Men's Health Disparities and Health Care

People are lobbying for a government "Office of Men's Health", just as there are for women. This is a mistake. It will only increase the government spending and control over men's health. The government employees will be glad to set up more "offices" and grow their empire. Grants for research will only create more research for academics. No cure for any disease has resulted from the billions of dollars spent by the National Institute of Health. Instead of creating an Office of Men's Health, we should eliminate all the Offices of Women's Health. There are billions of dollars in tax free foundations to do private research better.

We do not need government employees to manage our health care. Before the government required warnings on cigarettes people knew smoking was harmful. As a country boy, without TV and the daily hysteria, I was constantly reminded by my elders that smoking was harmful. I was afraid of the smoking habit long before the government "warned" us.

My Medicare premiums will go up in 2007. Despite a hernia operation, a gall bladder removal, and eye surgery to repair a hole in my retina, during the past five years I have spent more on premiums, co pay, and deductible, than my insurance has paid. This has caused some people, like my neighbor, to drop their insurance coverage and go self insured. He can afford to. There are six million persons uninsured in California. Two million of them make more than $50,000! He is now one of the "uninsured" the liberals refer to. The insurance companies are alarmed at this trend so they will lobby for universal health insurance, forcing my neighbor to buy health insurance that is not worth the risk assessment in his view.

During a recent illness I wanted a prescription of pain medicine refilled. I called my doctor and his receptionist said the doctor wanted me to come in for a visit to check me out. I told her it was immoral that I have to visit a doctor and get his permission for me to buy pain medicine for my body. After that he called in my refill prescription without a visit.

Another doctor prescribed a routine PSA lab test. When I went for the test I thought I would also order a cholesterol test on my own. The lab would not do the cholesterol test without a prescription from the "doctors' monopoly". The doctors' monopoly does not want competition. A cholesterol test kit can now be bought over the counter. They say patients could misread the lab results and not take the proper action. How will patients ever learn to read the results if the doctors keep the information secret and never allow the patients to learn and pass that knowledge on their children?.

Why does a hysterectomy on a 100 pound woman cost 10-20 thousand dollars and the same procedure on a 100 pound dog costs just a few hundred dollars? Of course we put more value on the life of a human than a dog. However there is the malpractice cost to human medicine, a cost that is lobbied for effectively by the Trial Lawyers Association, enforced by the State. Another reason is third party payers, insurance companies. Anytime a third party pays for something the costs are much higher than the free market costs.

The point of my protest is we own our bodies. The doctors' club nor the government club should not control my body. Neither should anyone else. It does not matter if one person controls your body, or if a million control your body, you are their slave.

Bilbo Baggins