The blog of Alun Rees, The Dental Business Coach
“We think too much and feel too little.
More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness.
Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.”
Sir Charles Spencer (Charlie) Chaplin Jr. KB
“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts, while the stupid ones are full of confidence.”
“The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you.“
I saw him on one of his farewell tours at the NEC Birmingham in April 2006, a great night with a legend and fine showman; but not quite as intimate as this gig.
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back.
Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred.
A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favour all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way.
Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.“
The source of this quote is often attributed to Goethe, but I gather it is from W.H.Murray’s book “The Scottish Himalayan Expedition”.
I also like the briefer form where Murray stated “Nothing happens until you decide.”
“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one’s ‘own,’ or ‘real’ life.
The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one’s real life…”
C.S.Lewis
“Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that in glory and in triumph they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.”
“The major problem of life is learning how to handle the costly interruptions. The door that slams shut, the plan that got sidetracked, the marriage that failed. Or that lovely poem that didn’t get written because someone knocked on the door.”
Martin Luther King Jr
From the always readable and challenging “Imagine (the planet with climate action)”, the weekly journal from The Conversation comes a few questions:
Electric Cars are the answer to all our problems. Really? An excellent graphic from the FT (for once not behind a paywall). It asks the question, “How Green is Your Electric Vehicle. Do take a look HERE
From the Financial Times and behind a paywall….my verdict on this…I’ll believe it when I see it.
Barbers went on pulling teeth long after doctors monopolised surgery on other parts of the body. The divide between dentists and the rest of the medical profession persisted into the 21st century where it is baked into the healthcare system. Insurers cover teeth separately.
The US Congress is contemplating adding dental benefits to its Medicare health programme for seniors, many of whom lack access to care for their dentition. This could improve health outcomes. General healthcare coverage in America is woeful relative to other industrialised countries. But the standard of dental care even worse.
Just under two-thirds of adult Americans visited a dentist in 2019, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In that period, however, 85 per cent went to see a physician. As is naturally the case with private, employer-based benefits, the skew is also economic. Among Americans with household income at 200 per cent of the poverty level or below, only half were able to access a dentist.
The historical delineation between medicine and dentistry eventually led to the formations of separate professional schools for each. When private health insurance proliferated in America after the second world war, dental care was seen as preventive and routine. Risk-sharing with medical care has really only occurred as a safeguard against catastrophic emergencies. Health insurance excluded dental care.
US Senator Bernie Sanders and others of his centre-left persuasion say that the separation of health and dental care is largely a historical accident that is today harming seniors who are covered by Medicare. Build Back Better legislation championed by President Biden is set to expand dental benefits under Medicare receipts, albeit that progress on it is stalled for the moment.
Dentists, a wealthy and influential lobbying force, are fighting the proposal, which would cost the US government an estimated $238bn over a decade. They believe extra red tape and low reimbursement levels would mean their additional customer base would be a financial and operational burden.
They may succeed in derailing reforms. No matter. What has become glaringly apparent is that the US healthcare industry – and its substantial financial services hinterland – is expensive, inefficient and rent seeking. Expect insurers and benefits managers to come under increasing political pressure. But the American government, largely loath to socialise healthcare, will always be the provider of last resort.
“Expect the worst and that’s what you’ll get only it will be much worse.”
J.P. Donleavy
The Incisal Edge 