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 Until the time comes that we end the intrusion of politics into health care, there will be no headway made in reining in the runaway escalation of billions upon untold billions of dollars that are spent inappropriately. But please, please, do not hold your breath waiting, as you will develop a deep-blue shade of cyanosis and be brought to your demise.
The most recent example of the way in which politicians take it upon themselves to play doctor and wreak havoc on the economic well-being of our health system was brought to light in a February 2 Times-News article by Kevin Spradlin entitled, “Delegation pushing for equal workers’ compensation for deputies.” What I refer to is the Maryland State legislators’ premise that they should be making medical decisions, and this chutzpah extends to our own District 1 lawmaker’s delegation.
To no surprise, the deputies of the Allegany County road patrol want their piece of the money-pie, given that it has been feasted upon by many officers in other legislative jurisdictions. Endorsing the desire for a potential cut of the largess handed out by our state government is, quite naturally, Sheriff David Goad and Sheriff’s Deputy Andrew Mackert, president of Public Safety Union local 1521. Heck, if the deputies downstate in Montgomery, Prince Georges, and Howard counties can dip their thumbs in the pie and come up with a juicy plum, why should we here in western Maryland be excluded?
What I am alluding to is the recently proposed ordinance by our doctors; excuse me, legislators, who have taken it upon themselves to insist that a political decision be the basis for medical determinations. This should not be in the least bit surprising, given that it is something that is done all the time, on both a local and national level. In this instance, it has been decided that because the deputies in Allegany and Garrett Counties have a stressful job, the presumption will be made that this stress is the source for any hypertension that a deputy may develop and can thus be used as the basis for disability.
Make careful note of the word presumption: according to an online dictionary, presumption means “an assumption, often not fully established, that is taken for granted in some piece of reasoning; unwarrantable.” In other words, there is not to be a determination of disability based on evidence-based medicine, but rather, on the dictates of those who have no grasp whatsoever on what constitutes sound medical judgment.
The jargon that was used in Mr. Spradlin’s article was “enhanced workers’ compensation benefits.” Substituting for enhanced the words exaggerated or jacked-up would be much more appropriate in this case, for all that this proposed legislation does is to open wide the door for abuse of the disability system.
No disagreement from my perspective: the job of a deputy involves stress. So does the job of an air-traffic controller. Ditto an intensive care nurse. Or middle school teacher in any inner-city school system. The list could go on forever. There are lots and lots of very stressful jobs, so why should deputies be singled out for favorable consideration, and not all others? You could even go so far as to make the absurd claim that anyone living near an airport should be eligible for disability if they suffer from high blood pressure, given that a study (HYENA: Hypertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports) has shown that the elevated noise levels from aircraft and road traffic that were experienced were statistically significant in relationship to developing hypertension.
When you look into the etiologies of high blood pressure, the tension of an occupation does not prove that stress is always the cause for the high levels that develop in a particular person. There may be a strong family history of hypertension; the hypertension may be a pre-existing condition; or it may simply be more directly related to obesity, smoking, or a sedentary life-style.
The disability rules that favor police officers have come about due to one reason and one reason only: the powerful unions that have negotiated for these medically unreasonable perks. In truth, the place to work is Montgomery County, where disability runs rampant. Consider: in the years dating from 2000 to 2007, forty-one percent of policemen have retired on some form of tax-free disability, giving them 2/3 of their previous salary. Yet, in the same period of time, not a single, solitary officer in Fairfax County, Virginia (there were 252 of them) retired in a likewise fashion. In contiguous Howard County, which has fundamentally the same demographics, the percentage on disability was only five percent. What this tells me is that either Montgomery County is by many standard deviations a more dangerous place to work as it pertains to your health, or else there is a whole boat-load of manure being shoveled onto the disability system. Methinks the answer is blatantly obvious. Perhaps the main thing lacking for those in the HYENA study is a similarly influential union that is laughing all the way to the bank.
In Montgomery County the police union chooses the doctor who does the disability determination; in Fairfax, the union has no say. In Montgomery County you can be on full disability and take home your tax-free pork, all the while working at another job that has essentially the same duties that you can’t perform for the county because you are disabled. Go figure.
But ridiculous situations like this should surprise no one. We all want a piece of the action, and it makes no difference as long as we get what we want due to the harebrained medical meddling by our politicos.
In the overall picture of health care and health care reform, this issue with the deputies of Allegany County is certainly small potatoes. But the concept of leaving health care decisions to the medical profession and taking it out of the hands of politicians who are so easily influenced by biased lobbyists is at the heart of fixing the primary problem with our out-of-control health system.
I will continue to maintain, without a sliver of doubt, that as a nation we can easily afford to provide health care coverage to each and every one of our citizens by making the simple decision to insist on the practice of evidence-based medicine and to keep government out of the business of making medical policy (see the previous article: Carpenters In The Forehead/ Health Care Reform, or Can You See The Forest For The Trees?)
But you can bet your bottom dollar that I’m not about to hold my breath in waiting for this to happen.
Your comments welcomed; contribute to the dialogue of democracy.
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