Healthcare Reality

This article seems close to what the Health Care  Act will provide.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/how-will-the-affordable-care-act-affect-you-.html

There are many benefits of this and even though none of these exactly match my situation there are a couple that do. One my youngest son would have not been eligible for insurance after he came off of ours. Because of the changes he can stay on ours until he is 26, so he will be out of school and working for awhile when he needs to get insurance if his employer does not have it. Now my husbands company provides insurance and whether we have 1 or 5 children it is a family plan and costs do not change and for some reason in the last 5 years there is no difference between a couple plan cost and a family so we don’t pay anything different for having 2 of our 3 boys on our policy right now.  I am disabled and on SSD and so I am elegible for Medicare. I only have Medicare A which is the hospitalization that is automatic and no cost but instead of using any of the other (which would have cost us less) we decided to just leave me on our regular policy. Reasons to us are that we know that the hassles some people have with it and we know how ours works also if I do not need medical coverage from the government that someone else desperately does we would prefer they get it. With all the talk always going around about fewer people being able to get Medicare, I feel there are more out there that have to have it versus me who already has decent coverage.

I hear people complain that they have to purchase health care but what they do not realize is that this is something everyone should have anyway! The “I don’t get sick or go to doctors!” garbage is getting old!  I do not want my clinic and hospital bills to keep going up when these same people get sick or in an accident of some kind and go to there ER and get treated but don’t have the money to pay.  They won’t pay but the rest of us do.  Those that say, they can pay for their care without needing insurance because they only go for their yearly physical or when they really need a doctor, are in for a rude awakening if/when they end up with a catastrophic illness and they lose all their life savings and then their home because they did not have insurance. I have seen people this has happened to. I have also seen people lose these same things when insurance companies were allowed to put a cap on the benefits and we were worried that I would hit my cap within a few years and then we would not know what to do. Without a cap people do not have that stress and with the insurance companies not able to deny you for having a previous condition is better than ever!

Now the amount of the penalty that shows on this article for someone who decides not to get insurance even though it would be affordable is low. The reason I say that is that $95 is really low and the $695 they show is around what we pay per month for insurance (health, dental, vision and prescription) so that to me is reasonable. Those that decide not to are not only hurting themselves they are costing those of us who do have it.  I know plenty of people that cannot afford insurance but this will make it possible and only those that are clueless don’t believe it.

There are several countries that have universal health care in some form and it does work. Those idiotic commercials that they have people from Canada complaining about it are funny in the way that no matter what you talk about someone will always be negative!  People complain that they should be free to choose and you still are, choose you insurance or choose a penalty but do not make it where so many will go uninsured because you don’t want to be.

What makes this so frustrating is that people listen but do not really hear the advantages of a health care act and they are so focused on being a diehard party follower that they would probably walk off a cliff becaus etheir parties candidate told them too, use a little common sense!  If this is repealed and my son would no longer eligble for insurance and I would again have a lifetime cap I will fight!  I doubt it will be but it will make a mess of things if it would.  You have to see it fully working before you can judge and it isn’t yet!  If you are so insensitive to the people around you (and there are many uninsured they just don’t announce it to the world) then maybe you should go find a nice uninhabited island so you can live by your own rules and not worry about anyone else!  That would be great for everyone!

Step back

I Always Thought They Were All Wet!

http://news.yahoo.com/tea-party-activists-defy-rain-rip-obama-health-213232982.html#

It never ceases to amaze me the number of fools that will follow a party blindly!  Obviously they do not have a clue on what this Health Care Act is and that most of the ones out there, outside of politicians,  are ones that would probably benefit from the Act!  But because they are following a party blindly they will do whatever is asked no matter how stupid or detrimental it is, obviously! 

