Health Care--Updated

Back in 2009 my post on health care indicated that US health care costs averaged about $7,000 a person. Now when you divide our total health care cost by the population it's around $11,000. I am certain that Obama Care--if left to stand--will dramatically increase these costs
AND there will still be individuals outside this system.

I've been fortunate to have health insurance and now Medicare plus a supplement that for a reasonable price has covered most of the stuff I've been through the past few years. Last year I suffered nerve damage in both hands from a very long bike ride, crashed in Paris-Brest-Paris suffering a fractured right clavicle and then discovering that my rotator cuff in the same shoulder was torn. That led to my second shoulder surgery a few months ago. Besides my health insurance premiums my only out of pocket expenses were the continuous passive movement (CPM) machine post shoulder surgery which Medicare would not cover since I didn't have total shoulder replacement surgery.

So I'm pretty lucky in that over the past few years I've averaged more than $11,000 in medical costs per year without having had to pay anywhere near that amount. But there's no doubt that the American health care system is deeply flawed. I think the biggest single reason is most of us have no real idea just what our own true health care actually costs. Oh yeah, I see huge bills that doctors and hospitals send to my insurance companies, and sometimes I find out how much is actually paid to providers which is sometimes pennies on the dollars. But I have no real skin in the game any more especially now that I'm on Medicare with a supplement.

I do not believe our government can truly reform this system with all the proposals for a national health care system. All the government will do is transfer money among the haves and have nots, and create even more bureaucracy. Until we change the fundamental way medical insurance is administered--plans largely bought through employers that disappear for an individual when changing employment--things are not going to improve the efficiency of the system. Notice I also just referred to the issue as medical insurance. It's not really health care because most folks have to encounter a potential medical problem before they claim a benefit.

For many individuals there's no health care dollar incentive to follow a reasonably healthy life style. Look at how many Americans are obese, smoke, or make other unhealthy choices. Many Americans are ready to crucify insurance companies for the premiums being charged but how many of these same folks don't take charge of controllable health habits? And if we're going to eliminate the ability to charge for any pre-existing conditions then perhaps we should simply do away with insurance companies and have the government bill everyone $11,000 a year. That would be a nice extra with holding from our pay checks wouldn't it?

Bottom line: when individuals have more skin in the game and tax free incentives to take better care of themselves health care will get much healthier.

Shoulder Surgery Update

The shoulder surgery I had on December 27th turned out to be one step above shoulder replacement. My supraspinatis (one of the rotator cuff tendons) was reattached using a cadaver tendon and my biceps tendon was also reattached. Physical therapy has been hard and painful but after 2 months the PT guy said I was where most people having this specific procedure would be after 6 months.

I was able to get back on the road cycling after 4 weeks although could not ride more than about 25 miles before it fatigued. I was able to keep my streak of consecutive months doing at least one ride of 200 kilometers by completing a brevet on February 18. My January brevet was actualy a pre-ride done a few days before surgery but I got credit for it on the actual brevet date of January 1. According to the Randonuearing rules that's legal.

Last Wednesday my physical therapist sugested I just continue doing the exercises on my own at home. He estimates it will still take another 4-6 months of hard work to get back to normal and I may never get complete range of motion raising my arm straight up but should get close. Right now I'd be happy with a pain free joint.

Colege Once Again

Last summer a friend who is a retired professor at Georgia State University told me about a program where Georgia residents over 62 years old can attend any public college or university tuition free. I knew that Georgia State offered classes in exercise science that would qualify for the continuing education credit I need to maintain my USA Cycling Coach license. In order to qualify for this program I had to apply as a transfer student to GSU and request my transcript from the University of Richmond be sent to their admission office. As a GSU 62 transfer student I am exempt from tuition but have to buy text books and pay applicable lab fees. The cavet is I cannot register for any classes until the first day of class.

Once accepted I was asked what degree and major I planned to persue. I advised them I would work toward a BS in exercise science and started planning for the spring semester. However, several weeks before the semester every single exercise science class was already closed. I visited with my assigned faculty adviser who looked over my transcript and suggested I start by taking the only two "core classes" I still needed. Once I was in the system and had completed those classes she said it would be possible to get into the exercise science classes.

So here I am taking US History and a Computer Skills Course. As the semester draws to a close I'm on track to get an A in History. As for Computer Skills which is completely on line I received all possible points on graded assignments but only 8/12 points on the quiz. We'll see how the rest of the assignments go but I think I'll do fairly well.