Every society is affected by any national changes or new movement introduced; therefore, an issue one may think is unrelated to his environment can very well affect him through chains of cause and effect.Health care is an immediate issue that concerns all of us. We all experience it and need it. Let’s serious ask ourselves if the current health care system is satisfactory and available to everyone. Should health, medicare and treatments be available to only selected groups? Many people are voting for the presidential candidate who can restore the present health care system or who can pioneer a better healthcare distribution for our country. Personally, I hope to see a change that health care is available and affordable to everyone.Being able to receive basic health care is a fundamental need of all people. Fulfilling this fundamental need makes people feel secured, and it makes sense that people with better health can contribute more to the society. A realistic and reachable standard of health should be set for all people. This effort needs a non profit driving entity to establish and to maintain it. People’s life and health should not be compromised for the profit of few organizations.Before moving to Japan, I was covered under my parents’ insurance policy in the United States. Their policy covered children of the family until the age of twenty-four. Upon graduating from university, I moved to Japan and started my first job there. I joined the Japanese national health insurance through the company I worked for. There are basically two types of health insurance in Japan: national health insurance and employer-sponsored health insurance. Usually, under employer sponsored insurance, the insurance premium is calculated according to income, number of dependents, and the company’ subsidies. For someone who is self-employed or unemployed, the national health insurance costs a minimum of 13300 yen, or about $110 per month plus a small percentage of income for those who are self-employed. In other words, everyone can get insurance from around $100 dollars a month. Unlike the Medicaid program in the U.S. which is only available to certain low-income groups with specific requirements for eligibility, the Japanese health insurance is available to every citizen and legal residents. There is a ceiling to what the Japanese National insurance covers, but it covers all the basics and beyond.In most cases in Japan, patients choose their doctor and hospital. There is no limitation to the doctors or hospital they can visit. This is a true competition among the clinics, hospitals, and medical practitioners, not for profit, but for quality. The same insurance that people have in Japan gives them the freedom to get second opinions and naturally eliminates those doctors whose practices are in question. The doctor visits, treatments, and medicine are not free; one is responsible for thirty percent of their medical bills. Japanese health costs are much lower than the costs in the United States. Thirty percent of the medical bill is still a reasonable amount one can afford. There are also special cases or categories of illness for which the insurance would give more coverage. If one is late on his payment, his insurance will not automatically be invalid. The insurance will still cover the person as long as he makes up the missed payments. After all, some people do run into difficulties in life at one point or another. Sounds to good to be true? Well, It’s real.Taiwan, a place with no world recognition politically, has one of the top public health care system in the world. After moving to Taiwan due to my husband’s transfer a year a go, I learned and appreciated the system where universal or national health care is available to all more than ever. When speaking of universal, national, or pubic health insurance, people often turn their attention to the well-debated and discussed health care system in Canada. There are those whose views are negative, claiming that the medical service in a single-payer insurance system may not perform at its ultimate, and those whose views are positive, saying that they do not live in fear of ever having to face bankruptcy for outrageous medical bills. From my informal inquiries, more Canadian I came across favor their national health care system. Most of those who favor their national health care system commented that people of Canada are more secured in having their basic physical and psychological needs met.In Taiwan, there is also government-sponsored universal health care for not only their citizens but also for foreign residents who live in Taiwan. Foreign residents can apply for the government-sponsored insurance after proving their legal status of residing in Taiwan. The insurance fee starts from the basic 600NT, or around $18 a month. For people in higher income brackets, their insurance is calculated based on a percentage of their income over the 600Nt. Fees are waived for retired soldiers, those who are physically challenged, and people who have economic disadvantages.Interestingly, Taiwan’s national health insurance has only been established for little more than two decades, since 1985. The government policy-makers studied health care system from different foreign countries and composes the first Taiwan national health care from the ideas and methods of the system of other countries. It was said that Taiwan’s national insurance system is like a completed puzzle made from pieces of which fit its country and people. This insurance now covers the entire population, including foreign legal residents. According to research funded by Taiwan’s National Health Research and Taiwan’s Bureau of National Health Insurance, the cost of health care did not rise after the universal coverage was established (Jui-Fen & Hsiao, 2003.) What does that tell us?A basic health care program can greatly reduce the consequences of illness left untreated. Basic health care does not mean free of charge or mindless spending without control. To build a healthy nation, we should take a closer look at the current U.S. health insurance. After all, a sound nation starts with the health of its people.
