Why are they Changing Health Care?

          Recently I was in a university math class when the boy beside me made some snide comments about my Canadian health care, punctuated withsome ill informed statements about the current American health care reform. This rather annoyed me as I was aware of some rather abysmal facts about the previous United States health care system.  That is the event which inspired me to investigate more closely the United States Heath Care System, its benefits, its shortcomings, and the newly introduced health care system.

          We are all aware of the benefits of health care, or at least we would quickly be if we did not have it.  Any health care is good health care, but our goal is not to have adequate health care, but the best possible to ensure a high quality of life.  In this publication I will examine some of the current health care problems, many of which this new system was, and is, being designed to correct.  This hopefully should allow you to understand why such a health reform is in process, and what issues need to be addressed.

          This publication is not meant to examine Obama's health care, or the United States health care in general, it was designed solely to show some of the reasons why a change is necessary or logical.  The United States has one of the best health care systems in the world. I am showing some statistics that focus in on why the United States needs to continue to reform, while doing so I am not focusing on the currently working programs of the United States health care except as they related to the negative ones.

PRICE

Something commendable about the United States Health Care is that they are not skimping on monetary support.  The United States spent 17.3% of their gross domestic product (GDP) in 2009 which is up from a little over 13% in 1999.   That is a rise of about 30% in the last ten years.  It is estimated that by 2017 the GDP percent will have raised to 19.5% a 3% rise in 7 years.  That's a total of $2,466,336,000,000 (2.5 Trillion) or $8,000 a person (307 million people in the USA).  There are a minimum of 15.3% of citizens uninsured (22,933,893) (excluding illegal citizens who still get emergency care).  So in reality the average American pays ($2,466,336,000,000 / (307,000,000(US POP) – 22,933,893(Uninsured))) $8,682 annually. That is 20 %( 2003 stat) of the long term American earning average of 43,000 a year.

             This amount of money in comparison to other countries is exorbitant. The next closest contender is Switzerland at a little over 11%, which would have to increase its price by 40% to match the United States GDP output towards health care.  It is 60% more than Canada's cost.

            Now heath and quality of life should be worth that money right?  So if the US is spending head over heels more than any other country then there should be Rudolph Giuliani stated "the best medical care in the world". And this could very arguable be true for the top medical centers in America but as the New York Times declared "the disturbing truth is that this country lags well behind other advanced nations in delivering timely and effective care".



INTERNATIONAL OVERALL RANKINGS

            The World Health Organization preformed an assessment of the level of health and health care in countries around the world.  According to this study the United States Rates 37^th in the world out of 191 countries, which is on the outside of the top quarter for overall health care system.  This was assessed by several factors.  Of those factors the funding and responsiveness significantly boosted this mark while the overall health in the United States and the fairness in financial contribution drug the mark down.  The following are the categories and ranking.

Category	Rank out of  191
Health Level	24
Health Distribution	32
Responsiveness Level	1
Responsiveness Distribution	3-38
Fairness in financial contribution	54-55
Overall Goal Attainment	15
Health Expenditure per captia	1
Overall level of health	72
Overall health system performance	37

            Other notable countries rankings are:

Country	Overall Rank
France	1
Italy	2
The United Kingdom	18
Canada	30
Australia	32
Chile	33
Cuba	39

            A second study done by the Common Wealth Fund compared with five comparable countries  (Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom)  the US ranks last (if GDP spending is not taken into the equation), or second to last (if GDP spending is taken into the equation as a positive).  From the Common Wealth Funk:

"Among the six nations studied—Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States—the U.S. ranks last, as it did in the 2006 and 2004…The U.S. health system is the most expensive in the world, but comparative analyses consistently show the United States underperforms relative to other countries on most dimensions of performance…The U.S. is the only country in the study without universal health insurance coverage, partly accounting for its poor performance"


CHILD CARE

            The association "Save the Children" published a report called "The State of the Worlds Mother Reports" where it gauges the combined and individual health care quality of care for mothers and children. The United States placed 28^th out of the 43 in the "tier 1" countries overall ranking. Below is a listing of key developed countries in the weighted ranking system which I  have abbreviated.



Following are some comments from this study regarding the low United States ranking

"One of the key indicators used to calculate well-being for mothers is lifetime risk of maternal death. The United States' rate for maternal mortality is 1 in 4,800 – one of the highest in the developed world. Thirty-five out of 43 developed countries performed better than the United States on this indicator, including all the Western, Northern and Southern European countries… A woman in the Unites States is more than five times as likely as a woman in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece or Italy to die from pregnancy-related"

"At this rate, a child in the U.S. is more than twice as likely as a child in Finland, Iceland, Sweden or Singapore to die before his or her fifth birthday."

"Only 61 percent of children in the United States are enrolled in preschool – making it the seventh lowest country in the developed world on this indicator."

