Things that make me go Hmm and other cliches

Since it turns out to be free and I've got way too much time on my hands that I'm not using for anything productive anyway (like stripping that wallpaper in the bathroom after how many years or fixing the deck light or staining the trim in the bathroom or hey, how about getting a job), I thought I'd start a blog.

Classic avoidance, right? My time would be better spent meditating on the four thoughts that turn the mind to dharma, and I know this, and yet here I am anyway.

OK, so I think my rant of the day and the auspcious inaugural rant, even, will be about the lack of recognition of universal access to healthcare as a public health matter, rather than just a healthcare financing issue. The Kaiser Weekly Health Policy report referenced a study about the health of children in various states being linked to their health insurance coverage. Turns out, children are healthier when they have health insurance coverage. I know this is one of those "duh" studies, but I am glad that someone is doing the research, since it's apparently necessary to validate the duh with numbers to get better healthcare access for the nation's children. And wow, guess what, when children are provided with healthcare insurance coverage so that they have access to healthcare, the per-child healthcare expense increases. (You know, like it costs more to feed them when you actually feed them rather than let them starve.)

I don't know how much political will it's going to take to get universal healthcare coverage in this country. There's just so much money being made from selling band-aids to people who can afford them, while the general health of the population continues to decline and the costs of that are spread out and subsidized in a way that makes it difficult to show how cost savings from having healthier people could be used to provide universal access to healthcare.

Goal 2 of Healthy People 2010 is to "eliminate health disparities". That's just not going to happen while 15% of the population has no health insurance. (I'm in the 15% right now, although fortunately and thanks to her father's state job and more stable work history, Angelina is covered.)

So one of my goals for this blog will be to gather information about how a shift in healthcare from for-profit-grab-fest to public health matter might become a reality. I'll also sprinkle in stuff about long-term care and epidemiology (my new toy) as the spirit moves me.