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Show 10A Emery County Progress Castle Dale. Utah Tuesday September 11, 2001 C OMMENTARY Dun BtmireaMGiracy By PAUL JACOB Red t..n" sounds a bit forbidding. Mav Ik wt should call it blue tuH And that word "bureaucracy is taK,...sky-blu- scary c tint. I low about And if you have an outfit called Health (arc Financing Administration," which strikes fear into the hearts of hospitals and doctors la cause of frustrating delays and red tape tape (Mips, I mean, sky-blu- e shouldn't you find a name that sounds sweeter and more accommodating'? The 1 lealth ( 'are Financing Administration runs Medicare and M(dicaid. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson says its hard to love a place with a clunky name like that. So he wants to change it. According to Citizens Against (lovernmcnt Waste, which keeps an eye on dumb uovernmenl scnding. the name isnt the problem, though. Doctors and hospitals know ICTA creates too many forms to fill out, takes too long to reimburse claims, and is highly restrictive, the watchdog group notes. It seems just almut everyone in health care hates ICTA," agrees .Julie Kovner, reporting for CongressDaily. And so (loes everyone in Congress. Or at any rate, they've made I favorite participatory 1 1 ICFA-bashin- sport." The irony career are themselves responsible for many of the mandates, w hich the agency is leing blamed for tryingto carry out. And legislators are contradictory: they is that the in Congress politicians slum IKT'A for Draconian anti-frau- d tactics Congress itself ordered...while simultaneously urgingthe agency to reduce the error rate which those tactics target. Citizens AguinM (lovernmcnt Waste itself notes that last year 11CFA was alone, elunkily-name- d in "imS12 billion for responsible ( lev. that sounds payments. proper kind of harsh. IzTs just say "bungled payments.") Hut there's probably no way for a giant central medical planner like HCI 'A to utterly avoid the pitfalls encountered by central planners everywhere. It's a government agency, so it must function as a d uni, bureaucracy It's not like a profitmaking firm, which either satisfies customers or goes out of business. overNot even a haul, let alone a mere name change, could solve the problems that afflict all government The ultimate solution is to stop creating more bureaucracies, privatize their functions that can be privatized, and stop pretending a little spit and polish or a name change will usher in a new utopian age. Hut I digress. It will cost millions to put a name chang1 into effect, of course. It would mean reprinting stationary and forms, information kits and name plates. Time and money that Citizens Against Government Waste says would be better spent reformingthe agency itself, to whatever extent thats possible. Others are equally skeptical. I'm not sure dressing up the pig makes it look like somethingother than a pig, says the president of the Medical Society of the District of Columbia, Stuart Seides. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, a master satirist, suggests that the new name could lc Health Administered Personally and Professionally for You, i.e., HAPPY. That would put a happy face on things, says Gingrich with a wink. At any rate, Thompsons absurd approach to reform has at least (SaDD oft ESDine POLITICALLY CORRECT Tape By Tim Huber rule-boun- earned him CAGW's coveted Porker of the Month Award, bestowed in recogi it ion of wast ing valuable time, political capital, and public money on an effort reminiscent of the old Soviet approach to government reform. Congratulations, Secretary Thompson, on your swell honor...although that term porker does seem a bit dysphemistic, doesnt it? (Jacob is the national director ofU.S. Term Limits in Washington, D.C.) HOMEMADE Recognizing a Need By PAULA WELLNITZ Last wreek, I referred to family cluster groups that I used to work with. As I mentioned, when we described it to people, w'e would say that we think of families as being made up of three generations and two sexes. Part of explaining this was the encouragement for adults who were living alone at whatever age, and couples who had no children to join the group. It was important to have adults of all ages taking part in the cluster group. As time goes on, through the experiences in the program, all began to relate as an extended family. In fact, even if we would have the traditional mother, father, child families only, sometimes we would direct the participants to form pretend families for a particular activity. This gave the children an idea of how other parents might relate to their children. Or when the children were directed to take on the parents role, the parent often got an idea how their way of parenting felt. Where there was a mix of types of family groupings, single parent families benefit, whether it is the mother, father, or child. For example, the children receive a bit of experience with an opposite sex parent than the one they live with. Other programs provide some kind of similar positive experience to enhance family systems. One is that whereby senior citizens spend time in schools, usually tutoring an individual child. More happens than the tutoring. The child, who may lave no or a poor experience of older people, learns how to respect and relate to one. It is likely this will transfer to other older persons. In some places w'here I have lived, what is known as Big Brother and Big Sister programs have been very active. Men and women of all ages volunteer to spend time with a child about once a week. The adults most frequently range in age from their late 20s to early 40s. However, it can be any age. A friend of mine was active into her 80s. It was through her work, a club space was developed for the program. These various programs are merely examples of wrhat can be done to improve our individual family systems. It only takes one person to recognize a need, get an idea and bring it to the attention of others to work towards better families. one-on-on- Take a Trip to the Library By SYLVIA NELSON Have you visited your local library lately? Maybe you should. It is like taking a trip back in time and seeing Into the future and enjoying the present all at once. Visit the childrens sections. There will be some of the older books that you will be familiar with and probably read as a child. You may find them even more fun now. There is a modern computer to look up authors, titles, and to get specialized Information. And there arc the current magazines, craft and how-t- o magazines and books, for both men and women, that just invite you to sit and brow se. The video sections are full of Informational and geographical themes as well as entertainment. It s like taking a trip and learning a new skill on the way. No time to read? There are audio books to borrow; pop into your cassette player in the car and listen on your way to and from w'ork, while going to the doctors office, or waiting for the kids after a game or practice. Emery County has developed a well organized and dedicated library' board over the years. It is not every rural county of small towns that can boast of having their own library. Eight out of the nine incorporated towns have a library. Emery County has invested a quality building into each community; our tax dollars at work for our citizens. The librarians and administrator are all professionally trained to help patrons utilize the library to the fullest. They are very happy to show you around and introduce you to the best of the new books and tapes. If they dont have a particular book, they will borrow it from one of the other libraries for you or order it from the State Library. ' Take a trip to your library today. If you have any doubts about this use of your time, take a child along. Kids know where to find the most Interesting things to borrow. Carrying home an arm load of books, magazines, videos, and audio tapes, will give you a good excuse to not watch that rerun on TV again. Librarys arc for the young and the young at heart. Keeping our minds, the minds of our children and our elderly stimulated is easy right here in Emery County. Its your library. swek. e |