Benefits of Custom Software Development
Professional software products are an important part of the working process for most companies in virtually every industry. Every company needs management and accounting software, and some sort of software solution for online presence. Larger companies implement customer service systems, human resources management software, sophisticated e-commerce software or web portals with extended functionalities corresponding their field of industry. All these systems are mostly developed by other companies, so-called software vendors, implemented and supported by the vendor or by the internal IT team.There are two main approaches to acquiring software systems for enterprise use. The easiest way for a non-IT company to automate its business processes is to purchase a package of off-the-shelf software and invite software engineers from the vendor company to deploy it. This approach works well with basic online shopping solutions, hotel reservation software or open source project management systems. It is convenient for small and medium enterprises with traditional business models, though larger companies can integrate ready made solutions into their system by customizing some of their functionality, if possible. Nevertheless, standard inexpensive software solutions are not reliable enough when it comes to banking software, healthcare or mobile programming.Ready-made software often fails to meet expectations of large businesses and innovation-oriented fast-developing companies. Their main disadvantage is lack of scalability. Of-the-shelf software is a finished product with limited possibilities for enhancement and upgrade. It may have issues with software integration, or it may be compatible only with software systems of the same software vendor. It cannot evolve along with the company, and sooner or later must be replaced by another software solution, more capable and more expensive. Custom software development can generally lead to the same expenses in the long-term perspective as purchasing new products, as it can be adjusted to emerging challenges and business needs.Custom software systems are always tailored to exact business requirements of the customer and adjusted to his unique business model. They are scalable and normally supported by long-term maintenance agreements, and help comes immediately if the upgrade is needed. Of course, the customer must define his key business objectives as clearly as it is possible from the very beginning, although it is allowed and, in some models of software development, even desired to give feedback to developers, so they can make corrections to the program during the development process. The aim is to ensure the right business logic behind all elements of implemented software and make it work under the real-life conditions.A compromising decision can be made if the company’s funds are limited. Some parts of the software company can be purchased as ready made solutions, and the key systems can be developed by request and put together by software integration. For example, a typical CRM solution and a standard database can be integrated with a custom online shopping portal, some bespoke business analysis software and even with an enterprise mobile application that can provide the complete business data from all those systems. Seamless integration is a highly professional kind of service that requires deep expertise in several fields, but it will be cheaper than developing the whole system from scratch.Custom software development can lead to noticeable expenses. But if the customer owns the resulting product, he can sell it to other companies. There are a lot of options like partner programs with other companies working in the same industry or “white label” distribution. Technology companies can develop the solutions they need for work by their own, but in many cases even they can do electronic document management or buy enterprise software products because of the high level in specialization that is characteristic for the IT industry.
Beauty – Is It Physical Appearances or Self-Esteem?
Beauty is a universal concept that is hard to define, but is understood by all. In many societies, physical beauty is seen to have acceptable norms though some of these norms differ between cultures. We may have a hard time to explain when we are asked what is beautiful to us. However, if we were to point out a beautiful woman in a group, men and women do it easily and naturally. As the saying goes, when it comes to great beauty, we will know it when we see it.Not everyone admires beauty the same way though. Beauty is a subjective experience. It involves the individual’s feeling of attraction and emotional well-being. We often here the saying; “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. However, as society imposes its general expectation on women’s beauty, beauty evolves into a common expectation and a standard comparison between women.So what is a “standard” definition of beauty then? My best guess is, if we were to talk about women, it is the physical qualities that she possesses. It is the ability of the woman to give out intense pleasure or deep satisfaction to the viewer’s senses. The admirer’s positive feeling of pleasure or goodness is usually derived from the woman’s body shape, clothes that she wears or how attractive her facial features are, amongst others.However, beauty can also be about the woman’s personality. It is about having compassion for and helping others, a shoulder to cry on, respecting others, respecting herself, project kindness to human and animals alike, loving others and of course, loving herself. This is described as inner beauty which comes about from having the right dose of self-confidence and a healthy self-esteem.While this is not usually the first thing that comes to our mind when we talk about beauty, inner beauty plays just as an important role in how beautiful a person appears to be. Maybe more so than outer beauty does.Inner beauty is not something that unattractive people say to our self to feel better. Inner beauty can be just as, if not more captivating as the external appearance can be.Inner beauty may be described as something that is experienced through a person’s character rather than by appearances. It is the real beauty of a person that goes far beyond just physical appearances.It is a woman’s inner belief that they are attractive that makes them more appealing to others. The glow of confidence and physical attractiveness comes from within her. Some of the most fancied personalities are not really physically attractive but their glowing confidence and self-belief makes them attractive to every member of the opposite gender.First impressions do not always depend on our physique or our facial features. We need to believe that it comes from within our self. That is where our true beauty lies. When we start a conversation, people will initially assess us; as pleasant or not-so-pleasant. As the conversation goes on, people will start to pick up the nice qualities and traits emanating from us, and people will then start to find us more and more beautiful or charming.When we love, appreciate and feel good about our self, we would feel more confident about facing and interacting with others. Outer beauty attracts glances while inner beauty makes someone stay. This is the secret to a healthy self-esteem.Naturally, we will notice a person’s physical appearance first. However, when a woman have bright eyes that flicker, a smile that warms the heart, a radiant glow that surrounds her when she walks into a room; she has obviously harnessed her inner beauty.The best part of inner beauty is the fact that unlike our outward appearance, inner beauty does not wrinkle, gray or diminish with age. It will only radiates stronger as we cultivate it.Only then will you see yourself as a truly beautiful woman.