"The United States has the least generous maternity leave policy – both in terms of duration and percent of wages paid – of any wealthy nation."

"The United States is also lagging behind with regard to the political status of women. Only 17 percent of seats in the House of Representatives are held by women, compared to 46 percent of seats in Sweden and 43 percent in Iceland."

          On the official United States of America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) the United States ranks 48^th lowest infant mortality rate at birth with 6.7/1,000(2008) which is high comparative to other systems.  Furthermore is seems to be on the rise from 5/1,000 in 2006. As Medical New Today said:

"…the USA has fallen a long way behind [in the live birth death ratio]."

Below is a list of comparable countries.

Country	Rank	Mortality Rate (X/1000)
Japan	4	2.79
Hong Kong	5	2.92
France	8	3.33
Germany	15	3.99
Australia	29	4.75
United Kingdom	32	4.85
Canada	36	5.04
United States	46	6.26
Russia	73	10.56

QUALITY OF HEALTH

            The quality of health of a country is a good indicator on the effectiveness of the health care system.  The health care system is specifically to support the people in becoming and staying healthy.  Although ultimately personal health is primarily the responsibility of the individual, the greatest testimony of a user system are the users.

     We have seen in the above health care assessment study that statistically the overall health of Americans ranks 72^nd in the world.  As an established nation when we think of health we may firstly jump to the thought of weight, as that is the most common ailment in our society, this is a big contributor to this number but if this were the sole factor the united states would be ranked 191 out of 191.  The rank of 72^nd is abysmally low for an established nation, this is below many south America countries, and is on par with Iraq.
            
Body Weight

    Having said this, statistically 30.6% of Americans are obese (Meaning that they have a BMI (body mass index) greater than 30 Kg/sq.meters).  This is over double the international average and the highest percent in the world.  It ranks high even in comparison to its immediate neighbors Canada and Mexico; Canada being ranked 11^th at 14.3% and Mexico being ranked 2^nd at 24.3%.

What is more is that a good majority of Americans are overweight (67%), making it the norm.  Possibly more disturbing is the rise of child obesity currently at 17%.  Being overweight makes it more difficult and more expensive to get health care.  It leads to a spectrum of illness and conditions, which brings down the overall health of the American people.  Although we cannot say that medical care is to blame on these statistics, it does shoulder a portion of the blame. What is clear is that what we are doing is not working, and it is not getting any better.

When it comes down to it, controlling weight is up to the individual, which means what has to change is the mentality.  This focus can start on a national level with health care. There is hope that in the new health care will focus more on child obesity, rising awareness, and getting doctors to focus more on keeping the citizens healthy.  With this focus in school, with regular check-ups and evaluations it is hoped to change the American mentality on weight.

Smoking

Aside from weight and the associated complications therein, America still has several health issues that it is trying to resolve.  One of these is smoking.  An article from "America's Health Rankings" summarized the recent efforts to cut smoking out of the American lifestyle:

"Despite focused efforts, nearly one in five Americans [or 21%(2003)] still smoke, which is only 8 million people fewer than 20 years ago."

Although this number may seem high to some, and the decrease of habitual smoking depressing, the percent of Americans that smoke is below the international average of 24%.  It is ranked 44^th highest female smoking rate and 115^th highest for men.  These statistics are on par with most of the established world nations.  Although this is a serious problem in the United States it has little to no negative effect on the overall ranked health of the United States in comparison with other nations.

Life Expectancy

As the purpose of health care is to support and encourage good health a great measure of its effectiveness is how long a person lives.  The United Nations publishes a "Human Development Index" which measured the quality of life in selected developed and developing countries.  This index, or ranking is weighted on three dimensions: Life expectancy, Education, and standard of living.

In their assessment of life expectancy they placed the United States ranked 38^th highest life expectancy in the world with a life expectancy of 78.2 years (75.6 for females and 80.8 for males). This is above the international average of 67.2 (2005) by 11 years.  Below is a comparison of a few countries and life expectancy.

Country	Rank	Life Expectancy
Japan	1	82.6
Australia	5	81.2
Canada	10	80.7
France	10=	80.7
United Kingdom	22	79.4
Germany	23	79.4
United States	38	78.2
Mexico	48	76.2
Russia	137	65.5

  So although the United States does have an above average score, but compared to other economically leading countries, the average is much lower then would be expected.

Below is a graph showing the correspondence between amount paid to life expectation.

Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL)

Year of Potential Life Lost (YPLL) is a measure of premature death.  It shows the additional years a person would have lived if they had not prematurely died.  It examines the overall expected life expectancy of the desired sample group, then calculating the difference between actually life length and the expected age (Expected Life - Age of Death = Potential Life Lost). To get a country's YPLL you calculate the cumulative number of years lost of a sample size, the total YPLL is generally calculated per 100,000 people. The United States is currently rated the 3^rd highest YPLL country with 10%.  Comparatively this is 48% higher than its northern neighbor Canada which has a rate of 6.7%.   Below is some key countries YPLL.

