Marble-sized Hail, Tuesday in Vermont
Because we've had every other sort of weather this week, and were getting bored. Heh.
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Because we've had every other sort of weather this week, and were getting bored. Heh.
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listener
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12:00:00 AM
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Howard is first.
ReplyDeleteHale? Come on! Enough is enough. You hear that up there?
Maybe finally getting back here. A lot of things came in at once.
ReplyDeleteYese, Ally's HAMA-positive test is a disappointment but not a disaster. We were pinning a lot of our hopes on 3f8, and that's not going according to plan. But what she gets may be enough anyway.
Howard is first, but I think he made to right decision not to start a third party. As a practical matter, it would have just facilitated Republican obstructionism. And if Howard had become president in 2008, I'm not sure he could have dealt with that obstructionism better than Obama has.
My #1 political goal for the past 15 years has been health insurance for everyone. We now have (or will have in 2014) health insurance for everyone but illegal immigrants. My #1 foreign policy goal for the past 40 years has been nuclear arms reduction. We just got START 2 signed at long last, and Obama is moving toward further reductions. And it may not be in the same category, but I just got a letter from the Planetary Society asking for money to help support Obama's agressive space program.
We may not have a climate bill yet, but Obama has already made sure my household is using a lot less energy than it did -- saving me money on my utility bills in the process. I can't really comment on the financial reform bill, since the only part I really understand is that the banks we have our money in shouldn't be trading in risky derivatives. But the only leader really pushing that is Blanche Lincoln, who progressive have decided to hate. Get the immigration mess settled before the end of the year and I'd say we're making pretty good progress on my agenda.
Earthquakes are weather, right? [He ducks!]
ReplyDeleteOur kitty is disposed to snooze in a chair this evening...
We got some good news at Mine No. 1 today--not official so not yet shared with everyone, but quite a relief. Business had slacked off because of state and local budget problems, enough so that hours had to be cut back and people reassigned to preparations for expansion when things picked up--we hoped. Business had been slow enough long enough that the bosses/owners were being forced to think about the possibility of layoffs. But then we got word that a fair-sized city on whose work (police toxicology) we had bid with no real expectation of getting it had decided on us--and a nearby city about twice the size had piggybacked on the contract. Whew! The plan is to start expanding outside California once the groundwork is laid (should be this year) to give us a buffer against California's recurrent financial crises.
Fingers crossed for Ally; sounds like a temporary diversion of the treatment plan.
Bill, Health Insurance doesn't mean jack. One doctor I visited recently had a whole list of eight or more insurance plans they *do not* accept. Humana was one of them, wrote the others down somewhere and can't remember the names off the top of my head, except that they were all familiar names you'd recognize. What we wanted was health CARE, not health INSURANCE. Added to that I recently read that people who do not get insurance can be fined up to $658 per year. That seems grossly unfair to me.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am far beyond progressive. I'm a raging, flaming left-wing radical.
Nuclear *arms* reduction is a wonderful thing, but not if it's accompanied simultaneously with the ramping up of the demand for nuclear power. We'd still have spent radioactive materials to deal with .... all still with no good storage/disposal plans in place.
As individuals we need to think also of the common good, not just our individual good. With the Democratic and Republican parties both steered and controlled by corporations the common good is no longer a factor. Decisions are based upon what will get someone re-elected (though I think Obama is miscalculating badly and will be a one-termer), and what the high-donor corporations demand. I don't see how we're ever going to get our democracy functioning as it should again. Instead of "In God We Trust" our real motto seems more like "Let the Devil Take The Hindmost". As a nation we've grown selfish and greedy and that way lies ruin and decay.
Yes, finding a doctor who will accept your insurance can sometimes be a problem. Probably Medicare and Medicaid were prominent on the doctor's list. But what is the alternative? A doctor draft?
ReplyDeleteI found the list: Amerigroup, Anthem Medicaid, Caresource, Humana, Medigold and Molina. Some of the "fancy" Medicare/Medicaid on the list, but *not* the straight Medicare/Medicaid we get from the government.
