Archive for August, 2009

The Venomous one has returned!

Yay!

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Let’s stop drug advertising, at least on TV. It seems like every time you turn around there’s another commercial telling you to ask your doctor if this drug or that drug is right for you.

There are commericals with pipe people and bouncing balloons and twin clawfoot bathtubs out in the middle of a field.

We were going to travel down to the city today to go to Lincoln Park Zoo and see the Chicago Air and Water Show. Unfortunately, starting late last night, my colon decided to cleanse itself and I was up half the night ‘going’.

Hubby told The Little Guy that we were going to postpone our trip until tomorrow because “Mommy had some gas and diarrhea” (we don’t mince words in our house).

The Little Guy said, “Maybe Mommy has a growing problem with her prostate.” Hubby told him that Mommy doesn’t have a prostate.

That’s just too much when your eight-year-old son thinks Mommy needs Avodart for her prostate or that Elvis sang Viva Viagra instead of Viva Las Vegas. Don’t get me started on what happens when an eight-year-old asks what erectile dysfunction is.

Some of these commercials are two to three minutes long in order to include all the disclaimers and warnings necessary. And they can be pretty scary if you actually listen to them. Avodart should not even be touched by women because of a risk of  a certain birth defect. Some of the asthma medications say that they can cause asthma to get worse, so one shouldn’t take this new drug if symptoms are well controlled on another drug.

If the drug companies think that advertising their products directly to patients works, then fine, advertise in magazines and newspapers where there can more of the ‘patient information’ than can be included in even a three minute television or radio ad, but keep it off the TV and the radio.

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Today I went to Opencongress.org to check on my Representative, Melissa Bean (D-IL, 8th) and under the News and Blogs tab I saw an article from The Northwest Herald that said:

Local legislators, with the exception of state Rep. Jack Franks and U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean, gathered Tuesday morning at Woodstock North High School for the McHenry County Economic Development Corp. annual Legislative Breakfast.

With the exception of state Rep. Jack Franks and U.S. Rep. Melissa Bean. An annual Legislative Breakfast. I called Ms. Bean’s office to find out about her schedule, again. I had called her office either right before or at the beginning of the recess as well. I was given the same story this time as then, that they were still “finalizing her schedule”, that they could take my information and let me know when they had the schedule finalized. I told them they already had my information and that I was looking forward to their answer.

Then my friend Mr. Right emailed me with a post from Michelle Malkin about my Representative participating in a Chamber of Commerce breakfast/town hall meeting. I went to the site to sign up for the breakfast and found that the event has been disabled.

I can understand a charge for this particular meeting, it’s the Chamber of Commerce and breakfast is included. But why can’t she publish a schedule? If they haven’t finalized all the appearances, why can’t they publish those that they have?

At her House website, she lists previous appearances under the “Congress In Your Corner” banner. And those appearances are from last year. Nothing since July of 2008. Ms. Bean, I really don’t care where you’ve been, I’d like to know where you’ll be. And you really should update your site. There’s nothing about appearances in this Congress at all.

I met her once, at a local grocery store appearance. She wasn’t there very long and had to leave for another appearance somewhere else. My son was happy to get some booklets including a Pocket Constitution from her though.

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Two new videos for your perusal.

Number one is Bill Burton waltzing around answering Megyn Kelly’s questions about what happens to the emails sent to flag@whitehouse.gov. He also states categorically that government health care opponents are “dressing up as Nazis” at town hall meetings (minute 6:02). Be sure to click through and read the comments left at YouTube on this one.

Number two is another example for my A New Axis of Evil post. This time President Obama says that a primary care physician gets paid a pittance for advising his diabetic patients to take their medications as directed, to exercise, to eat properly, etc, etc while if that same patient needs to have his foot amputated, the surgeon will get “$30, 40, 50, 000 reimbursed right away!”

 

On this one, I have known diabetic patients who have done everything their primary care physician and endocrinologist tell them to do and they still need to have an amputation.

And, unless he didn’t tell us about the kick-back scheme between the primary care physician and the surgeon, his little story is not logical anyway. How will the primary care physician profit from the surgery?

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On Saturday, I posted a letter I had written to Rep. Bean regarding health care/insurance reform.

Just now, I received a reply (actually I am impressed that I received a reply this soon. In the past I have received replies weeks or even months after writing – but that’s all I’m impressed about). This reply is certainly a boilerplate form letter sent to everyone who writes to her and uses the ‘health care’ option in the drop down box.

