What My Doctor Didn't Say

I consider myself a responsible adult. I make wise and frugal money decisions every day. I decide to drive 5 more miles to the discount grocery store rather than going to the more expensive store in my neighborhood. I decide to bring lunch to work rather than go out and buy it. My husband and I decided to choose a cheaper apartment and then move later rather than getting a larger apartment now when we don’t need it yet. However, I can’t make a decision when I don’t know there is a decision to be made.

I got an email today saying there was a new claim filed in my health insurance account. I pulled up my account to see a $64 charge I had no idea was coming. I sat back in my chair shocked, dismayed, and confused. Wasn’t a yearly physical supposed to be covered as a “preventative” measure? After some digging, I saw the dreaded words: Lab Work. Ugh…

After thinking about it, I did finally remember that she did a swab of some kind. Should I have known that those 10 seconds would rack up? Probably. Was I thinking about that at the time? Um, no.

You see, here’s the problem. This is what my doctor said:

“Ok, I’m going to do a swab now.”

This is what she didn’t say:

“So, I’m about 95% sure that you have X infection. If you’d like, I can do a swab to be sure. The swab will cost you about $60, which is more than double the cost of the antibiotic I’m going to prescribe. Would you like me to do a swab and send it to the lab?”

Any guess what my answer would have been? “Um, no, thank you.”

Give me a choice. Tell me the costs. I’m an adult. I have a college education. I can make decisions. 

A quick Google Search just found a practice I wish all clinics would adopt: Price displays.

Example: The Surgery Center of Oklahoma 

This clinic's motto is "You Can and Should Know the Price." Their website lets you click on a part of the body, what type of surgery is needed, and then gives you a price estimate! Um, yes, please!

Re-Discovering the Public Library: Good Government Can Do Good Things

Yesterday, I re-discovered the public library. It was the first time since before I went to college. It was AMAZING! I went in, showed my ID and a piece of mail with my address, and I got a FREE library card. Then I went to the computer, found the code for the book I wanted, and checked it out. The book I have been wanting to read for a month was in my hands for a period of three weeks all for free! Y'all - this is really cool. Do you know what a gold mine of information and learning is at the public's fingertips??

In a wave of TEA Party and Libertarian thinking, I think some of us conservatives really lose sight of all the good things our government can do. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not too pleased with much of our government, right now (Don't even get me started on the NSA and Edward Snowden). However, I'm going to go out on a limb and argue that taxes aren't evil.

When I was was working as an intern in the state legislature, I really grew to appreciate that everything costs money. If every citizen had to try to balance the state budget, maybe they wouldn't complain so much. There are many, many things our tax dollars go to that I would cut off immediately, if I could. However, the price tag of just one public university classroom building was almost $50 million dollars. Not to mention the faculty, staff, maintenance, student financial aid, etc. Are we ready to charge our college students what an average private university costs in tuition? Let me give you a few more things to think about: what about the salaries of judges, teachers, police officers, driver's license clerks, librarians, maintenance crews, and all the buildings that house their schools and offices? What about emergency equipment? That's pretty pricey. What about our legislators' and government officials' salaries? Believe it or not, these people have to be paid - if they weren't, then only very wealthy people could afford to hold office. What about elections? That foundation of democracy can cost a lot of money to local governments.

I just don't want us to forget the amazing things that make America... America. As a conservative, I still believe that the vast majority of the time, things are done best by the private sector. However, our nation, communities, and society are great because everyone - Everyone!! - has an opportunity. Government should not do everything. However, it should provide free public education. It should make sure that every single community in this very large nation has good schools, roads and infrastructure, postal service, a library and public meeting space, and public safety and emergency personnel. It should make sure that no person is left on the side of the road dying because of an inability to pay. If that means they take money out of my paycheck, fine.

The other day, I was at a public function where they asked everyone to stand for the pledge of allegiance. In the midst of Edward Snowden's revelations, I kind of wondered why I was doing it. Now I remember. I'm not pledging allegiance to a corrupt government with secretive officials that make awful decisions. I am pledging allegiance to my country and her flag. Because America is Great.

LDS Women's Leaders Share Experiences with the Priesthood

I'm preparing a Sunday School Lesson on Church Councils and consulted this video one more time - I've watched it at least three times now. It is such a wonderful glimpse of the work of women in the church. It is simply rich with stories, experiences, and simple doctrines taught by our General Relief Society, Young Women, and Primary Presidents. I just wanted to share it with you:

Top Mormon Women Leaders Provide Their Insights into Church Leadership

But.... But I think.... I think I'm Beautiful.

Several days ago I wrote this journal entry after coming home from a party. After pondering this, I thought I might share it to give an honest perspective on women and body image. If any of you have answers to my questions - feel free to share!

~

Confession: I don’t want to lose weight. I’m happy with who I am. I think I’m beautiful and pretty and strong. I do want to keep getting healthier and stronger and leaner, but I consider myself a strong, healthy young woman. And I think I’m beautiful.

