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Friday, November 12, 2010

Will America survive itself?

godblessamericaI love America, and I am not ashamed of it! Even though I am a South African, I love the United States of America! Many South Africans only show disdain for America, but the fact is that most of them only know America from what they see in the movies and TV shows, or perhaps the misguided CNN news channel.

My family and I lived there for 2 years (Columbus, Ohio) and we thoroughly enjoyed it. My greatest wish is to be able to return to the U.S. in order to live there for the remainder of my life. Will God grant that wish?

Even if He doesn’t, and I never get to see the friends we made there from 1999-2000, I will always have fond memories of our time there.

So, when I read about some of the truly stupid things that the lawmakers get up to in the U.S., I feel sadness, that such a great nation could one day just be another ordinary nation on a list of nations with nothing special to offer. Yet, the results of the mid-term elections give me hope, that somewhere, in the soul of America, there are still people that have some common sense.

I used to buy the Time magazine every week (subscription). After 10 years of my Time magazine subscription I finally decided to stop that liberal mag from coming into my house. Time mag can be bought off the shelves here in South Africa. I decided to switch over to NewsMax (not available in South Africa), which is a conservative news magazine that gets published once a month. Much better than Time!

In the October 2010 edition, on pg 86, NewsMax had an article entitled: “A Sickening Crime: Medical ID Theft.” The blurp of the article said:

“Worst of all, once thieves have stolen your medical identity, they are protected by certain federal rights that confound simple common sense.” (emphasis mine)

There is that phrase again: “common sense.”

The fact of the matter is, that, if someone steals your medical identity in the U.S. and uses it, they will, under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), have the same federal medical privacy protection as you, the owner of the medical ID, have! That means, they steal your medical ID card, use it at a hospital for delivery of a baby, you sit with the bill, and if the mother tested positive for some drug, you may just lose your 4 children, because of the drug in “your” blood! This is exactly what happened to Anndorie Sachs, as reported in the NewsMax print version, when her medical identity was stolen.

According to the HIPAA, the impersonator’s “file is not yours, even though it is labeled with your name and your insurance was billed. This means the thief’s sexually transmitted disease, elective surgery, and psychotic disorder as described in a medical file bearing your name will not be disclosed to anyone, including you.” (NewsMax)

Now, this is completely absurd! But, I suppose, in the modern litigation driven America, such nonsense is common place, but certainly not common sense. How can America allow such nonsense. A criminal fraudulently makes use of your medical ID, leave you with the bill, and then has equal protection to his privacy, under your name! Is America destroying itself through its own stupidity?

Is there someone in America that will stand up to this nonsense? Someone with a backbone of titanium, and not jello?

Are the fools running the asylum? Or, is the man with one eye king of the blind?

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