Update: Several weeks ago, my husband wrote to Ms. Bean and said that he was disappointed in receiving a form letter in reply to his concerns about the Cap and Trade legislation and was therefore wary of communicating his views on health/insurance reform legislation.  He said, “I am confident at this point that I will receive another meaningless form letter expressing your appreciation of my views while you march lockstep with leader Pelosi down a very destructive path for our nation.”

Guess what? He got the exact same letter reproduced below. Word for word. The only difference was that his was addressed to Mr. while mine was addressed to Mrs. He received his today as well. I guess today was ‘Send the health care form letter day”.

Update 2: This letter, from the second paragraph to the end is exactly what is posted at the redirect of house.gov/bean/healthcare. The first paragraph is her standard opening paragraph when responding to emails and by snail mail to phone calls to either her local or Washington DC office.

The subject line is: Responding to your message

Thank you for contacting me about health insurance reform.  I am honored to represent you, and I appreciate your active participation in our legislative process.  Your involvement makes democracy work better by helping me more effectively represent you and Illinois’ Eighth District.

I appreciate the President’s recognition of the need for health insurance reform.  I support his priorities to ensure quality care, preserve what works for Americans who are satisfied with the coverage they have, expand and protect affordable coverage, and contain unsustainable cost increases for American families, businesses, and government.  The U.S. spends roughly twice as much, as a percentage of GDP, than other industrialized nations on health care.  At the same time, we leave over 45 million people uncovered by health insurance, and rank 37th in terms of quality outcomes.  

Even before I was elected to Congress, the rising cost of health care coverage was a top concern for families, their employers, and the under or uninsured of the Eighth District.  I came to Congress to address their concerns, and it is with their stories and uncertainties in mind that I’m approaching health care reform today. 

The top concerns for families in the Eighth District are the affordability and portability of healthcare coverage.  A preexisting medical condition of a family member can limit career options, or put a family in the category of “uninsurable.”  Families with insurance are seeing their premiums increasing while their benefits shrink.  Underinsurance is a predicament many Americans don’t realize they are in until it’s too late.  The U.S. has the unenviable distinction of being the only country to see increasing numbers of health-care-related bankruptcies from individuals with and without insurance.  What kind of system allows American families who’ve worked, saved, and paid their premiums to be wiped out by the uncovered costs incurred by a family health crisis?

The growing population of uninsured is unconscionable and unaffordable.  Everyone currently pays for those without health care coverage.  A rational system could make coverage affordable so that medical charges can reflect actual care instead of subsidizing uncovered charges elsewhere.

American employers, and particularly small businesses, have limited access to affordable coverage for themselves and their employees.  U.S. employers are also competitively disadvantaged in a global marketplace, because double-digit increases in healthcare expenses are not something foreign competitors have to include in their costs.  Their challenges to provide affordable health care benefits are exacerbated by the economic downturn, leaving many businesses struggling just to cover payroll and operations.

At a time when our nation’s debt exceeds $11 trillion, the status quo for our health care system is unacceptable.  The government’s health care costs represent the fastest-growing portion of our national debt.  At the current rate of increase, the government will be spending $2.2 trillion per year on health care by 2018.  Health insurance reform is as important to America’s fiscal health as it is to our physical health. 

Clearly, I don’t agree with those who suggest we should wait to reform our health care system.  Both the Senate and the House of Representatives are working on multiple versions of a health care reform bill.  I will be evaluating legislative options against key criteria that reflect the concerns of my constituents, including, but not limited to, the promotion of: 

• Coordinated care for measurable quality outcomes. 
• Stability of existing plans. 
• Expanded options for affordable coverage for small businesses and families.
• Coverage and/or portability for those with pre-existing conditions. 
• Shared responsibility for the cost of reform, without unduly burdening families and small businesses.
• Patient choice in terms of plan benefits and doctors.
• Course of care determined by doctors, not bureaucrats.
• Measurable reduction in cost increases.
• Cost sharing for all covered participants. 
• Personal responsibility in prevention and wellness efforts towards a healthier America.

 
Thank you again for contacting me about health care.  I will update you as this important issue progresses.  I am proud to serve Illinois’ Eighth District, and I am committed to working hard for you.  For further information on various proposals currently under consideration, please go to my website: www.house.gov/bean/healthcare.

 Sincerely,

Melissa L. Bean

Member of Congress

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Dear Representative Bean,

Last April, my mother went in for a colonoscopy. Her doctor recommended it because she was presenting with anemia and having some gastro-intestinal discomfort. She’ll be 70 years old next month.

The colonoscopy revealed cancer near the cecum (at the appendix end of the lower intestine). The doctor said that it seemed small and looked like it could be resolved with surgery. Mom would need a CT scan to determine the extent of the cancer as the colonoscopy can only show the inside of the colon. She was able to get the CT scan scheduled within a couple of weeks. The CT scan indicated that the cancer was contained within the colon and surgery was scheduled for May 11th.

