Answering the challenge.

Some time ago, I and one of my extended family got into a heated verbal exchange.

For reasons I don't comprehend, she has become a very outspoken critic of the current president. Anything wrong in the world is his fault, he needs to be replaced as soon as possible, etc. Her actual words were even more strident, but this will suffice.

Part of the diatribe naturally touched on alleged racism, followed by the whole shtick about White Privilege and then the shocker - she no longer trusted me because I am Caucasian and voted for the current president.

I was and still am deeply hurt by that declaration.

There is nothing that can said or done to alter those views. I have argued online with the likes of Flat-Earth and other deniers - never managed to convince one of their grievous errors. If you're gullible, listening to those folks seeps into your brain like some ancient war-gas - poisoning your thought process so thoroughly that you don't even realize how badly you've been brainwashed. All I can do is wait and hope that things calm down.

Prior to things going totally south, we had discussed health care. My experience has been that, prior to the plague outbreak, health care in the US was largely in good shape. If you had a medical problem you could see a physician at his/her practice or go to the Emergency Room. In either case the physicians were competent and did their best to treat you humanly.

What was screwed-up is the way that care is paid for - primarily through medical insurance. A myriad of plans, none of which cover all contingencies, with actuaries and claims agents making life and death ( literally ) decisions about treatments covered with nary a qualified doctor in sight.

A few years back a big deal was made about "health care". Naturally it occurred during one of the election cycles. Promises were made, speeches delivered, voters cast their ballots. In the end the new forces in charge wrote a lengthy piece of legislation, showed the stack of paper to the public, and forced a vote sight unseen.

But we have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy.

It sounded like a flimflam and it was. Nothing to do with caring for the sick, lots to do with insurance companies. Plenty of new regulations for physicians. Despite the promise people were forced to change insurance plans, sometimes doctors as well. After a number of years having gone by it's clear that the only ones who profited by the ObamaCare bill are folks selling the new plans, doctors and patients both largely worse off.

As we talked about politics, I pointed the above facts out. And was given the challenge to come up with better if I don't like the current situation. Well I doubt it matters much now, but here are my thoughts on improving health care.

• Currently insurance is offered on a state-by-state basis. This is due to state regulations on policies and carriers in turn only offering certain benefits in one state but not another. Federal regulation was meant to give commerce a uniform playing field between states. Moving to a set of federal regulations for medical insurance would allow for policies to be sold across state lines.

• To reduces costs the current system for lawsuits needs address. Too often lawsuits are filed for frivolous or exaggerated reasons, wasting both time and money as carriers often chose to settle rather than contest. The cost of bearing such actions ultimately is passed on to the individual client, raising premiums. Once these kind of lawsuits come to an end, insurance costs for doctors can stabilize.

• Makers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices often offer discounts for their products to other countries. In turn the prices in the US are adjusted to make up the difference. In some cases discounts are actually forbidden here. The rules need to allow for discounted goods to be sold here as well and to end US subsidizing other country's cheap medicine.

• Carriers have committees that decide what medicines or procedures are covered. Those committees need to have board-certified physicians so that the welfare of patients gets more consideration, not just corporate ledgers.

Well, that's it - my response to the challenge. Doubt it'll change her mind at all. But maybe someone else will take an idea or two from here and do something good.