weekly thoughts with Dr Lei Chu

2026 new medicare policies-wasteful and inappropriate service reduction

Discussion of IVF and how it is increasing in USA.

This past week was spring break. We were supposed to go to Colorado Springs however, due to TSA agency shortage Hobby airport security was backed out from second floor to the first floor into the parking lot. It took more than three hours to get through TSA security. we missed our flight by 15 minutes. We tried to get a standby to Denver but no more spaces so we had to cancel our spring break plans. If you went through a similar experience as us last week. I lament with you,For many busy professionals taking a week off work was a big deal and was supposed to be a cherished experience with our children exploring new adventures. We were supposed to hike garden of gods and Go up the pikes Peak however we missed all those opportunities. There was a family behind us going to Disney who missed their flight and three other people left while waiting in line because they’ve missed their flight. My reflection over the situation is that we the people should not trust government with much power. The politicians do not care about ordinary citizens like you and me. Even though it is spring break and the government officials know that cutting off funding for TSA during this week will cause inconvenience for many families. however they did not do a temporary funding for the week. I do not blame either parties. I blame the fact that we the people trusting the government with so much power that they can affect our lives without any accountability. We still enjoyed our time together locally but my little elementary school daughter has been looking forward to go to Colorado Springs and hiking trails and play with snow in monarch mountain ski area for weeks. Missing this trip causes an achiness in my heart, to deprive her of that experience that she has so long looked forward to. Honestly, the government has not been very good in many things. for example look at veteran affairs hospitals. I remember during my orientation week as a medical student and as a resident, handout was a thick packet of paper that ends up being thrown away. Why not just electronic instructions? If we have surgeries that needs to run after 3pm, we were told to reschedule patients. It didn’t matter these veterans waited months to get their surgeries scheduled, no staff worked after 3pm in the OR. many physicians, including myself have treated veterans who have VAbenefits. This means these patients could pay nothing to get specialist care at the VA but they chose to pay extra to be evaluated by civilian physicians outside the VA system because They believe the quality of care in the civilian system is better. Tricare does not reimburse physicians well but I chose to continue seeing patients with tricare insurance because I appreciate veterans who took personal risks at the highest level to protect my freedom. Look at our income tax, this is another example government has no accountability but causes burdens to ordinary citizens. United States of America’s independence started because of minor 8% sales tax on tea; nowadays we pay so much more for income tax. Income tax is nothing more than legalized highway robbery. We have no control on how this money is spent. We know government does not do a good job in terms of efficiency, flexibility, common sense yet we the people keep handing powers to the government. Airport security used to be private before 9/11 with more efficiency. Many studies showed TSA missed many security breaches. Neither my husband nor I have ever missed a flight ever before. The wait was exhausting on Monday March 9th, The hobby airport could have done better. TSA agent’s typical pay is $28 per hour, city of Houston which owns hobby airport or the southwest airlines should have paid tsa agents to come to work and have government reimburse them later. Many travelers had to reschedule travel plans. We the people always suffer the consequences of inefficient government federal or city or company