Country	Rank	YPLL	% Compared to US
Mexico	1	6,778	+73%
United States	3	4,962	0%
New Zealand	8	3,644	-36%
France	9	3,459	-43%
United Kingdom	10	3,392	-46%
Canada	11	3,361	-48%
Australia	15	3,118	-59%
Japan	29	2,614	-90%

A health care should be striving to minimize premature death.  Some may assert that these years are generally not related to health care as much as the United States homicide, suicide, and accident rates.  It is true that the US has an above average homicide rate in established nations, it being three time the amount in Canada.  But in comparison to overall world homicide average, it is much lower with it being only 10% of the homicide rate of Honduras rates.  Although the US has a higher than average homicide rate for an established nation it does not hugely effect the overall YPLL rate of the United States as out of 100,000 deaths only 4.2 are murders, to find the actually effect of murder is on the YPLL you need to multiply this number by the years they lost.  The mean age of murder victim is 27, 51.2 years younger than the US average of 78.2. Thus the YPLL attributed to murder for the US is around 215 years (51.2 X 4.2), which accounts for only 4.4% of total YPLL.

A large percent comes from infant and child deaths, as we have discussed above, but the Majority of the YPLL comes from medical reasons.  Some of those medical fatalities are for reasons that our current medical knowledge considers unpreventable, or untreatable.  But a large portion of these years come from people who are uninsured or underinsured.  45,000 people die a year because they do not have insurance. Many die because they do not receive medical preventive measure because their insurance will not adequately cover the treatments, or because they simply do not have the money to make the copayments to combat chronic illnesses.  I am not suggesting that the majority, or even a large minority, is because of lack of medical care, but a significant number do die due to problems with health care.  Below is a graph showing the breakdown for premature death. Keep in mind that this accounts for reasons of death and not PYLL.

 Death Amenable to Health Care            

To get down to some "real" health care meaty statistics we can look at the extreme topic of death  amenable  to health care, or death that could have been prevented to timely and effective health care.  This is quite simply how many people died a year when they didn't have to.  This is one of the best ways to measure the quality and coverage of national health care.

            In a study published in the peer-reviewed research and commentary "Health Affair" it aims precisely at this topic. The goal of the study was to see how the countries that participated in the World Health Organization's health care ranking system would be ranked if all the other factors were stripped away and all that was left was death amenable to health care.  The way this is tabulated is that they took the World Health Organizations constructed list of ailments or conditions that can generally be treated at their corresponding ages by proper health care attention.  Then they took the countries with highest quality mortality documentation and plugged it into the list that was constructed. Then they received the list of people that hypothetically could have been saved if they had access to proper medical care at the proper time.

 So how does the US stack up against the other countries?

The following are the statistics from 1997 – 1998 study a little more than 10 years ago.

 The United States is on the lower quadrant of the graph, but from statistics that we have already seen this is not a big surprise.  Overall it is not doing all too terribly but is only a little behind the average.

The following are the statistics from 2002 – 2003 only 5 years later.

            An important note is that everyone is decreasing in deaths  amenable to health care, this is a good sign, and it means that we are continuing to hone our health care systems and techniques.  The average improvement of any given country in this graph is 16%.  If we look at the United States though we notice that it only decreased by 4%, a much lower rate of decline than any other country on the graph. What is more it is now has the highest mortality rate  amenable to health care out of all of the countries listed.  So apparently this can tell us that the Health Care system is considerably underperforming in comparison with other developed countries and what is more, is that it is not significantly improving. The United States could take a couple leaves  out of the other countries books when it come to health care.

                    The major contributor to these low number is that all those other developed countries have universal health care whereas the United States has been working off of privatized health care, where money talk;   If you have the money to pay for health care you can have the some of the best health care in the world.  But if you don't, well then you can come to the hospital is you are dying, but don't expect too much.



COVERAGE 

The narrow coverage of the United States health care is the source of the majority of negative attention in international health comparisons.  The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that 45.7 million Americans (15.3% of the total population) have no health insurance coverage. The Commonwealth Fund published an article in Health Affair that states 16,000,000 (16 million) (5.3%) (2003 statistic) Americans were underinsured.  That is a huge percent! One in every five Americans have inadequate insurance.

The following are some statistics retrieved from surveys:

"Among adults surveyed in the U.S., 37% reported that they had foregone needed medical care in the previous year because of cost… 42%—among those with chronic conditions"

"19% of U.S. adults surveyed reported serious problems paying medical bills, more than double the rate in the next highest country [in the study]."

