☀️Syncing Sun
Friday, February 23 - 2024 Week 8
Did you miss the Sun last week? The editor was recovering from back surgery and, even though it meant breaking the streak of sixty weeks in a row, he wasn’t sure what the pain meds would say. But it’s another Friday, and that means we can get in sync with the Sun again.
☀️Cashing the System
Modern medicine is AMAZING! The modern medical system is BROKEN!
How is your body feeling today? In some significant ways I’m moving better than I have for over a year. That said, not all the diagnosis are good. Ha! The same is true for many.
What percentage of your annual household budget did you spend on medical bills last year? Add up office visits, prescriptions, insurance. How many hours did you spend not just waiting to see a doctor, but waiting on hold to resolve a discrepancy about your deductible? What’s the cost of your time spent researching and choosing a plan for your family’s medical insurance? The options are better than your typical third-world country, but none of it is better than before Obama Care.
I have needed a lot of medical attention and I have been treated very well in most cases. Even recently, the doctors and nurses and staff and pharmacists and bill collectors have been pleasant and efficient and effective.
We really do have it better than ever in human history. Never have more people been as healthy as they are or lived longer. Never have less people been dying of starvation and infections and injuries. Many arguments are over quality of life levels after survival; we are all alive to be complaining about how bad we feel.
But, wow, the costs are crazy. All symptoms point to costs climbing.
For more context, I highly recommend: The High Price of Socialized Medicine: A History of Government Meddling in American Health Care, and How a Free Market Would Solve Our Problems by James Brook in 2016.
I learned a lot from this book, mostly about the irresponsible beliefs at the heart of our current health care system and how that multiplies costs and cripples care. The whole book is a sustained rant against socialism (wherever it is found, especially as it affects medical and insurance practices) with maddening stats and juicy quotes. We're in trouble without the return of free market drugs and doctors, and it's going to be painful to rehabilitate health care back to health again.
We’re not going to crash the current system (though it most certainly could crash itself). But could we cash the system? As in, could we see the creation of alternative clinics that treat the patient as the customer again, not the insurance company? Could Marysville become a destination for less expensive, less hassled, less administratively heavy care? We’ll see!
☀️Around Town
KING5 News reported last week about Aisley Hanaway, a six year-old “dancer, swimmer and ice skater in Marysville” who underwent a successful surgery at Children’s Hospital for an embryonal brain tumor followed by five months of chemotherapy and then proton radiation, and is now cancer free. Read Aisley’s story here.
Ben Chambers was recognized as Marysville’s Volunteer of the Month. Sam Giffin nominated Ben for the award and Mayor Nehring presented the certificate. Ben has been a regular participant at many of the city’s Litter League and Happy Parks-Happy Hearts events. See the city’s announcement here.
Last week Michael Stevens was elected to be the new Marysville City Counsel President. Read the city’s announcement here.
Up next in the Marysville’s “Get to Know” series, here’s a two-minute video introducing Systems and Database Analyst Will Kaiser.
☀️Coming Events
Coffee Klatch with Mayor Nehring - Monday, March 11, 5:30pm at the Civic Center. See more information here.
2024 Raggant Fiction Festival: Till We Have Fiction - Saturday, March 23, 9:00am. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets.
☀️Friday Fun
Because I missed last week, and because there’s been a mini medical theme in today’s issue, here’s a double-take for dentists.
The Marysville Sun provides news and perspective—with a little bit of fun—for Marysville's stakeholders about what's at stake.
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