Like the title

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

http://news.yahoo.com/health-care-case-unfold-court-111208650.html

 

There are so many articles written about the Health Care Reform Law that it starts to get confusing.  I for one am glad that there are no more lifetime caps because since being in a wheelchair for the last five years and the many years to come with my health my insurance would have cut me off in a few years.  Our insurance is through my husbands work and it isn’t cheap but now it continues coverage on our three boys until the age of twenty-six. Our oldest became a firefighter and now has his own insurance for him and his new wife but our youngest ia a different story.  He was born with several medical conditions and two rare congenital anomalies that pertain to his heart and lungs. Even though he is now almost 21 he was not supposed to live a year and he has completed high school and is right now 98% done with Job Corps but he would not be able to get covered because of his medical history by any insurance company.  Now they have to allow him to be covered and that is great because when he is working full time he can get it through the same company we have and not have to pay outrageous premiums (not that they all aren’t outrageous anyway) and they cannot turn him down. Now he has done well for a few years now and he is down to just 2 medications that are not expensive at all and even with that he was denied when we tried to get him a policy on his own. Prior to this Health Care Act these things worried me constantly and I still worry that someone will change things and we will go backwards all over again!

There are several countries that have Universal Health Care and it works even though you will see adds that say the opposite, you will always find people that will complain about anything!  The problem I see with this going to court is that this has not completely gone into effect and since it hasn’t how can you honestly say that someone was harmed by it?  Yes insurance premiums have gone up, BUT they have gone up for years and years!  Nothing new there and if more people are insured the costs really will go down. It seems people do not understand that but it is like going to a five course dinner for 20 people but onlly one pays but when all twenty pay their part it does not cost as much per person.  It really is common sense and yes I believe that people should be insured because you do not know what or when something will happen, I did not know that I would end up in this wheelchair before 40 or at anytime!  My husband has always been healthy and really doesn’t see a doctor but he is insured as his father who has been insured for years and was in pretty good overall health. His dad had to have a knee replacement a couple of years ago when the dr. said they should do both he only had one done initially.  This went extremely well and the costs minimal with his insurance, then he had the second done and that is when everything changed. His father had to have it removed three times because of infection, almost lost his leg and could not work ffor most of the year although he did work part time some of this year. He also after all the strain this infection put on his body he ended up having to have a pacemaker put in and we really thought we were going to lose him at one point. This was a time we did not even consider would happen with him because that first replacement went so well!  You just do not know.  This is why those that complain that they never go to doctors and why they do not have insurance makes me irritated.  Now another is those that go to the ER because they do not have insurance, obviously alot go for every little thing but there are those that had they gone to see a dr. annually they would have caught the problem sooner and would be alot less expensive to treat and in some cases it would not cost them their lives!  This is why premiums go up for those of us who are insured because we are paying for them!

Health care has needed a reform for years and honestly this President tried something that was not popular but he got it through although not the way he wanted either because of Congess making alot of the changes now being bashed.  Because the President was willing to push it and try something that others before him had admitted needed to be done but did nothing, he is being torn apart!

I do not understand when you hear people complaining that something needs to be done and when something is they still complain!  There may be things I do not agree with completely in the Act, but I am happy about several and I have enough common sense to know that nothing is perfect!  One of the things I would like to see is that by the time that the Act is completely in force that even Congress will have to be under the same type of policy that the rest of us deal with!  I also can wish to see term limits for Congress as well to get out the ones with way too much power in their position.  If they really want to save the taxpayers money then they should not recieve any benefits after they leave office! I really hate that they can serve one term and have lifetime benefits, really people why?  I know that if I only worked a job for 4-6 yrs and left the positions for any reason I would not be collecting benefits or salary from them the rest of my life so why should any politician be able to do so.  I also want to see them not be able to vote themselves a raise because you know as well as I do that if we went to our boss and said I gave myself a raise because I felt like it you would at minimum be laughed out of the room and probably fired to boot! So why should Congress be allowed to do this, if they do well then we would vote they get a raise and if they didn’t we would vote them down.  Honestly if this was done we actually might see them actually work together for the first time ever to get things done for us.  Of course there is always the problem of money going everywhere on earth but here at home and now when we really could use help for our own citizens money still goes elsewhere.  Yes I believe we should help if we can but not to the detriment of our own.  It would be like me telling my kids sorry there is no food for the next two days because I sent it to someone who needed it!  That sound s ridiculous doesn’t it?  But that is the equivalent of what happens when our government sends money to another country instead of helping those here.  I know thhis is getting slightly off topic but yet it is a fact that if they wasted less money and turned towards our citizens that are in crisis they might actually get things under control.

