Recently, Blue Cross sent me a notice my insurance was going up because my age went up. In frustration, I went to another insurance agent and asked what could be done. The agent suggested a policy for $10 a month. Perplexed, I asked what was covered.

The agent explained the policy covered pancakes, spaghetti and sausage. Bewildered I asked what he was talking about.

The agent explained that most people in Hazen cannot afford an expensive medical episode. When someone starts to feel the financial disaster of something like a stroke or cancer, the community bands together and has benefits. The benefits are pancake feeds or spaghetti dinners. The $10 policy covers the cost of all the spaghetti, pancakes and sausage your friends can cook for every weekend for a year. With his new policy, the net proceeds from benefits goes up by a considerable margin.

Now this is the kind of health care cost reduction I can support. It eliminates the dangers of socialism and puts health-care costs right where they should be - on your friends. So be nice to everyone; there's no telling who might get cancer.

North Dakota is in a unique position to reduce health-care costs. Since the state owns a mill and elevator, the opportunity to reduce the cost of spaghetti and pancakes should be obvious. I feel this is the kind of health-care cost reduction Republicans can support, since it imposes no taxes on the rich to help pay the cost of pasta products to pay for health care.