Mental Health

In one study the United States dominated a study of 14 countries in prevalence of mental illness at a rate of 26% of the population is mentally ill, or will be diagnosed as such.  This could also be linked to diagnosis practices and effectiveness for less developed countries, but for established countries it is fairly accurate.  A look to Canada shows an estimated 20% that will suffer from mental illness, this is still a 30% lower rate than the US, but it is much higher than the other countries in the study. There is currently a lack medical coverage for mental health. It is estimated that less than half of those suffering a mental illness receive treatment for it because of lack of access to care or because of stigma. This leads to more and more serious conditions then if they would have received health care in a timely and efficient manner.

The Medically Uninsurable and Underwriting

With privatized medicine it isn't focused on the people as much as it is about the money. It is a business and a competition. In most states the people go through a medical screening process called underwriting.  This is essentially the policy that the private medical country has the right to deny coverage based on the health information provided, and also to set the rate of the premium. This is to ensure that the company makes a profit off that plan. All in all it is an investment and a gamble.  The Medical Insurance is betting that you will pay more money in then you will get out, while you are betting against those odds.  Because of this practice there are some people out there that insurance companies will not bet on, and thus they are labeled as "uninsurable". These are those who are not able to get health care anywhere because of preexisting conditions. Disease is a big part of the factors that keep these people uninsurable but also common ailments such as acne or being overweight or underweight.  An estimated 5,000,000 in America are considered uninsurable because of preexisting conditions.

A survey of a large company showed that 13% of all applicants were denied plans, out of the 87% that were accepted 22% were offered higher than average insurance rates, which the other 78% received regular rates.  Insurance acceptance rises correspondently with age, thus it will be easier and cheaper to have insurance when you are young, as the insurance companies see it as a easy bet.

SOCIALIZED MEDICINE AND HEALTH CARE

          As discussed in my previous post "Propagating Propaganda", a way to manipulate people and their ideas is to latch on words with negative connotations to influence the people to reject the idea, not based on content but based on association. It comes from the human desire to put everything into a box. If you can link negative images and emotions in the mind of a person the object then becomes associated in negative ways. The government constantly uses this in even small ways such as changing "The Department of War's" name to "The Department of Defense". In our minds we associate war with negative emotions, and defense with positive emotion.  We see war as bad and defense as good, even though the functions of the department didn't change the thoughts, emotions and connotations changed because of the change of name.  It gets placed in a different box because of the title we give it.

           During and post World War II there was and is a huge communist scare.  There were many people calling others "communists" as a dirty word, a way to label people.  Communism in general is not inherently evil; if it were conducted purely it has many, many good effects and very few negatives.  The obvious problem in the soviet system was that it wasn't being conducted that way, and as far as we know there have been no successful communistic societies.

           Universal health care is the focus of pejoratively.  It is labeled unaffectionately by many Americans as socialized health care this to predispose the people against it.  The term first came around to public usage to employ this propaganda method against Harry Truman's health care initiative in 1947.

 Universal health care goes back to the Germans who introduced a universal health care in 1882.  Britain constructed their universal health plan in 1911. Most other developed nations adopted it shortly after World War II concluded as a result of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This article was presented by the United Nations to set a standard of rights that everyone is entitled to.  In it was discussed the right of life, the right of equality, the right of freedom, the right of non-discrimination,  the right of presumed innocence, the right of privacy, and several other fundamental issues that were not observed during World War II.  It was signed by the majority of developed countries at the time.  The United States did not ratify the 25^th article which states:

  1)Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.

           For this cause at this time most of the developed countries adopted universal health care, which generally greatly improved the general health of the countries.

           Despite what may be said about Universal health care, it is the most widely used health care system in developed countries; it has and is replacing the privatized medicine.  The top ranked (according to the World Health Organization's ranking) medical care countries are all using universal health care.

Below is a map from Wikipedia made before the new United States health care decision which shows the prevalence of universal health care. Both blue and green are Universal health care systems where grey are other systems or where there was no data available.

CONCLUSION

How much is a human life worth?  Having discussed this topic with many Americans due to the current reform, and the propaganda spread about universal health care, in particular Canada's health care, I have noticed a prevailing selfish attitude among the majority of people.  Many get angry that they would have to pay for someone else to receive health care. The health care in the United States is catered for the rich while is buries the poor. According to the statistics for 2002-2003 there around 337,700 people that die every year that don't have to, that is the size of New Orleans. The American people are griping about paying less to save more lives, not because of the price, but because that means they feel they are paying for indolence, that they may in the process help someone who doesn't deserve to be helped.