I don’t consider myself affiliated to any one party but for the person who seems to have more of a grasp of what we really need!  With that said, I have found that most Republicans haven’t got a clue because they are so removed by attitude and their money!  Even the ones running right now show their ignorance because of their money.  I have seen the polls that show that Republicans give more money to charities, but which charities and why do they do this? Maybe because of the tax benefits for charitable donations but maybe to make themselves look good but it does not mean they are anymore charitable than anyone else.  I would think that the family that gives a small donation has a better understanding of what that small donation makes than the very wealthy do. Also have any of those with the large contributions actually donated any time, other than the photo op crap?  Doubt many do!  I know many families that want to help but cannot financially so they find other ways with their time.  Just because you write a check does not mean you are a “caring” person at all! So those polls mean nothing, at all!

Anyway if we as taxpayers use common sense and take care of what we should I think this country will be better off and that this Health Care Act might just work for the majority and maybe a couple of small tweeks but we shall see!

And Politicians wonder why we don’t like them or believe them!?!

http://news.yahoo.com/idaho-lawmaker-sparks-anger-abortion-comments-214517683.html

http://shine.yahoo.com/anderson-cooper/8216-little-couple-8217-jen-38-bill-address-172400493.html

These are just 2 examples today that I have seen that are absolutely ridiculous!  Politicians wonder why we don’t like them much but they propose such stupid ideas and make stupid comments and they just don’t get it!  If they wouldn’t clog the legislature with stupid and unnecessary crap they might actually do something that would help instead of stop progress!

I of course did not add Bloomberg’s idiocy because I wrote about him earlier.  Another one I happened to see was one from OK in an article, in a magazine from my husbands work about food maintenance, that he was introducing a bill about not using Human Fetuses for R&D  in food. Now first off the FDA has never even heard of the concept and second off if there would be any genetics testing for farm animals they would not use Human Fetuses they would use the species they are looking at!  DUH!! How stupid can you be unless this is just a way to bring fear where none is needed!

The idiocy needs to stop! Yes these are just a few but really it happens all the time.  When a bill of any kind tries to go through there are those that use it as an opportunity to get something they want even if it goes completely against the purpose of the bill or even nothing at all to do with it. Some of the added things are as simple as changing a couple of words to actually asking for money for their state for a park or museum or trees but, now remember these are not small amounts of money they want for this stuff, they are asking for millions. You know the so called earmarks which should not even be an option. I should not have to take several hours to read through a bill because of all the crap and I sure as heck don’t want to read a bunch of stupid bills that should not even be tried much less pass!

Just once I would really like most of our politicians to pause and think before they open their mouth or write things down, because if they did then most would not sound so stupid!

RIDICULOUS!!!!!!

This makes absolutely no sense!

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/no_kugel_for_you_N4VuTrqavfOiApSHngxuMJ

First people were angry that so much food was going to waste and thrown out from day old bread to leftovers from large meals from hotels and churches.  Now after years of donating food to help those in need some idiot decides that they cannot accept it because there may be too much salt in it!  Are you kidding me????  I doubt very much that those in need that go to these shelters actually care where this food has come from but are grateful for the ones that donate it.  No, I do not know how a city shelter is run, but I would assume that anyway they could save money would be great! 

People want to help yet they are stopped by the most ridiculous rules at times that it is just stupid! I saw this while at therapy today and my therapist agrees that it has to be one of the most ridiculous things he has heard too in a long time!  After I got home I of course I had to look up anything I could and am shocked that this is actually happening, today, in this country!

I always thought it was ignorant to create a “Food Police” task force to basically tell people how and what to eat! Doesn’t this seem like a little too much government involvement?  I am very happy not to live in NYC at this time, but I really don’t like big  cities much.  I have delivered food to homeless shelters and have volunteered at several and have volunteered at church Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners for those in need.  I know we do not have a super high homeless rate here but we do have families and elderly that do not have the resources for some things.  These are non profit and not city or state run, although a couple have gotten grants to help through the state but they do not run them.

If the shelters are city run then does that mean city taxes are used to fund them?  If they are then I would definitely protest city hall and fight this stupid idea of theirs including this so called task force!  If the shelter is run through donations I would worry that because of this people will not donate money if the food donations are not allowed!

