{"id":238971,"date":"2016-10-24T06:00:46","date_gmt":"2016-10-23T20:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=238971"},"modified":"2016-10-24T06:00:46","modified_gmt":"2016-10-23T20:00:46","slug":"on-healthcare-rationing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/on-healthcare-rationing\/","title":{"rendered":"On healthcare rationing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When legislators fail to provide the needed funds for the medical referral program it begs the question: who is sicker, legislators or patients? It would have to be the evil geniuses on the hill suffering frontal lobotomy deformity. Its decision defies common sense!<\/p>\n<p>Interesting the promise to serve people yet withdraw their service where it matters the most. Even more appalling is the gall to seek re-election. My friend coins it: \u201cElectile\u201d Dysfunction.<\/p>\n<p>And so it\u2019s healthcare rationing at CHC and more of it when it comes to off-island medical needs. No wonder even a doctor at CHC wants to be referred to Honolulu if something\u2019s seriously wrong with him. Why deny funds to the only hospital here, sending it to the ICU of healthcare paralysis?<\/p>\n<p>For da guys and gals and the two clowns in the administration, it\u2019s the usual junket to the Philippines for their medical needs, most of us can\u2019t afford. Don\u2019t you think we also know what\u2019s good for us the taxpayers? Or did you forget who\u2019s paying for your biweekly-unearned loot?<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve both been sent as a patient and escort. Neither is a fun trip, not as you ask yourself if you\u2019d make it under the knife or afterwards. It\u2019s one chaotic experience from A-Z. So I speak with authority when I demand of eggheads to restore medical referral and CHC funds!<\/p>\n<p>The referral program needs about a million dollars but was given $600,000. Would legislators be more mindful if the referee is a next of kin? Would it take this level of urgency to knock some sense into their half-cocked cranial facilities?<\/p>\n<p>What a better place to live in forced hellish hole where healthcare is rationed, agencies borrowing because of the lack of locally generated revenue, increase in family destruction from poker, methamphetamine and heinous crimes. Does it matter to anyone the social scourge in the islands?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Shaky financial posture<\/strong><br \/>\nThere\u2019s nothing on the radar that tells us the NMI is on its way to establishing sound economic foundation. Everything is at the mercy of a single economy. What does \u201chomogeneous\u201d economy mean? <\/p>\n<p>Here goes: Boil a whole of chicken without salt, pepper and other condiments. See how it tastes when cooked. It\u2019s the same as a homogeneous economy. None of the geniuses on the hill has seen fit to unravel in the interest of fostering a stable economy.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a myriad of wasteful spending for weekend vacations for the Cabinet on Rota twice! Yet we can\u2019t buy enough gowns for patients at CHC or critical supplies for the ICU! This is doubled down by ill dispositions of such superbly managed agency as CUC by board members who have failed reading the Leidos report on power generation.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re still in doubt, why did the Legislature approve various agencies borrowing money on their own? Isn\u2019t this an admission that there\u2019s a serious shortage of funds? If there\u2019s plenty of money so fueled by suspect economic improvements, then it stands to reason that agencies would have benefited from direct legislative appropriations. Did you get that, pal?<\/p>\n<p>The NMI is nearing a point when it would eventually have to float bond annually to cover debts it has failed to pare down with prudence. We would join Guam in its Who\u2019s Who list among governors who borrowed the most to pay tax refunds!<\/p>\n<p>Again, the Legislature tries to undo its most powerful authority on appropriations. Is the review process that cumbersome for their nimble minds?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Serving is about people!<\/strong><br \/>\nAppalling the promise to \u201cserve\u201d the people in the villages. Excuse the term but there\u2019s the obvious attitude of apathy and neglect latched to it, e.g., ignoring the promise to serve. I find it disturbing the treatment of real people as though they\u2019re without soul or roadside trash that could be disposed or run over at will. Excuse me!<\/p>\n<p>You see, the people you\u2019ve overlooked are not hypothetical nor are the challenges to their lives. You\u2019re looking at real, average families who work the clock to meet their needs. Apparently, soulless representation is the iron cage these days. Nah! Come back to reality check and remember it\u2019s all about people or ones you promised to serve but have openly ignored.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Imagine<\/strong><br \/>\nWe seem oblivious to events, basking in our usual grand ma\u00f1ana. Does it matter to you the balance of power in Southeast Asia with the RP fostering relations with once estranged Republic of China?<\/p>\n<p>We focus on the casino industry, ignoring ones in Singapore, Macau, and Manila. But there\u2019s also the likelihood that Japan could introduce high rolling gambling in the near term. This isn\u2019t the first time I\u2019ve bumped into this development nearby.<\/p>\n<p>How would the NMI casino industry fare if Japan opens up its very own? With nearly 30 million wealthy folks, would there even be a spill for the islands? What if the escalation of tension between our country and China slams the door shut?<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019d be as good as dead fish in the water! Thus the dire need to think beyond our pug nose, di ba? Or is this too difficult for our men of wisdom?<\/p>\n<p><strong>Status discussion<\/strong><br \/>\nGuam has formed three groups explaining status options such as statehood, free association and independence. It\u2019s interesting how this would pan out as public education moves forward.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a matter of perception which status offer presents the best alternative. If you say statehood, it may be easily understood given the decades of the long arms of imperialism or benefits the U.S. brought to Guam from military careers, education, healthcare, economy, etc. But could Guam meet the requirements like contributing revenues to the national coffers?<\/p>\n<p>Free association is basically semi-independence. Independence may be the best alternative politically but it also runs up against the permanent implants of imperialism. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When legislators fail to provide the needed funds for the medical referral program it begs&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[91,51,257,67],"class_list":["post-238971","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinion","tag-chc","tag-guam","tag-nmi","tag-people"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238971\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}