“Lead, follow, or get out of the way”

There’s a great article in Time magazine titled 10 Ideas That Are Changing The World. You can read it here. The first “Idea” is titled Common Wealth. Rather than summarize the article here I think you should read it. It says a lot about who FYI the Truth is except we aren’t working on a global scale (yet) we’re working on issues in the U.S. When we have them all solved we’ll move on to the global issues.

Actually many of the issues we face the other nations in the world face as well. Solving them in the U.S. would have global implications. What I would like to highlight in the article is a section that talks about how we can all assist in solving the issues. Each of us contains the capacity to be a gifted author or golf pro but we all have different strengths. We all contain the ability to be a leader; some more than others. Some of us are or could be great leaders and some of us are great supporters. The following excerpt is from a section in the article titled Power of One. Take what you read in this excerpt and apply it to the issues here in the U.S. During times of such great challenges I’m always reminded of the quote by Thomas Paine, a popular propagandist and voice of the common man during the American Revolution, “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.”

Great social transformations—the end of slavery, the women's and civil rights movements, the end of colonial rule, the birth of environmentalism—all began with public awareness and engagement. Our political leaders followed rather than led. It was scientists, engineers, church-goers and young people who truly led the way. If as citizens we vote for war, then war it will be. If instead we support a global commitment to sustainable development, then our leaders will follow, and we will find a way to peace.

Each of us has a role to play and a chance for leadership. First, study the problems—in school, in reading, on the Web. Second, when possible, travel. There is no substitute for seeing extreme poverty, or deforestation, or the destructive forces of nature in New Orleans, to understand our generation's real challenges. There is no substitute for meeting and engaging with people across cultures, religions and regions to realize that we are all in this together. Third, get your business, community, church or student group active in some aspect of sustainable development. Americans are promoting the control of malaria, the spread of solar power, the end of polio and the reversal of treatable blindness, to name just a few of today's inspiring examples of private leadership. Finally, demand that our politicians honor our nation's global promises and commitments on climate change and the fight against hunger and poverty. If the public leads, politicians will surely follow.

Prescriptions for Change in Health Coverage from Consumer Reports

Consumer Reports magazine has a health section on their web site where much of the information is about products, services, and treatments but for some time now Consumer Reports has been doing research on health care reform. In November 2007, Consumer Reports completed a telephone poll of 1,200 Americans age 18 and older. More than 80 percent responded that a reformed system should guarantee the following.

• Coverage for all uninsured children.

• Protection against financial ruin due to a major illness or accident.

• The ability to obtain coverage regardless of a pre-existing condition.

• Coverage that continues even when people are laid off, changing jobs, or starting their own business.

• Premiums, deductibles, and out-of- pocket expenses that are affordable relative to family income.

• The ability of people to keep their current health insurance if they choose.

The following excerpt demonstrates how Americans feel about their health coverage.

Overall, 81 percent say they are concerned about being able to afford health care in retirement, 68 percent worry about being bankrupted by medical bills following a serious illness or accident, and 65 percent fear losing their job-related health coverage.

If you would like to read more of this report, click on the tile Six prescriptions for change.

The $4,284 Monthly Premium

The $4,284 Monthly Premium is the title of an article at Consumer Reports that explains how a long time customer of an insurance company can find themselves paying over $4,000 a month for health insurance. The following excerpt explains how it happens.

"Companies also control their risk by using a maneuver known as closing a block or book of business. They stop accepting new customers in a plan, which kicks off a process known as a "death spiral."

The article highlights an Indianapolis lawyer, Jesse Paul, who discovered in August, 2007 at age 59 that his monthly insurance premium would be $4,284. When Jesse took out the $100 deductible Prudential major medical policy in 1980 he paid $25.50 a month. In 2003, the premium increased from approximately $1,200 to about $1,900 a month.

When he inquired with the state insurance department, he learned that the policy had been closed to new entrants for years, that he was one of only 400 to 600 customers left in the state. He also learned that this practice was permissible under Indiana law. When he got the premium notice for $4,284 and decided he had enough he discovered he was uninsurable on the private market because he took medications for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and allergies.

Jesse is now insured by the Indiana high-risk pool for a premium of $650 a month. The cost for a premium in the high-risk pool is much less but is the coverage comparable to the coverage under the Prudential plan? Unfortunately the question isn't answered in the article.

To read the entire article, just click on the title in the first paragraph.

A Second Opinion on U.S. Health Care Costs

Here’s a great article from the New England Journal of Medicine. It’s titled Market-Based Failure — A Second Opinion on U.S. Health Care Costs. There are many assertions about why our health care costs are so high. This article highlights one that we all suspected.

The assertion, "our unique, pervasive commercialization," is a practice I find repulsive. It's time to replace those in leadership positions that abuse the trust they have been given. The article says that companies and industries are responsible but we forget that its people in leadership positions in the companies and industries that make the decisions, determine policy, and establish the standards.

When you take a leadership position and have the power to affect people's lives you accept a responsibility; you are entrusted with the welfare of other people. That’s stewardship. You can choose to be a good or a bad steward. Often being a good steward takes a lot of courage.