Really, I hate to call names, but I have to wonder about the mental stability of those who are occupying Senate seats and trying to reform the nation’s healthcare.

One of the wunderkind had a brilliant idea of taxing people undergoing cosmetic surgery and procedures in order to “pay” for healthcare reform. Not that these people are already paying for these services out of pocket, and they have nothing whatsoever to do with the issue at hand. But I suppose it was the idea that only rich folks get their faces tightened and tweaked, so why not milk them a little more.

Well that didn’t go over well with the plastic surgeons, derms, and others who make money from this. And healthcare reform needs the support of the medical community, so they dropped the “Botax.” Next victim–tanning salons.

Now, we have elected officials, who supposedly have some degree of intelligence, who believe that they are going to solve the money problem by taxing tanning salons. And here’s where the eyes roll round and round and round.

If the bill is passed in its current form, a 10-percent tax would be placed on individuals buying tanning services. Who are paying for these services out of pocket already. But they think that taxing tanning salons are going to raise $2.7 billion over 10 years. Are they totally daft? First, why should someone using a tanning salon, paying out of pocket, be taxed for it?

Second, unlike cosmetic surgery, which can be quite expensive, tanning salons are quite cheap. A session in a tanning bed cost about $10 or $20 dollars. Unless someone is a really heavy duty user, it isn’t gong to add up to much. And with the tax, people may just use it less often. But really, getting a dollar or two here and there is just not going to raise a lot of money.

So here’s a brain twister for them. If they want to raise money and improve health at the same time, slap a tax on McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Coke, Pepsi, candy bars, sugary breakfast cereals, pesticides, and all foods that you need an organic chemistry textbook to decipher the ingredients with. Tax commercial agriculture, tax the commercial beef/chicken industry (put a hefty tax on the hormones and antibiotics that they feed to the animals), etc.

Tax all the unhealthy stuff. This way, people can pay in advance for their future diabetes and heart disease care! Or their future cancer.

But these are powerful industries, so they get treated with gentle loving care. Preventing disease in the first place is the single most important thing that real reform needs to look at, but unfortunately, politicians will be politicians.

Anyway, I am so fed up with this. What we need is real reform of the insurance industry, and then real measures to lower healthcare costs. But that would mean stepping on a lot of toes, so no one wants to go there.

Yes, I will be so politically incorrect and utter those forbidden words….Merry Christmas. Not Happy Holidays, Not Seasons Greetings, but Merry Christmas. Because like it or not, today is Christmas Day.

This message is from Daily Word, December 24:

In a transforming moment, thoughtfulness becomes my practice in life and generosity becomes my expression of love. As I give birth to new ways of thinking, feeling and being in the world, the love and life within are renewed and revealed, in large acts of generosity and love or in simple acts of kindness. These are the sacred experiences that bring life and love to my family, community and humanity.

The spirit of Christmas….

As in the United Arab Emirates. You think we have a nursing shortage here. Well, if it wasn’t for expat nurses, their whole healthcare system would cease to function. It is extremely difficult to get local people to enter nursing.

In an interesting, albeit short, article in Arabian business.com, the nurse-less plight of the part of the world is revealed.

Nursing colleges in the UAE are failing to recruit Emirati nurses, despite government-funded sweeteners including full scholarships, the dean of a prominent nursing school has claimed.

Dr Vijaya Kumaradhas, dean of Ras Al Khaimah College of Nursing, one of the country’s largest nursing schools, has said Emirati students remain significantly under-represented – a fact that is contributing to the country’s nursing shortage.

“There is a definite shortage, but Emiratis will not become nurses. There is a stigma where nursing is concerned. In our college, we don’t have any local student.” she said.

The article doesn’t cite reasons for the lack of interest among Emiratis, but several of those who commented offered their perspective. All of them live or lived in the region, so I imagine that they are speaking from experience. Most agree that it is cultural, and that nursing is not considered a desirable career for a young Emirati woman. And in fact, the attitude is prevalent in many Middle Eastern nations.

There are very few nurses who are natives of the region, and there are many reasons why the profession is shunned. One nurse expat working in the region wrote: It entails touching bodies, much intermingling with males, and for some, would mean that they would leave the profession when married anyway. As long as beliefs remain the same, nothing will change and they will be dependent on expats. They have to buck up and see this for themselves. I’ve worked in the Middle East as a nurse for many years and have yet to see reform on this issue.

Another commenter noted that shift work is unappealing, and goes against local custom; most Emiratis wouldn’t want their daughters/wives to work night shifts. It is against traditional values for the lady to be out of the house at such late hours.

As a profession, nursing is not highly regarded, and parents do not encourage their daughters (and certainly not sons!) to study nursing. Pay is low, hours are poor (sound like a familiar scenario?), and nurses are seen as maids, more or less.

So it doesn’t seem that the Emirates are going to be attracting a lot of their own citizens anytime soon, unless they increase the pay, and really make an effort to change the perception of the job. Attracting men into nursing would also help, since that would reduce the intermingling with males.