Seeing other young women who are thinner than me doesn’t necessarily make me want to be them - but it does make me feel guilty. Could they see my belly poke out a little bit under my shirt? Maybe I shouldn’t have eaten that cookie. But I like cookies and I did a good, hard workout today. I wore a tight shirt thinking it looked nice but then I felt self-conscious. Maybe I should have curled my hair. But I was busy doing homework! Maybe I should have worn skinny jeans like the rest - but I don’t have any that fit right (they’re too big) and I wanted to wear my capris for the first time this spring.

That guilt - why did I feel guilty when I left the house thinking I looked nice and feeling healthy and excited about my new hot pink tennis shoes? Why did I smile into the mirror at home and then feel so self-conscious at the party? Why do I feel guilty for not hitting a false ideal that isn’t me? That’s just it. It isn’t me. This is me. I like me. In fact, I like me a lot. I’m a little vain about liking me.

I’m a perfectly healthy weight and my mother-in-law keeps telling me I look rather thin. But I wasn’t as thin as some of the other girls - you know, those girls who aren’t me.

Why, for goodness’ sake, did I feel like that?

Letting Teachers Teach: Publishing Classroom-level Data Would be Unfair to Teachers

The arguments over how to improve our educational system and our teachers are never ending. The Utah State Office of Education is struggling with one such conflict on how to deal with standardized testing data. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that one Utah law directs the Office to include testing data in their online reports all the way down to the classroom level, which means that teachers would be identified. However, another law directs the Office to keep teacher evaluation materials confidential. Some would say that parents have a right to this information about their children's teachers. I would argue that releasing these numbers without information on context of the classrooms and students the teachers were dealing with is unfair to teachers.

Let me first attempt to establish what “fairness” means, if that's possible. It is, most primitively, a gut reaction. It is a subconscious moral conception common in our culture and society. It is a feeling that something, somehow, is not equal among several parts. In this case, I would argue that the lack of “fairness” is based on an unequal distribution of rights. The “right” of the parent is outweighing the “right” of the teacher to honest and correct evaluation and protection from defamation. It is also unequal procedurally. The parents are awarded procedures to protect their rights, but the teacher is awarded no such procedure.

The standardized testing data that would be provided for different classroom teachers are only numbers. State Senator Stephen Urquhart, who supports this policy, said, “People are not stupid. They understand there are many different data points and they can use those however they want” (link). No one is saying that parents are stupid. However, statistics can be easily misconstrued and do not relate the number of students in a classroom or the demographics of those students. Not everyone will interpret the numbers correctly, and certainly there will be misunderstandings of the many factors that go into standardized test scores.

One factor that affects scores is whether a teacher takes on students with learning disabilities or other difficulties. Patti Harrington, a representative of the Utah School Boards Association, worried that “teachers who now take on special education students, kids learning English and children with other challenges, might veer away from working with such pupils in the future if they know they’ll be judged for their lower scores” (link). We shouldn't be penalizing teachers for working with difficult students.

Classroom sizes are also an important consideration. A friend of mine who works in a Utah school recently related to me that a fellow teacher was so popular among parents at her school that at the beginning of the school year several parents had their children moved into her class. While class sizes were equal beforehand, she now had about 30 students while another teacher in her grade only had around 20. Class sizes can affect grades considerably. Shouldn't this informaiton be considered in evaluating teachers?

A recent editorial by Ann Florence, a Utah teacher, pointed out several other concerns. She noted that a computer shortage in her school caused teachers to administer tests during different weeks, which means some teachers could have considerably more teaching time before tests than others.

Florence also noted that her school's students had considerably more support at home than many others. She wrote: “Most of our students are supported at home by educated and employed parents and have had childhoods filled with music lessons, sports, and vacations. We freely admit that our students' test results do not truly reflect our teaching skills." In this context, it may be acceptable to compare between teachers at this school, but it would be a shame if parents compared teachers across schools.

Publishing classroom-level testing data without context or background is unfair to teachers, especially with the stated purpose of parents being able to make judgments from them. It is unfair to consider only the rights of parents without giving consideration to the rights of teachers to honest and correct evaluation, protection from defamation, and due procedure.

Some Articles of Interest from the Salt Lake Tribune:

Should Utah Schools Publish Data on Teachers? AG to weigh in
A Teacher Asks: Why Teach?
Should Utah parents get to see teacher performance data?
Utah's Overwhelmed Teachers

Greet Him with a Smile

              I came across this quote when reading excerpts from the LDS Nauvoo Relief Society Minutes Book a while ago. This morning I decided to share.

Opposing Same-Sex Marriage

The link below is an amazing article that opposes same-sex marriage on ground of reason rather than religion. It is written by a gay man. While I certainly believe religion has a part to play in this discourse, I was so impressed by his logical stance on the definition of marriage and family.

I’m Gay and I Oppose Same-Sex Marriage | Public Discourse