 Where is the most expensive medical work preformed? The hospital. The United States public is already paying for the health care of those uninsured and underinsured by the means of hospital bills. Rather than these people getting the preventative measured they need they are forced, or choose, to go without because of the exorbitant price.  In a few months they will get the care they need from the hospital staff, but you can bet this far down the road it will not be their last visit.  At this point they will need to make regular stops at their hospitals, they will not able to secure health insurance, and will be caught in the rapid whirlpool of health care with no hope of escape.  As the platitude rightly states:

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Out of the federal budget (not GDP) the United States spends 23% on the Department of Defense, formerly the Department of War, which for 2011 has a predicted budget of $1.003–$1.223 trillion $1,223,000,000,000.00.  That is about $4,000 a person. Maybe instead of sending off trillions of dollars to other countries to fix their governments, the United States should look to fix their own first.  Instead of spending their money on guns that are in part responsible for the 5,400 Americans that have died in war this past decade and 120,000 Afghanis and Iraqis, maybe it should be spend in saving the lives of the (estimated) 3,377,000 Americans that, in the same amount of time, died unnecessarily due to the inefficiency of health care. 

A Dollar For Your Thoughts?

At first glance the United States one dollar bill is none too impressive.  Compared to other currencies it is rather colorless, bland, and scentless (unlike the Canadian $100.00 bill which smells like maple syrup) . However, on closer appraisal you will notice that it has several unusual symbols on including an unfinished egyptian pyramid, Latin writing, and masonic symbols. Many of these symbols are shrouded in mystery and is a source of heated debate and speculation. 
I first encountered some of those speculations while I was working for a time in the United States. While I was in a discussion with a man named Chris, he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and extracted a ratty American one dollar bill.  He took out a pen and started drawing on it (which is, contrary to popular belief, NOT a crime).  Chris was connecting lines and stars, he was circling patterns and showed me symbols and patterns on it that I had never noticed before despite having used the money for over a year.  More recently this incident was again brought to my mind while I was reading Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol (2009) (see here for my review of the book). In this book there is a period of time (of many) where Robert Langdon has an extensive thought monologue reviewing the common speculations and discussions around the United States one dollar bill.  Reading I found that Brown again discussed all the topics which Chris had previously told me. This sparked my interest and made me question the validity of the claims. Thus, a paper is born.
         I would like to share with you these symbols. My purpose is not to settle the raging debates about the symbols but rather to introduce and examine them to give some background and context.  I will attempt to examine the common claims and basic history behind this bill, to consolidate some of the vast information from various sources which I have found, and to perhaps share a few original insights of my own.  Perhaps some day when talking points run dry you can yank out a one dollar bill and I hope that this information is sufficiently entertaining to be able to show it off to your friends and educate them in the history and symbols of the one dollar bill.

The Origin of the One Dollar Bill

          The one dollar bill was initiated in 1862 under the presidency of Abraham Lincoln.  The bill displayed the portrait of Salmon P. Chase on it who at the time was serving as the Secretary of the United States Treasury.  This bill also had the seal of the United States Department of the Treasury which has remains there still.  The bill itself was 15% larger than it is now (7.4 x 3.1 inches, or 189 x 79mm, the width being as wide as a DVD case is tall). Since then there have been many alterations to the bill I will only note some of the more important changes that pertain to the modern one dollar bill. 

• 1869 - Seven years after the introduction of the one dollar bill, the portrait of Salmon P. Chase was changed to that of George Washington.
• 1929 - Fifty years later the bill in 1929 was reduced to it's current size of 6.1 by 2.6 Inches(or 156 x 66.3 mm). 
• 1935 - Six years later the Bill introduced the phrase "In God We Trust" to the reverse of the bill. This phrase would eventually become the official national motto in 1956.
• 1963 - Twenty-eight years later the bill was released as an official Federal Reserve Note which bore it's insignia. 
• 1969 - Six years later the words of the treasury seal were changed from Latin to English

The Dollar Throughout the Years.
Top:  Obverse (front) Bottom: Reverse (back)
From Left to Right: 1862, 1886, 1928, 1963

The Current One Dollar Bill 

The Current One Dollar Bill

          The Obverse (Front)

The picture below documents all the topics discussed in this paper.  Please refer to it as you view the corresponding alphabetized topics below. 

Click picture to enlarge

Bay Leaves: See signatures...
Bill Series Letter and Federal District Reserve Number: These ars how they identify where the bill was printed, they must corresponds as seen below.

Reserve Bank	Letter	Designation
Boston	A	1
New York	B	2
Philadelphia	C	3
Cleveland	D	4
Richmond	E	5
Atlanta	F	6
Chicago	G	7
St. Louis	H	8
Minneapolis	I	9
Kansas City	J	10
Dallas	K	11
San Francisco	L	12

Federal District Reserve Number: See Bill Series Letter and Federal District Reserve Number
George Washington: He was the first President of the United States, and also was originally commissioned to design the one dollar bill. Some find it Interesting and pertinent that he was a Mason, and links the other possible Masonic elements to this fact. It is also said that he is responsible for the purported Masonic influence in the one dollar bill.
Insignia or Seal of the Department of the Treasurer: A seal originally designed in 1780 for the department of the treasurer which has been slowly adapted to its present form.  The seals primary feature is a coat on arms which includes in it a chevron with thirteen stars, representing the original thirteen colonies.  Some claim that the chevron is actually a square,  one of the most fundamental symbols of masonry, and that the 13 stars are a reference to the 13 degrees in York Freemasons.  Others yet would argue that both interpretations are correct. Above the chevron is a scale which is almost always a representation justice, which is claimed by some to be a masonic symbol.  The key below the chevron if often interpreted as a  symbol of authority, which has also been claimed to be a masonic symbol.  The coat of arms is encompassed and encircled with the words “The Department of the Treasury 1789”.  1789 was the year in which the department of the treasury was established.