The surgery was a great success. Because the surgery was laproscopically assisted, Mom was in the hospital only from Monday to Thursday. She had only three small incisions above and below her belly button and a small 3 inch incision on the right side, under her ribs. Friday, the doctor called at home and told us that he had removed all the cancer and tests showed that Mom would not need chemotherapy or radiation. She was cured.

My sister, who has Irritable Bowel Syndrome, had already scheduled a colonoscopy and endoscopy for May 1st. As a result of Mom’s cancer, I scheduled a colonoscopy for myself for May 6th. Both of us were clear, but with the history we have of gastro-intestinal issues, with the history of my father succumbing to esophageal cancer in 2002, and now Mom’s cancer, we need to be checked out more frequently than the usual 10 years between colonoscopies.

I worry that under plans currently being considered in congress we may not have had such a good outcome. I worry that some of this testing may not have happened, or not happened as timely as it did. Mom was having issues, doctor ordered tests which found a very early stage 1 cancer. Surgery resolved the issue.

What if she’d had to wait months or longer for the colonoscopy? What if, after waiting for a colonoscopy she had to wait again to schedule surgery? Her cancer may not have been caught as early as it was. It may not have been as easy to excise the cancer. The cancer may have spread to lymph nodes or other organs as well. She may have needed radiation and chemotherapy as well as the surgery. All that would have cost a lot more than a colonoscopy, a CT scan, and a quick and effective surgery.  And that’s just the monetary cost. Just imagine the pain and suffering Mom may have had to endure had she had to wait. Add to that the radiation and chemo side effects.

By being able to get these services in a timely manner, all that was avoided and she is cancer free. This is what we need. Not a single-payer option, not a ‘public’ option.

I understand that Congress will not avail itself of the public option should that be included in the final markup of a health care reform bill. How about you open up the insurance choices that Congress has to the public? Allow us to have the same choices you have. Wouldn’t your premiums go down too, if there’s a larger pool of people paying in?

Another problem I have with the options that are being considered has to do with my daughter. She is 18 years old and special needs. She has epilepsy, is developmentally delayed, has a moderate hearing impairment, and a few years ago she was also diagnosed with lupus. She is on medications for her chronic conditions. Because of her developmental delays, she is more like a five-year-old. except that her verbal skills are not even at that level. She can make her needs known somewhat, but cannot communicate even like a normal three-year-old. She can dress herself, use the bathroom, and feed herself. She needs help showering, she cannot cook or make a sandwich or use the microwave. She cannot cut food. She needs assistance at a certain time of the month. She can swallow her medications with water, but she is incapable of determining which medications, in what dosages, and at what time she needs them.

She knows how to put a DVD or CD into the built in DVD player in her TV. When she’s playing a CD she calls it her ‘radio’. She can put puzzles together. One with large pieces she actually puts together upside down, so all the pieces are white. She loves music and movies. She loves Barney and Dora and Blue. She calls Ice Age “elephant”, Ice Age II: The Meltdown is ‘elephant in the water’. She tries hard to say Ice Age and Ice Age 2. We’re waiting for Ice Age 3 to come out on DVD so she can have the whole trilogy. She loves going to Six Flags and riding all the rides. She isn’t afraid of any of them.

I am concerned that someday, somebody will decide that resources are being wasted on her. That perhaps she doesn’t need this medication or that medication because of the cost. What on earth will happen to her after I’m gone? She’ll never be a “productive’ member of society. I hate to think that someday in the future someone may decide that she needs ‘end of life counseling’. She’ll say yes to a lot of things because she doesn’t quite understand.

She’s a loving girl. She loves listening to music. She’s concerned when she thinks someone is sick or in pain. She’s been known to ask people in wheelchairs if they are okay. Most see that she is special and take her concern as it is intended and tell her that yes, they are okay. We went to my cousin’s wedding and she called the bride “princess”. She also called Mrs. Mary Todd Lincoln (a re-enactor at the annual Civil War Days at Lakewood Forest Preserve in your district)  ’princess’ because of her long dress. We bought her a pioneer type bonnet there and she calls that her princess hat. She would touch the hat and say ‘princess’ and I’d say yes and she’d say, ‘me?’ I’d tell her that yes, she is a princess.

We’ll be seeing a lot of ‘princesses’ at the Bristol Renaissance Faire tomorrow as well. We can get her a pointed princess hat with ribbons so she can be even more of a princess. She is our princess and we don’t want to see her treated as anything less.