The only time that there was ever a stop on donations here was a couple of years ago during deer hunting when they were concerned with some issues with ammo.  It was lifted quickly after they found no other problem and that is great because not only are there several peope who donate the meat because they are only hunting for trophy but they do not want the meat to go to waste.  Others donate up to half of their meat to shelters or the food bank after processing which helps alot at that time of year. 

This mayor is a fool if I ever saw one! Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Proof of pause and think!

My husband works a demanding job as a maintenance supervisor at a food manufacturing company. There has been issues with an emloyee who thought he knew everything but as you can guess, did not!  He was a royal pain in the butt and always had excuses for not being able to work and others in the deartment were getting tired of his not working the hours they do. In fact one of the last examples, he was supposed to work on a Sat. but he said of he had to work on Sat. he couldn’t work on Fri.  Now this confuses me a little because my husband tends to work almost every Sat. and has gone in and worked (like this last) on Sundays alone.  This idiot has wasted time, money and arts on things that have had to be pulled out because they were not realistic.

We had gone to the Xmas party for the company and he was there and he proceeded to drink, alot, and opened his mouth with stupid comments but later he went to far and grabbed another employees wife and made demeaning comments towards her and several other female emloyees.

We thought that was bad but it turns out last week that he was reported by someone that he was making racial,sexual and demeaning comments about people and he initially was suspened for three days by the maintenance head until the higher ups got involved.  On Fri. when this guy came in to “work” he was met by not only the immediate boss but the company head and another upper management (this is a family owned business and the latter two are brothers) came into the shop and fired him on the spot because they will not tolerate this type of behavior at all.  They made it very clear that his mouth is what got him fired and he will never be able to come back!  Thank goodness and I am happy to know that the company my husband works for will not tolerate that tye of behavior. 

This is a perfect example of why you should Pause and Think before speaking and showing how ignorant you really are!

REALLY? This is newsworthy?!?

Today I have seen that George Clooney was arrested during a protest and also that Lady Gaga will not do any interviews anytime soon!  This is considered newsworthy? Come on, wake up some real journalists somewhere with actual news!  I don’t care that The Bachelor is seen with the spoiled brat he chose finally in public!  You seem to have to wade through alot of crap before you actually see something worth reading anymore and that to me is sad.  I do not care what the Kardashians are doing or not doing nor do I care about the vacations celebs and the well to do take!

I know those are just a couple of examples but there are literally hundreds out there daily!  Why does the media think we really need to know this stuff?  I know there are those that will say “if you don’t want to know, don’t pay attention to it” and that is great and all but it is at times hard to not see all the crap before you get to things that are worth it!  It is because of this that some of these so-called reality celebrities make what they do, and why kids now think they can get whatever they want if they go on reality TV or make fools of themselves to bring in money. They don’t have to work for it and no schooling is needed except sitting in front of the TV or computer and watching how it is done! 

Even our home media is adding more entertaining pieces versus informative stuff!  I love a good article that bring on intelligent comments (not always of course) and you can discuss these things with different viewpoints but when you look at the “entertaining articles” you see more of the ignorant comments being made. Yes, they may be sarcastic but I have seen people get into arguments over stupid things like liking a dress or movie and that is just not worth the effort put into the argument!

Sometimes I think that the news media has resorted to ratings and shock value versus actual news!  Yeah I know ratings come into play but really is that what we really want from our news media?  I really would prefer news more than entertainment.  If you want entertainment, there are alot of ways to get that, but if you are supposed to be presenting news I expect actual news not what happened with Lohan last night after a party!

Give me facts not assumptions and things that are important in our lives.  This is all I ask, and I would not think it was that hard but alas I guess it is and I only see it getting worse!  Unfortunate!

No Kidding!

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/study-statehouses-at-high-risk-for-corruption-nd-among-states/article_bb1c689c-717e-11e1-a3a1-0019bb2963f4.html

 

They seem to be surprised that government is not transparent and that there is risk for corruption!  DUH! You are talking about politicians, who for the most part believe that we the taxpayers need to be told what to do and that we should never question them because they know what is best!   Alot of deals and additional ammendments to bills are done behind closed doors so we only see what they want us to. 