Insignia or Seal of The Federal Reserve: This identified the bank it was printing in, the letter corresponds with the bill series number.

Owl / Spider / Web / Web Design: Many conspiracy theorists claim that there is an owl hiding in the one dollar bill on the upper left side of the upper right 1. This is claimed by one as symbolizing “the Bohemian Society which meets in California on the last two weeks of July every year. Every president attends this and it is Ku Klux Klan like with red and black robes and an open fire.” The symbol of an Owl is indeed a symbol of the Canaanite God Moloch, and several other deemed “false gods” many of which are still connected with religion and ceremonies today.  However, these arguments and evidenced that there owl worshipers are not very convincing as it is also true of almost any animal.

Left:  Magnification of the "owl"     Right: Owl worshipers

Furthermore, if you examine the webbing on the one dollar bill you can observe two notches in the web design.  If these notches are overlaid onto the "owl" they appear exactly similar.  This suggests that the "owl" is merely the continuation of the webbing effect found at the bottom of the bill.  However, this leaves the question: why would there be a pattern at that particular spot?

Overlay of Web Design on the "owl"

Plate Serial Number: This number appears both on the obverse and the reverse of the bill. It identifies the plate from which the note was printed.
Printing Position: The one dollar bill is printed on sheets of 32, this number and references in what position in the sheet this particular bill was, the number referring to the quadrant and the letter to the position as seen below.

A1	E1	A3	E3
B1	F1	B3	F3
C1	G1	C3	B3
D1	H1	D3	H3
A2	E2	A4	E4
B2	F2	B4	F4
C2	G2	C4	G4
D2	H2	D4	H4

Serial Number and Letter: This number and letter are placed as identification for this particular bill in that particular bank. The reason they placed a letter in the serial number is to extend the number of possible printings.
Series and Year: This indicated that last modifications that were done to the bill, not the year of print, letters are used for multiple changes in one calendar year.
Signature of the Secretary of the treasury, Signature of the Treasurer of the United States, and Bay Leaves: All self explanatory by name.
Web Design: See Owl / Spider / Web/ Web Design

The Reverse (Back) 

The United States National Motto: In1956 the United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a joint resolution of the 84th congress declaring "In God we trust" the national motto of the United States.  However, it origins in American history go much further back. Most Americans are only familiar with the first verse of Francis Scott Key's 1814 poem The Star Spangled Banner, but the fourth verse includes: And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
Beads: There are 13 beads leading some to believe that it is a reference to Masons and occultism; conversely it could also represent the 13 original colonies. Some would argue both are correct.
Plate Number: This number appears both on the obverse and the reverse of the bill, it identifies the plate from which the note was printed.

The Great Seal of the United States of America

Because of the complexity and depth of this last symbol on the reverse it will be treated on its own. The two pictures below constitute the Great Seal of the United States of America. On July 4, 1776, there was a committee set to create a seal, consisted of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams. Through time the seal has evolved to what we know it as today.  The seal it two sided, the observe side being the side with the eagle while the reverse being the side with the pyramid.

Obverse

 
Arrows: A symbol of war held in the left talon of the eagle, which is held in juxtaposition and in correlation with the olive branch which is a symbol of peace in the eagle’s right talon. Proverbially I think of the symbolism of the right and the left hands, the right being to bless, to favour, and the left to forbid or deny. Or even the right hand being the hand of choice, and the left being a means that we use when using the right is not practical to possible. The eagles head is pointed to his right possibly symbolizing his favouritism towards the olive branch.
There are 13 arrows held in the eagles talons, symbolizing once again the 13 colonies bound together, or again occult symbolism.
Coat of Arms: This is the Coat of Arms of the United States of America, it has two notable differences in relation to the flag of the United States of America. Firstly it does not have any stars in the blue portion, and secondly the outermost strips are white not blue. It has 13 stripes, once again referring to the 13 original colonies or the Masonic occultist number, or both. It is seen and both being held by the eagle and protecting the eagle.