Let’s make sure we think everything through before we make a law regarding health care. Let’s make sure that by “fixing” parts of it we don’t “break” other parts. Let’s try not to regulate it to death.

Open up insurance. Get rid of the ties to employment. Let employers pay employees more and let employees purchase health insurance like they do auto insurance, homeowners/renters insurance, life insurance. COBRA was mandated by congress years ago as a bridge for people between jobs. I’ve been given the choice of COBRA. I have never availed myself of it. I think most people decline. It’s way too expensive. If insurance isn’t tied to employment, one would know exactly how much it costs and be able to budget for it while between jobs just as they do their auto and homeowner’s/renter’s insurance. Open up insurance so people can buy a policy from any state.

Let people pick and choose which coverages they want. Let the young, single, career woman choose insurance that will cover annual women’s wellness exams and birth control should she so choose. Let the post menopausal woman drop the coverage for childbirth. Go ahead and mandate a minimum catastrophic insurance like states already do for auto insurance.

Increase and promote Health Savings Accounts. Allow rollover of these accounts. Currently, if I don’t spend what’s in my Health Savings Account this year, I lose anything left over. Ours is currently used for prescription co-pays. At the beginning of the year I had to estimate what my costs would be and set a monthly amount to go to the account. No changes are allowed. One of my sons was on a medication that did not have a generic equivalent. The co-pay for that one was $50 a month. Halfway through the year the medication became available in generic form. That dropped the co-pay to $10. So now I have to find something that will be approved for payment from the Health Savings Account in the amount of $40 per month or I lose that money. $240-$280 that I will lose if I don’t use it by December 31st.

 Health Savings Accounts are a really great idea, but only if they roll over year to year and one doesn’t lose the money one doesn’t spend in a particular year. The 25 year-old single guy who takes the minimum catastrophic plan could put some money into an HSA every month. Then, when he gets bronchitis, he has the funds to pay for a regular doctor visit and the medications prescribed. If he doesn’t get sick that year, the funds roll over to the next year when he sprains his ankle and needs x-rays, pain meds, crutches…

Please take the time to read the legislation that comes out of this process. Please insist that it is published online and allow time for public debate before laws that affect something as important as health insurance are voted on. Health insurance is a very personal matter to most of us. Let us have some input.

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The Anchoress | A First Things Blog » Obamacare & the Insistent Vector of Love is musing with The Anchoress | A First Things Blog » Obamacare & the Insistent Vector of Love

Recieved in email today (original author unknown)

WHAT PETS WRITE IN THEIR DIARIES…….

Excerpts from a Dog’s Diary…….

8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 pm – Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 pm – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 pm – Milk Bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 pm – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 pm – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 pm – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

 

Excerpts from a Cat’s Daily Diary..

Day 983 of my captivity…

My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.

Although I make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat something in order to keep up my strength.

The only thing that keeps me going is my dream of escape. In an attempt to disgust them, I once again vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet. I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of. However, they merely made condescending comments about what a ‘good little hunter’ I am. Bastards.

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight. I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event. However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of ‘allergies.’ I must learn what this means and how to use it to my advantage.

Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking. I must try this again tomorrow — but at the top of the stairs.

I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches. The dog receives special privileges.. He is regularly released – and seems to be more than willing to return. He is obviously retarded.

The bird has got to be an informant. I observe him communicating with the guards regularly. I am certain that he reports my every move. My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe. For now……………..

Thanks Auntie J!

A Large Regular linked, thanks!

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William Jefferson has been found guilty of 11 of 16 charges in the bribery case against him.

From Reuters:

In a search of his residence, FBI agents said they had found the $90,000 in a freezer.

Jefferson faces up to 150 years in prison and could face forfeiture of payments totaling $456,000, plus stock certificates, according a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Virginia, where Jefferson was tried. Jefferson can appeal his conviction.

The former congressman was not taken into custody.

I hope this doesn’t end up with just a slap on the wrist. Corruption needs to be punished.

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This poster has been spotted around LA

An LA Weekly blog says, “The only thing missing is the noose.”

Why does everything have to be racial? I thought we were supposed to be post-racial with the election of The Won.

The Anchoress has lots, lots more including some history of what was done to GWB.

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***

Subject line of spam email received this week: farfamed if your spaceship needs power heedlessness

***

Back to school is starting soon. In our case, the first day of school is Tuesday, August 18th. We did some back to school clothes shopping yesterday. Kids grow like weeds don’t they? All we really have left for back to school are the school supplies.

***

My older son will turn 15 this week. Cash for Clunkers will make it next to impossible for him to get an old beater that he can drive around, to and from work, until he could save enough money to purchase a better vehicle.

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