A troubled paradise

A very thoughtful letter from medical student Faye Yu presented a glimpse of healthcare in the CNMI. It was especially moving, her poignant explanation of her dad’s fate forced by a difficult family financial situation. She also recommended that we proactively embrace health issues.

Ms. Yu discussed what she had to face upon discovery of her dad’s illness. It’s a case that truly depicts what a lot of families here face today when Obamacare slammed what’s left of the family purse when the 40 percent increase in health premium came into effect. It’s especially hard for retirees whose pay were cut illegally by 25 percent and the 52 percent underemployed. Many have opted out of their plans.

Many may qualify for Medicaid. But such a move would fast track depletion of funds. When it’s gone it turns into an obligation of the local government. And we can’t even pay retirees or provide basic budgetary appropriation to defray CHC’s operations. So you could see what Ms. Yu has highlighted and it doesn’t look encouraging either for many of our people stampeded by the high cost of Obamacare. Esteemed Delegate Kilili is woefully mute on this issue. Any explanation?

On top of this, the local hospital only provides ambulatory medical services. We can’t afford a modern and sophisticated backup system that equals hospitals like the Mayo Clinic in New York or UCLA Medical Center in L.A. It would need millions upon millions of dollars to attain such level of medical services. This government is broke and such backup system is but a pipe dream!

The phrase “backup system” needs to be understood. For instance, when you’re going to an off-island medical center, it’s your responsibility to know the strength or Achilles heel (weakness) of a hospital. Let’s say you need open heart surgery (not bypass). Which hospital is reputable on this type of procedure, Straub in Honolulu or UCLA Medical Center in L.A.? Next, do you have the money to go to the hospital of your choice?

Definitely, CHC’s medical staff and nurses deserve the community’s accolades for doing their best under an environment persistently ignored by incompetence hailing from upstairs. I mean we’ve got people donning the hat of policymakers whose role is relegated to broken lawnmowers at a landfill. In brief, ignorance translates into hardship for people in the villages.

On medical referral, we engage in a waiting game, e.g., who among critically ill patients are referred to off-island medical centers when money is available. It may be obscene but that is the factual reality of the persistent fiscal and financial crisis of this government that adversely affects critical cases. So you see, it isn’t a problem for retirees only, right? You have to admit that the indigenous people are woefully sick and many have contracted disabling and debilitating long-term illnesses.

As the health of our people deteriorate, politicians have gone on nonsensical junkets, eating sandwiches in New Zealand after attending a gay marriage ceremony. Or simply turn their heads the other way rather than do due diligence to figure out the growing beast or impending implosion. Has the term leadership been redefined to mean mediocrity, negligence, and arrogance basking in the swamp of ignorance?

As this troubled paradise rides with the tide of apathy and indifference from upstairs, perhaps it’s equally fitting that we swallow the bitter pill of unsolicited hardship in hopes of fending for ourselves through divine providence. The fault lines, cracks, and depth of hardship have widened, placing the innocent in such virulent sea of adversity. It’s now a journey of humor hoping to crash land in the forest of sanity. Indeed, paradise is in trouble!

Line, hook and sinker

It’s hard understanding the obvious misguided agenda of self-destruction concocted by politicians who have begun morphing into political dinosaurs. There’s the royal introduction of casino and organized crime, marijuana topped by bankruptcy on every corner.

Perhaps the pressure of the 25-percent cut in pension pay must have reached pitch peak level as to force a tunnel vision: Every penny raked in must now go to retirees! What about the welfare of the majority who aren’t a part of the Fund?

Why treat retirees with false royalty at the expense of the rest? In other words, what happens to the thousands of students, patients who flock to CHC, employees who no longer could look forward to retirement, and stagnant wages and salaries for more than a decade while the cost of living skyrockets?

Do we trash the livelihood of the majority out of ghostly fear of losing the vote of retirees? Why succumb to nonsensical politics over doing what’s right for the rest of the NMI populace? Eh, braddah, you must have been looking down so long you thought it was up, eh?

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Among policymakers, there’s the obvious and vicious disconnect with issues of substance. Is this rooted in language barrier, education, reading comprehension, IQ, or just what is it? Where could we assist you so you would come to understand your fiduciary duties? When can you master the basics in the dynamics of the democratic process?

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Is the fault line of disconnection embedded in what’s known as linear thinking, e.g., reading ABCD placed above the green board? Does it mean analytical thinking is difficult for most policymakers?

You see if you pile up the alphabet on the table, identifying letters becomes problematic. Line them up and recitation turns easy. Do you get my rift on “linear” vs. “analytical” thinking? Hurl peripheral questions on this score to explore their intellectual acuity. Let’s share what you’ve found out, even if it’s embarrassing!