ReplyDeleteIt's a circular problem. The doctors and pharmacists contribute to it. The doctors charged me $75 per visit when I was self-pay, but hiked it to $121 once my Medicare kicked in. Conversely, when my son was on an expensive medication and I had insurance through my job it was completely paid, but when I retired the pharmacy raised the cost of the prescription by more than $75 per month.
And Medicare can do some dumb stuff. They rented breathing equipment for my mom and paid over $100 per month. The whole machine only cost about that much. They could have bought 12 machines free and clear in the time they *rented* one for her.
When my son was employed as a contract-to-hire his insurance wasn't part of the deal. His COBRA cost was over $1,400 per month. That's just extortion.
It ticks me off that slugs like Dick Cheney have the money and the coverage to keep on being a menace to the world when poor people can't even afford their medication. It's just wrong that we live in a society that will let you die if you can't pay to live.
Finally made it to town today and the computer at the libarry (young mother with *very* cranky two year old right next computer) got a couple of hundred emails deleted, and got email to hunny off. Met phone repairman (Mikey) as I was parking car. He'd called yesterday to say they thought it had been identified as a "system" problem (as opposed to a hardware problem) and the proper Up-system guys were on it. Finally, another user had called and complained. . . Power in numbers, lol! Got home, set computer back up, and viola! On line again. Who knows how long it would have taken if Bonnie hadn't called? Missed ya'll.
ReplyDeleteSusan ~
ReplyDeleteI suspect your doctor didn't mention Medicaid because he took it as a given. As a rule, very few physicians accept Medicaid. Not only is the pay low but in many states payment is very, very, very slow. And we've all heard about how in some areas it can be difficult to find a doctor that will accept Medicare. Likely still worse for the Medicare Advantage plans, though. I suspect that from the doctor's perspective they combine the worst features of public insurance (low pay) and private insurance (slow pay -- although not a slow as Medicaid). But I thought you were talking about not accepting regular pribate insurance.
As for the breathing equipment , remember that if Medicare bought it they'd still have to pay a contractor to deliver it, pick it up, maintain it, and store it between uses. I suspect the total cost wouldn't be very different.
How we can bring down the cost of medical care is a complex subject. About the only place I have seen it discussed in any concrete way is The New England Journal of Medicine. The healthcare reform bill authorized Medicare pilot projects that will test these ideas. Let's hope they work.
Glad to see you back, puddle.
ReplyDelete{{{ {{ { ♥ HOOOOO-RAAAYYYY! ♥ } }} }}}
ReplyDeleteYeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
:) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :) * :)
All the Ally updates since April 26 up at baby
ReplyDeletehttp://eatapyzch.blogspot.com/
http://www.gratefulness.org/candles/candles.cfm?l=eng&gi=ALLYS
Tell me about it! LOL!
ReplyDeleteWe had some cloud rotation yesterday too.
More thunderstorms today.
Thanks! Nice to be back. (But sure got a lot done while I was off, lol!)
ReplyDelete" a disappointment but not a disaster"
ReplyDeleteYes, that is the hope. We'll see which way this trends.
It was a painful disappointment coming as it did on Ally's Mom's birthday. :(
Just as long as Ally's body doesn't continue to fight the antigen, then things could still turn around. The hard part is, nobody knows.
You'd BETTER duck! LOL!
ReplyDeleteWall clouds and rotation are enough!
We have had earthquakes here before (two that were quite interesting)
but they're usually in the 3-5 range and centered north of us in Quebec, Canada.
Thanks for crossing your fingers for Ally. ♡
Go Susan! ♥ Tell it!! Well spoken!!
ReplyDeleteYeah! What Susan said!! ALL of it, especially:
"What we wanted was health CARE, not health INSURANCE."
listener ~
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what you and Susan are saying. You get health care from a provider of some sort. Don't you think that provider wants to be paid? Are you going to pay out of your own pocket? if not, the payment has to come from some third party. Unless that third party is a charity of some sort, it is essentially providing you with insurance of one type or another.
I'm sure you know that, *today*, more than half of all insurance payments in this country are made by the government (Medicare, Medicaid, VA, Indian Health Service, etc.).