Eagle: The eagle was adopted as the national animal of the United States America in 1782. The bald eagle was chosen because of its majestic beauty, great strength, long life, and because it's native to North America.
Some claim that this bird is not an eagle but a Phoenix (see also Eye), and that even the position he is in shows a hexagram by connecting the Olive Branch, the arrows and the top most star, and then connecting his wings, and his center tail feather.
The Hexagram is a symbol used by many religions (including Christians) for a symbol of communion with God, and various positive meanings, however there are those who feel that this symbol is more sinister is design and placement on the one dollar bill.
The Hexagram is a common and loved symbol of the Masons, it is often used in decoration and was thought to be in the temple of Solomon, which as the Masons claim their roots in Solomon’s temple ritual is an important fact to the. As it was explained by one of their own:

"The interlacing triangles or deltas symbolize the union of the two principles or forces, the active and passive, male and female, pervading the universe... The two triangles, one white and the other black, interlacing, typify the mingling of apparent opposites in nature, darkness and light, error and truth, ignorance and wisdom, evil and good, throughout human life."

—33rd Degree Freemasons Albert G. Mackey and Charles T. McClenachan quoted from Codex Magica by Texe Marrs[9]
There are those who claim that the masons used a perverse version of the Star of David with negative evil connotations

“Uniting the Water Triangle with the Fire Triangle, the Hexagram is formed. It forms a six pointed star also known as the Seal of Solomon. This symbol is a counterfeit Star of David, the national symbol of Israel. The difference between the Star of David and the occult seal is the triangles which make up the occult seal interlock and the two triangles of the Star of David lie flat against each other."

There are also those that claim this symbols is of the occult and of Magic.

"The first mention of the star was in Amos 5:26 regarding the trek from Egypt to Canaan. Then in 922 B.C., when Solomon married the daughter of Pharoah and went into magic and witchcraft and built an altar to Ashtoroth and Moloch. The book traces the six pointed star from Egypt to Solomon, to Arab Magic and Witchcraft, to Druid use. The book traces the star through Freemasonry usage to Mayer Amschel Bauer, who, in the 17th century, changed his name to depict the red six-pointed star (or shield) which he had hung on his door in Germany, and thus began the family of "Red Shield" or Rothschild. The research carried on through this family, to their court of arms, to Cabala, to Astrology, to Hitler and his putting a yellow six-pointed star on all Jews during the holocaust, to the Zionist symbol, and finally to the flag of the State of Israel and beyond."

Because this symbol is comprised of a six within a six within a six (6 points, 6 triangles, 6 sides of the hexagon in the middle) the research also included a look at the 666 prophecies in the Book of Daniel etc., regarding the "willful King" (anti-Christ) and the "mark of the beast”."
Eye: Some claim that this bird is a Phoenix and that this is an occult reference.
Manly P. Hall states:

"European mysticism was not dead at the time the United States of America was founded. The hand of the mysteries controlled in the establishment of the new government for the signature of the mysteries may still be seen on the Great Seal of the United States of America. Careful analysis of the seal discloses a mass of occult and Masonic symbols chief among them, the so-called American Eagle. ... the American eagle upon the Great Seal is but a conventionalized phoenix...Not only were many of the founders of the United States government Masons, but they received aid from a secret and august body existing in Europe which helped them to establish this country for A PECULIAR AND PARTICULAR PURPOSE known only to the initiated few."

(Manly P. Hall, The Secret Teachings of All Ages, pp. XC and XCI)

Another source:

“The first Great Seal designs always clearly illustrated the eagle as a Phoenix. In fact all Phoenix's are drawn as slightly modified eagles. In the Occult the Phoenix in it's single or double headed versions is sometimes used as a reference to Satan.”

It was also stated:

“The eagle replaced the Phoenix in 1841 as the national bird. The Phoenix has been a Brotherhood symbol since ancient Egypt. The Phoenix was adopted by the Founding Fathers (Freemasons) for use on the reverse of the first official seal of the United States after a design proposed by Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress.”

Several Claim that the eye of this eagle is really a phoenix eye and does not resemble an eagles.
Stars: 13 stars which form a hexagram (Star of David or Jewish Star). Once again 13 is likely referring to the 13 original colonies but some also see it as an occult symbol.


Latin: In the Eagles beak he is holding a banner that reads “E pluribus unum” meanin in latin “Out of many, one” a motto requested by Pierre Eugene du Simitiere and found in 1776 on the Seal of the United States. It is a reference to the formation of the United States; out of many colonies comes one nation.
There are 13 letters in “E pluribus unum”, once again symbolizing either the 13 colonies or occult worship or both.
Olive Branch: (see also Arrows) In addition to what has been said about the arrows and the Olive branch, the origin of this symbol is particularly meaningful as it come from the bible when Noah created an ark to save all life on earth from a global flood, he loaded animals in his ark and after many days he sent out a dove to see if there was land, the dove came back with an olive branch, it has (along with the dove) become a symbol of hope, peace and glad tidings. On the seal of the United States of America we have a bird bearing an olive branch, meaning hope, peace, glad tidings, new beginnings and favour from God.
There are 13 olive leaves on the branch and also 13 olives on it, once again symbolizing either the 13 colonies or occult worship or both.
Tail feathers: There are 9 tail feathers which could symbolize the 9 degrees of the York (or American) Masons.
Wings: On each wing of the eagle it has 33 feathers, which could symbolize with the ancient Scottish Masonic rite, (as a 33rd degree mason).

