A photograph depicting ruin and catastrophe in Indonesia is sprawled on the front page of Thursday's New York Times. The headline on page A6 reads, "More Than 175 Die as Quakes Ravage Sumatra and Samoas." An included map helped me to understand the exact location and wave pattern of the 2 earthquakes (one recorded as 7.6 and the following recorded as 8.0 on the richter scale). The heaviest damage was reported on the east side of Upolu Island. While neither were directly related, both earthquakes erupted over active fault lines. This puts the city of Padang and its 900,000 residents at high risk. Sounds familiar to the tsunami that tore through South Asia, killing thousands. Have there been any national preparational methods or plans for emergency response formulated since that time? Have the countries taken steps to help lessen damage in future natural disasters? What can be done? If anything?
I have always heard that Switzerland is a prime model for health care. It was very interesting to learn the more specific details as to how this came to be. Swiss people are generally happy with the system. The government does not ration health care, but people do have to pay more for unnecessary testing. Unnecessary and overexcessive testing, prescriptions have been noted as a problem in American medical care. The Swiss government also provides direct cash subsidies for people if health insurance equals more than 8 percent of personal income. Sounds as if the same system here in America would make doctors grumble. As a side note, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, has proposed legislature that would require all Americans to buy health insurance but stops short at government-run insurance. A possible solution?
I have always heard that Switzerland is a prime model for health care. It was very interesting to learn the more specific details as to how this came to be. Swiss people are generally happy with the system. The government does not ration health care, but people do have to pay more for unnecessary testing. Unnecessary and overexcessive testing, prescriptions have been noted as a problem in American medical care. The Swiss government also provides direct cash subsidies for people if health insurance equals more than 8 percent of personal income. Sounds as if the same system here in America would make doctors grumble. As a side note, Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, has proposed legislature that would require all Americans to buy health insurance but stops short at government-run insurance. A possible solution?
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