If a bill looks good on the face of it people will vote for it but then you find out what was way at the end in the fine print which changes the initial bill to not doing pretty much anything!  I live in a very, very conservative republican state and they failed miserably and I can understand that. Just recently one of the state legislators was found to have not paid her taxes for several years and blamed her husband and is asking to be re-elected, yeah right!  If you don’t know what is going on in your own finances I sure do not want you to be deciding how to spend my taxes!

The state says they are transparent but it takes alot of time and trouble to get the information you want especially if they do not want you to find it. They also do alot of doubletalk in the info so that it looks like they are doing something but really they aren’t doing anything at all but wasting time and money.

I know our state did not have the financial problems that most everywhere else did but I wonder how the government feels about failing this and being not as transparent as they like to put forward.

HMMMMM?!?

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-seeks-halt-tax-subsidies-oil-industry-100325515.html

 

I am pretty sure that most people do not get $4 billion dollars in subsidies and for the amount of money that the oil industries bring in I don’t see why they get this “free” money!  I know there are alot of people that would argue the point but I still do not understand it.  People gripe about subsidies for farmers but those that are smaller family farmers that are trying to hold on to family farms I understand to a point BUT I do not understand why the huge “corporate” farms should be able to receive these also because they are not hurting for money.

The fact is that we are drilling more in the US then ever before, I know because I live in the boom area that just keeps growing further south and closer to where I live.  There is a refinery in our town and yet we pay higher gas prices than those in Fargo most of the time, it seems weird but that is the way it has always been.  The refinery here did not deliver to any of our areas stations but one for years and yes that station was cheaper but in a strange area for getting to easily and now more stations are selling fuel from this refinery but still even though we are a little below (not much) the national average it still bothers me that they charge what they do. 

Oil prices cannot be changed just because the President says oh everyone thinks it is too high you have to lower it right now! DUH! If he could he would have a lock on the election no questions asked!  It doesn’t work like that and the biggest problem is speculators who bring up the costs and the oil companies who buy refine ans inevitably sell that determines what is charged at the pump!

For me gas prices will never be the reason I do or do not vote for someone because I have common sense and know they can not just stand up and change it!  There are things that can be done to help ease the prices and yes those are alternative fuels and cars that are built to get better mileage and it takes us to watch how we use our resources and hopefully putting those things together we would be able to change the way things are and how much they cost.  Being “green” does cost a bit more in the beginning but over time is less expensive.I don’t expect people to be extreme but any little bit counts and less fossil fuels used.

Right now in certain areas around ND you will not just see drilling rigs but you also see hundreds of wind turbines and not one bit of that power is used here in this state, it is all transported to others.  I think we should put it to use for our own citizens and sell off the excess but chnging the mindset of a very conservative republican state is a very, very slow process but maybe someday (we can only hope) that will change. 

On another note, I have to laugh when I hear politicians say that the President did not do this or do that when there are things that were put forth to Congress but they did not pass it, did not even really attempt to act like they would try!  Sometimes I think “Why do we even have a President at all?” I mean Congress is the ones who say we will pass or won’t and when you go in and try something too new you might as well expect to go nowhere!   Most of Congress has been there so long they do not even know what their actual constituents need or want just that they like the status quo and they are not willing to change!  Being in Congress should never be considered a career, yet many have been there 25 yrs or longer which is way too long and they end up with too much power!  Term limits for every political position, NO EXCEPTIONS!  Also you should not be able to vote on your own wage raise, period!  If you all do a good job we the people will vote on a raise and you may or may not get it, and that will probably alone change how long people stay in politics even more than term limits, or they may actually accomplish something while they are there!

Sorry I know off topic but cannot help looking at what Republicans (for the most part) are complaining about and most of it is because Congress deadlocked or Republicans did not want any kind of change to happen so they went in with the attitude to stop whatever the Democrats threw at them. I am neither R or D but I will vote for the persons who have the most common sense approach even knowing that they probably will not get to do what they promise. Not that they do not try to do it but they get shut down by the other party (whomever that is).  Yes when a President goes against Congress and does something anyway then they are definitely at fault because they did it without approval of Congress but when Congress shuts down everything a President tries to do (or adds so many ammendments you don’t even know what the bill was about to start with) they use that to say he hasn’t done anything!  It is like a bunch of five yr olds fighting over a toy but I guarantee the five yr olds learn to share and cooperate alot faster and better than any politician I have ever seen or heard!  Now if we could just get Congress to cooperate like 5 yr olds  things would probably be going alot better in this country! Don’t hold your breath!!!!!!

