QUIT MAKING ILLNESS AND DISEASE PROFITABLE

I don't support Obama Care/the Affordable Care Act or anything else I've seen proposed so far. In fact, it's quite discouraging to hear the noise of two radical sides either totally supporting the ACA or wanting to totally dismantle it.

As with so many issues facing our country at this time, I would sincerely hope politics can be set aside to have rational, intelligent discussions of this topic. 

WHAT IS HEALTH CARE?

Has there been anything close to agreement on what constitutes basic health care for our citizens? 

I do NOT think every medical procedure should be paid for with taxes. Perhaps revisit the original Oregon Health Plan for ways to provide medical coverage within a budget. 

I also think this is an excellent time to look at what are considered "alternative" health practices that are showing what many consider miraculous results and are increasingly backed up by research and studies to prove their effectiveness. Using energy to heal the body is a growing field. I've personally experienced great results with a mix of Reiki, Eden Energy Medicine, QiGong, chiropractic care, homeopathy, EFT/tapping, acupuncture, acupressure, cranial-sacral massage, and a number of others. 

I've also realized my continuing journey to have a healthy physical body comes from total well-being, which involves nutrition--real food!--exercise, emotional and mental health, life style and other factors.

CONCERNS ABOUT THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT

--First of all, it's not really affordable. Paying an insurance company hundreds of dollars per month does not make a person healthy. In fact, that's financially very unhealthy. I made the choice before the ACA was passed to pay my mortgage and other bills rather than funnel an outrageous sum of money to a health insurance company that wasn't paying anything toward alternative care that was helping me stay healthy. CUT OUT THE MIDDLE MAN AND SAVE A WHOLE LOT OF MONEY!

--There is no way to simply opt out without being penalized. I understand "systems" such as the ACA need a certain number of fairly healthy people to pay for the medical costs of those with major medical concerns. However, I feel unfairly penalized for a lifetime of making choices to stay healthy. QUIT PENALIZING PEOPLE WHO MAKE HEALTHY CHOICES!

OVERHAUL THE U.S. MEDICAL SYSTEM

--The U.S. medical system is documented as the third leading cause of death in this country. Not a comforting statistic. 

--While I have heard of some great instances of trauma care and medical technology that has saved people's lives, more and more people I know have spent thousands of dollars on tests, doctor visits and hospital stays, but the medical system can't even decide what's wrong with them. I've also heard of an Eastern medical tradition that practitioners didn't get paid unless their patient got well. Excellent! Would you pay a mechanic or furnace repair tech for not doing their job? Probably not. QUIT MAKING ILLNESS AND DISEASE PROFITABLE!

--This country has spent generations of time brainwashing people into thinking they are stuck with health problems that run in their families and that their bodies deteriorate as they age. Given the latest research that says our bodies are constantly regenerating and every cell is totally replaced every five to seven years, this simply is not true. 

Yet I can't lay the blame totally on the U.S. medical system. In many ways they are simply responding to huge numbers of people who want a pill to "fix" years and perhaps decades of abusing their bodies and making lousy choices that affect their health. If people want to be healthy, there is much they can do by taking personal responsibility for their health, but this takes commitment and effort. 

GIVE PEOPLE OPTIONS

I have chosen what are considered alternative practices to stay healthy. While most others are lamenting about their latest ailments, I am using my sixty-plus-year-old body to remodel my house and dig in my yard. From my personal experience, the best way to become healthy and stay that way is using "alternatives" such as energy healing that can be learned easily at no cost or minimal cost. The ACA and the U.S. allopathic medical system simply do not work for me. 

--If people want to use alternatives, I believe they should be able to do that without penalty.

--If people want to use the U.S. medical system, they should be free to do that.

--If people want to blend ways to stay healthy, great. How about an option for only trauma care--which the U.S. medical system seems to do fairly well? Or cancer insurance if people are concerned about that? Or other health issues that might be of concern to certain individuals?