Thursday, March 26, 2009
breakfastpop
This is a test...only a test. It has come to my attention that my friends and followers are unable to post comments on today's blog entry. This really makes me want to POP because I look forward to these comments with great anticipation. I am going to publish this mini blog right away and see if it is possible to post a comment. Wish me luck!
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Well.. it worked. So please post any comments you have about today's blog in this space. I really look foward to hearing from someone!!!
ReplyDeletethe government is our adversary.
ReplyDeleteTaxlarry,
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly how I feel every April 15th!
The topic of healthcare in this country is such a complex one. There are so many issues surrounding it: insurance, the uninsured, the underinsured, the high cost of drugs, the ruination of standards of care by HMOs and managed care, the waste by hospitals, drug companies etc., due to more dollars spent on advertising and less on research and figuring out how to deliver more cost effective quality care… The profit motive really mucks things up, I think.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, had a chocolate Vita Muffin and a skim latte for breakfast…. Sorry to hear you ruined your frittata.
All of these different aspects of the flawed healthcare system in the U.S. makes my head spin. It seems to messed up, too big, to complex to fix. Those of us employed by someone else are essentially one paycheck away from being uninsured, and that is very frightening. COBRA is prohibitively expensive and counter intuitive when you really think about it; you lose your job and then, in order to keep your insurance in place, have to pay $2,000 monthly? I’m pretty sure my unemployment check wouldn’t even cover a week’s worth of insurance if I lost my job. And while I have a job for now (see how long that lasts) one of the benefits I enjoy is that I receive healthcare insurance for my family and myself. I contribute from my paycheck for the coverage, but it is still more affordable than if I had to go out and buy insurance on my own. And now, they want to tax me on it? Hmmm… I recall that Mr. McCain proposed this during the campaign and it really angered me; but Mr. Obama stated he wouldn’t do that in his attempt to revamp the healthcare system.
The way I see it, the poor and very rich have got it made. The poor can avail themselves to Medicaid, emergency room visits, charity care and the like, and the wealthy can buy the best insurance and the best care their money can buy. It’s the middle class who gets the shaft here. Lose a job? Have to pay COBRA or buy insurance or risk being uninsured. Have a job? Get taxed on that perk most of us actually pay for….Buying private insurance is like a mortgage payment… so many hardworking people go without. And if you go without insurance and then try to buy it later, those gaps in coverage could hurt you later on in the form of higher premiums and exclusions from coverage…
I think this doctor you cite in your latest entry is on to something really good; really promising, really thoughtful and progressive. He seems to have figured out a way to make it work; to deliver preventative and primary care to people at low cost. Eliminating the administrative burden of having to file insurance claims increases his efficiency enormously. Why the state had to come in and interfere with this potentially revolutionary solution to the nation’s healthcare ills is fairly typical.
Your analysis is brilliant, right on point and longer and more detailed than my blog! Thanks for your comments, they really add so much to the blogging experience. Your vita muffin and latte sound scrumptous.
ReplyDeleteYour blog and comments are right on. I received a bill for my husband's 39 day stay in the ICU of the hospital, for over $455,000.
ReplyDeleteAs far as I know, Medicare denied the claim, because of a simple error - I called the hospital and explained the error, so they could get their funds, and guess what????? They didn't care, nor did they inform Medicare. Therefore they didn't get paid. The laziness of one individual cost the hospital thousands of dollars, and it is for silly reasons like this that our hospital fees are so great. I know this cannot be the only time they have made this error.
This year, I was in the hospital for 24 hours - an emergency appendicitis operation - Cost from the Hopsital = $25,000. - has the hospital even invoiced me for the deductible I need to pay? NO! Here we go again. - At least it is not close to a half million!!!!!
I have a protein drink for breakfast, because I found that I don't get enough protein daily.
This drink provides half of what I need.
Kris
Dear Kris,
ReplyDeleteThank you for you insightful and eye opening story. Think of your experience multiplied by how many? Probaly thousands of people have bumped into the same bureaucratic brick wall that you butted heads with. The system is broken because it is bloated with incompetence and fraud. However the cure is not universal health care. The answer lies in the elimation of the same kind of waste and stupidity that you encountered.
By the way.. Do you enjoy the protein drink or are you torturing yourself unncecessarily?
Dear Kris,
ReplyDeleteI made a typo and that makes me crazy.. Clearly, I meant elimination. My apology!
Dear POP - Very happy to report that I am able to post from the home computer. Was just at work that I was blocked, quite easy from here! I am enjoying both the breakfast recipes and the social and policital commentary. Would like to come over for frittatas and coffee and coffee talk...
ReplyDeletelove you xoxo
Dear mjz,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for jumping on board my blog. Why don't you become a follower and then a little figure will pop up on the side of my blog. You have an open invitation for breakfast, but the way things have been going lunch might be a better idea. At least we'll get to eat something.