare except to the poorest of the poor, a number of other states do offer a good availability of government healthcare, and therefore resemble the South Korean system of a government insurer sharing the marketplace with many private insurers.

On the way back to the apartment, I passed through the Seoul Station plaza, normally populated by the Christian doomsday missionaries. Today, however, it was hosting a very sizable left-wing rally, though I have no photos. The rally was marking the first anniversary of the October 4th agreement, signed by President Roh Moo-hyun and North Korea's Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang, exactly a year ago today. The agreement had called for a number of joint initiatives for the two Koreas' coexistence and co-prosperity, including more South Korean tourist programs in North Korea, as well as running a joint train of sports fans to last summer's Beijing Olympic Games. However, North Korea has failed to live up to its end of the bargain, and the agreement is now no more than a hollow shell; moreover, it's gotten even worse with the new Lee Myung-bak presidency in the South, and his buddy W in the US, as a banner at the rally gladly pointed out.

I am more determined than ever to do my part to ensure a Barack Obama presidency in the US, the first step in ensuring prosperity and peace in the US, in the two Koreas, and throughout the world. Fortunately, the Sarah Palin glow, which had boosted John McCain, appears completely finished, and Obama is enjoying a sizable lead, at least 9% at the latest count. Once that's taken care of, I will continue to do what I can to help out with the change of both Korean regimes, who currently put their own power and ambitions first, and their people last.

I will most likely visit the Yeouido district later today. Yeouido is a sandy island in the middle of the Han River that has seen massive development since the 1960s, earning it the nickname of "Seoul's Manhattan." Once home to Seoul's first airport, today the airport is a well-landscaped park; the island also hosts the National Assembly building, the world's largest Protestant congregation, riverside parks, and many notable skyscrapers. Starting at 5PM, a fireworks show will take place at the island's main riverside park, and I will look for a suitable vantage point - most likely the park itself, but possibly the observatory of the 63 Building.

Healthcare plans by presidential candidates

John McCain has now announced his own plan, which will do nothing to solve the problem. He proposes shifting the burden of coverage from employers to individuals, but proposes nothing beyond a small tax break to make it happen; specifically, there is nothing that prevents insurers from turning away applicants for ridiculous reasons, as is the case now. The "merit" of this plan is that it is "market-based," but "market-based" healthcare is failing in the US miserably anyway - even for those who are insured.

The Hillary Clinton plan calls for mandatory coverage, using either Medicare or the private plans used by US Congress to cover all gaps. The Barack Obama plan calls for mandatory coverage for children only, and puts more weight on the government plans to fill in the gaps.

As far as I am concerned, the McCain plan will continue to leave me uninsured, but letting me get sick and die is in the Republicans' best interests anyway. At the same time, neither Democrat tackles the biggest issue in healthcare today - the inability of employers to pay - as both want to require employers to offer health insurance or pay into a national pool. I do believe that the Democrats have a plan to offer tax breaks to businesses to make this happen, but I need to look into it more.

I hate the pathetic level of discourse in healthcare in the US. National healthcare is dismissed as a socialist, inefficient idea, and it is true that some national systems, like the NHS in the UK, are poorly run. But in places like Canada, government single-payer systems, with private providers, work well, and these systems are also considered pro-business, since businesses don't have to administer healthcare plans for employees. The problem in the US is twofold: the grip on the government by the private insurers' lobby, and rampant spending on the wrong priorities - like the occupation of Iraq. Until politicians of both parties realize that, and until they figure out that the uninsured are not merely just too poor to be insured, the system will continue to be broken.

Back in the US, W is heartless

He vetoed a popular, bipartisan bill to extend the S-CHIP program for poor children across America.

The Republican opponents were whining about expansion of the government program to cover middle class children, and adults.

I'm sorry, but the private sector, which you love so much, is unable and/or unwilling to cover these people.

Tell me healthcare is not a right all you want. I won't shed a tear if YOUR coverage is denied, and you die from it. Because, as you love to say, the free market will keep churning. Without your fascist ass.

Christian Science Monitor via Yahoo!

Hillary's Universal Healthcare Plan

It's out today. Meanwhile, her chief rivals have had it out for a while already.

Hillary's proposal requires everyone to carry health insurance, and it will be subsidized through tax credits. Businesses will also be required to offer health insurance, or pay into a government pool; they will also be given tax credits to help make this happen.

For people lacking employer coverage, Hillary proposes that they will be able to join either Medicare or the current healthcare plan for federal employees. No new bureaucracy will be created.

For me, this works out rather well - I would love to have even the bare-bones Medicare coverage. And while I haven't studied the Edwards or Obama plans, I am sure that they will also work out better than anything the Republicans have to offer, which will continue to leave me out. There is one question, however: what will be done to curb the soaring insurance rates for the insured? The truth is that with the market rigged, rates are soaring to a point where existing insureds are losing their coverage.

I won't consider the healthcare mess in the US resolved until the costs are contained, but this is a starting point, with the government insurer picking up where the private sector fails, much like the workers compensation world in most states.

MSNBC

Comparison of Healthcare Systems

Here is a comparison posted at a blog I frequent, comparing socialized medicine, single-payer, multi-payer, and American-style corporate healthcare systems:

Silenced Majority

A discussion on single-payer healthcare

Recently, I was asked to start a discussion at Democracy Cell Project, on universal healthcare, using my own experiences as talking points.

Here it is. I am honored to be more active in the activities of that group, and I hope to continue participating for a long time to come.

Democracy Cell Project