Reverse

Eye of Providence: The eye of providence can be seen most anciently in Egyptian mythology and the Eye of Horus but it also appears in Buddhism and Christianity, most representing the eye of God. Furthermore the eye in a triangle was used by Christians as a symbol for Gods eye, along with the Triangle representing the trinity.
Most importantly in the discussions circulating about this symbol is the Masonic meaning of it. In masonry it is referred to as the All Seeing Eye; it has much the same meaning as the above, and was adopted in the standard iconography of the Freemasons in 1797.
Many claim that this is another evidence of the influence of the Masons in the founding of the country. Rebuttals often point to the fact that out of the four original creators of the seal only on was a Mason (George Washington) and his proposed seal was not accepted and did not contain Masonic elements.
Latin 1: The Latin words "Annuit Coeptis," meaning "He (God) favours our undertaking". God in this diagram being represented by the eye of Providence, or the all Seeing Eye (see Eye of Providence) and the undertaking representing the unfinished pyramid (see Unfinished Pyramid). There are also 13 letter in “Annuit Coeptis”.
Latin 2: The Latin words "Novus Ordo Seclorum" meaning "New Order of the Ages," which is a reference to the new American era.
Roman Numerals: This is the Roman Numerals for the number 1776, the year that the United States of America got its independence from Britain.
Unfinished Pyramid: The unfinished Pyramid is symbolizing and unfinished work, referencing possibly to the United States, or to all of society, that we are always a work in progress. There are 13 levels of this pyramid.
Some claim that the pyramid is an ancient Masonic symbol whereas some claim it is not nor has been.
The apparent union of the Eye of Providence and the Unfinished Pyramid may indicate that completion is found only through God. That he is the missing peace. This harmonizes with the Motto “in God we trust”.
The Seal: This portion of the Seal in general has been analyzed as whole and some have noted that if you draw the outline of the pyramid and then mirror the triangle shape, flip it upside down it makes a perfect hexagram with the portions and margins which, furthermore if you look at the letters they point to they are ``M,N,_ and A,S,O`` which can be rearranged to make the word Mason. (for more on the possible symbolism of the Hexagram see the above “The Eagle”)

People have thus used this to “prove” that the Masons, particularly George Washington integrated Masonry into the United States symbols and Government. For many, regardless of the accuracy of this assertion, this is a feared thought as they link it with Satan worship. Many people also believe this is just a coincidence found by people scraping for find a government conspiracy.

Concluding Notes

The Number 13: There are ten instances we have examined where the number 13 is significant: 13 stars in Seal of the Department of The Treasurer, 13 beads, 13 arrows in the eagles talon, 13 olive leaves, 13 olives, 13 stars above the eagle, 13 stripes on the eagles coat of arms, 13 steps up the pyramid, 13 letters in “E pluribus unum”, and in “Annuit Coeptis”.
The number 13 was obviously an important number, generally it is believed that it is to reference the 13 original colonies but often it is claimed to represent a favouritism of the number by the Illuminate. Furthermore throughout history 13 is significant and is counted unlucky. Tradition states that Judas Iscariot, the disciple who betrayed Jesus, was the 13th to sit at the table. In Mesoamerican divination, 13 is the number of important cycles of fortune/misfortune. 13 is the age that a Pagan or Wiccan usually starts to learn Witchcraft. The number of Norse gods (there were 12) at a banquet that was crashed by the evil god Loki (making 13) who killed Baldr with an arrow/spear made out of mistletoe using Hodr, thus marking the beginning of Ragnarok. Traditionally, there are 13 witches in a Wiccan coven. The number 13 is associated with bad luck in some countries. Friday the 13th has been considered an unlucky day since the 1800s, as a combination between an unlucky day, Friday, and the number 13. Another theory as to why the date and number 13 is considered unlucky is that, on the day of Friday the 13th after the final Crusade the pope had sent out men to capture and burn alive the last 13 Templar knights in order to put an end to the Crusades. There are many builders even today who do not build 13th floors in high rises, they go directly from 12 to 14 totally skipping the 13th floor.
All in all the number 13 has it rough and there are many possible theories people could have to explain the number but the prevailing alternative theory is that of the Knights Templar seen above immortalized in Dan Browns bestseller “The De Vinci Code”.
Fun Facts
-The average life of a dollar bill is 18 months
-97% of all paper money contains traces of cocaine
-48 percent, of the notes printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing are $1 notes
-Money isn't made out of paper; it's actually made out of linen