LEARN TO PARK!!!!!

I believe that if you are in need of a handicap placard then you should have to go through a parking class!  The accessible spaces should be away from regular spaces or those that do not need the space but park next to accessible spaces should also go through a class and have to have a sticker on their vehicle for it!  Yes, I know, it seems like it woud be common sense but obviously it is not!  For over 5 years now we have dealt with idiots that do not seem to understand how to park. There is only one store in our area that got smart and actually put signs on cement posts that say”no parking here” in between each and every accessible spot. You know it is bad when they go to that extent!

Do not park on the striped blue lines, only park directly in front of the accessible sign (centered to your vehicle), it is not difficult and not hard even when there is snow on the ground. When there is snow I cannot believe the stupidity of how people park even at Walmart where they have the signs very visible but also they do have a few parallel spaces that for some reason seem to confuse people (even when there is no snow on the ground) and there are inevitably several idiots who think it is diagonal so there are 4 cars not spaced properly in one space.  There is also the issue of being in that parallel spot and people parking in front and back so you cannot get out!  Hello!?! You know one of them parked last and saw what the issue is but did not care!  There have been several times that we park in an accessible spot and my husband has to back out so that I can get into the car so it ends up backing up traffic while he loads my chair too. 

Some days I wish that my van that had accessible controls and a huge lift (it was old like 1975 old) and when I come out and some idiot is parked too close to my door I could just push the button and it would land on their car!  I mean come on, if there is a car in an accessible space and you do not see the occupants you do not know what their disabilities is and you should be careful on how you park!  We drive an HHR, and if we bring my powerchair (yes it does fit in an HHR) not only do I need space to come up to the passenger door but my husband needs to bring it back to the ramp in the back to bring it in. My manual chair is easier but I still need to get to that passenger door and if you park right up to it with just enough room for you to squeeze out of your own car, YOU SHOULD KNOW YOU ARE TO CLOSE TO ACCESSIBLE PARKING!!!! DUH!!! 

It is hard enough just getting out of the house and getting around most business (at least the ones we can get into, but that’s another blog) we should not have to fight to get into or out of our vehicle because people just do not pay attention. 

One other issue with those that stop for a “quick” trip into a business have a bad habit of stopping their vehicle right in front of the accessible ramp for the sidewalk which is not only frustrating but also dangerous because if I am crossing the street and cannot get up on the sidewalk I will be forced to go on the street and lets face it someone in a wheelchair is not as visible as someone that is walking!  If you are able to get around easily than you are capable of parking anywhere and walking to where you need to go instead of causing more issues and possible injuries to those that cannot. I watched an elderly woman with a cain that wanted to use the sidewalk ramp but could not because of some woman in her late 20′s parked in the way (leaving the car run) while she ran in “quick”.  We were not quite close enough when the elderly woman tried to step up and fell hard, she broke her hip. My husband saw her going down but could not get there fast enough to help.  Now this woman is on the ground behind this car and when the younger woman came out she was going to leave!  I parked myself in front of her car until the police and ambulance got there!  She was charged and she had to pay the elderly woman’s medical costs but I was so shocked that she did not care and was going to leave!  I told her that she was at fault because of where she parked and she told me I was crazy and maybe the old lady should not be out alone!  That is cold!  She tried to fight the whole thing but we made sure to stay in touch with the officer and the woman’s family and backed her up all the way.  If the younger woman had moved forward another 4-5ft she would not have been the cause but she wanted to be close to the door and felt she had as much right as “some handicapped person” to be close to the door.  The parking lot is a distance from this particular door but that is all parking both accessible and regular so my space and the elderly woman space is no further than she could have parked! In fact there were several open regular spots that if you measured were even a little closer than the closest accessible one and that is what helped the older woman win! 

We have finally started to keep a small notebook in the car and write notes and leave them on vehicles that are parked stupidly and we end up having issues with my chair.  I don’t care if it ticks them off because we hope they will think before they park the next time, but if not they may end up with another note from us! (we write down all makes and models and license plate numbers of those we leave notes on also if there is a problem) Maybe I will start taking my camera with and take a pic of the stupidity, we’ll see!