I hope all of you are enjoying your 4th of July holiday. Summer is half over—that’s hard to believe. Have fun, but be safe.

And now, let’s get to the issues at hand. Let’s start with a pet peeve that most everyone has a gripe about. You all know it’s the number one—make my blood boil—issue, and that is health insurance. Most of you who read my column know my health insurance jumped up 28 percent—not a huge increase (they say), but a big jump in my premium. This stuff is out of control and I’ve expressed my complaint before, but I’ve come across some interesting bits of news I’d like to share.

It seems our politicians are putting pressure on the health insurance companies to limit the huge hikes in premiums because they are afraid of the public finding out about the huge profits they’ve made these past four years. Total profits for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield network of non-profit businesses had a 31.9 Billion (That’s Billion, folks!) profit jump last year. These companies are supposed to be non-profit but how about the companies that are for profit. They are on the same boat as the Blue Cross and Blue Shield network. Is it me? Am I justified in being angry? Shouldn’t you be too? The small business man has taken it on the chin.

I recently asked the small business clients I train about their heath insurance. It seems they are in a pickle like me. The only way they can afford insurance is to give in or make concessions with the insurance company. So you pay more and get less—a lot less in order to afford the premium. Seems my clients have the same coverage as I—really none. We have it in case of a catastrophic incident. We pay everything because of the sky-high deductible. It seems as if it’s a conspiracy against the small business owner. Our politicians are asking the health insurance companies to cut back on the frequency of high increases trying to deflect public criticism.

I just want the same coverage all of our elected officials receive—the best coverage there is. Well, that coverage is provided—free—by the taxpaying public. I’ve got an idea. Let’s have a referendum and vote to take away that perk and let them get their own health insurance. Let them deal with it like we do—things would change—I betcha!

On another health related issue, starting July 1, operating rooms hope to be a bit safer. The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has decreed that surgical teams must take new steps to prevent operating on the wrong body part or on the wrong patient. Well, gee, I hope they do. Nothing worse than waking up from a supposed minor hernia operation and finding a kidney missing. Nurses and doctors must now take what is called a "time out" before cutting into a patient. I think that’s a great idea. Why didn’t they think of that before? The "time out" in necessary to double-check that the right patient is on the table and they really are there for a kidney removal—not gallbladder—and which kidney is the one to be removed. I call that communication—they call it a "time out." They go through a checklist of everything to be done to the patient while he/she is in surgery. Isn’t that nice? Hospital regulations hope the new rules will put an end to growing reports of surgeries gone wrong. Gosh, I hope so, don’t you?

My next issue deals with cigarette smoking. Now we all know that it’s bad for you, but with the new evidence that has recently come to light you may want to quit for good (and I hope you do). According to an intense fifty-year study, cigarette smoking can shorten your lifespan by ten years. Dr. Richard Doll, the scientist/doctor who started this study, is now 91 years old and has been involved in the entire 50 year process. Talk about dedication!

The study found that almost half of all persistent cigarette smokers were killed by their habit and a quarter had died before age 70. It also found out that kicking the cigarette habit had equally dramatic effects. Dr. Doll found out that if someone stops smoking by age 30, they have the life expectancy of a non-smoker, and someone who stops at age 50 will lose 4 years, rather than 10 years of his life expectancy. Did I also mention that this info was obtained by Dr. Doll and a group of almost 35,000 British doctors? The study was published this week in the British Medical Journal and is the first to quantify the damage over the lifetime of a generation! The original study was started by Dr. Doll in 1951, and the research has continued every decade since with the final study completed in 2001. At that time, almost 6,000 of the doctors who first did the study in 1951 were still alive—amazing!

Also, according to their findings, a person who stops smoking at age 60 will have a life expectancy three years longer than someone who continues; a 40-year-old will have a life expectancy nine years longer, and I already told you about the 30-year-old. Today, the United Kingdom has the lowest cigarette smoking rate in the developed world—about 20 percent of adults. So, tell your significant other that you want to keep them around a little longer—get them to stop smoking. It will add years to their life and here’s the proof that it does—it only took 50 years.

See you at the beach.