Middle Aged, Middle Class, Uninsured
The title of this article describes me, and I have just read in the paper that our numbers are growing. Our health care system is caught in this catch-22, and we seem unable to figure a was out of it.
When we start to become ill we put off going to the doctor because we can’t afford to go. Then we get so seriously ill it can become a life and death situation. So we go to the ER because they can’t turn us away, by now we are so sick we have to stay in the hospital till we are stable enough to go home. By that time the bills are a thousand times what they would have been at a doctor getting early treatment. This exact situation happened to me six months ago. I have a full time job, but this last year for family coverage costs went up to around $800 a month. That is the rent payment on my apartment.That leaves me between one thousand and twelve hundred to cover, rent, food, utilities, car payment, car insurance, car gas, clothing and misc. for a family of four. I think you can see how the math doesn’t work out.
What happens now is that people who are insured have prices increased to recover the costs of people who are uninsured, in turn the insurance companies raise their rates to recover their costs, and then people who are insured find they can no longer afford the insurance, thus increasing the numbers of people like me.
It has been said by some that health care is not a right and that people who can’t pay should just wither away and die. I have heard this from doctors and talk radio hosts. They of course are all insured.
Fat Kids
Children who are overweight have doubled in numbers over the last decade, studies show.
It makes sense why it’s happening, parents are busy working and many kids are on their own during the day with no one to monitor their eating. Also, and we’ve all heard it before, the fact that kids spend more time sitting at a computer rather than outside being active, contributes.
What I don’t get is when you have an obese person living in the home, and that person is unable to shop, either because of lack of money or mobility, why the frig and cabinets are filled with junk food. Why would anybody who cares about someone keep feeding them when they have total control over the matter? If their lives are in danger let them lay there and yell and scream for food, and just feed them a sensible diet. The same for very little kids who are obese. If you have control over what they eat, doesn’t that make you responsible?
FDA Opposes Medical Use Of Marijuana
The FDA said they are opposed to the medical use of Marijuana. They are joined by other agencies in Health and Human Services. The Federal Government continues to oppose it by saying there is no proof that it helps any medical condition. They continue to ignore reviews by doctors saying it does have definite benefits.
Could this be the same FDA who approved Vioxx and fen-fen, and then after people started dropping dead decided it wasn’t safe? Is this the FDA we are supposed to trust and believe in?
The federal government is wrong. Our country seems to like to watch people suffer. For instance a person with severe burns over most of his body who is not only dying but in the most severe pain one could experience, is denied more morphine because it might kill him. Are you kidding me? Or how about the person being executed? Let’s not forget to sterilize the lethal injection site for fear of later infection.
I demand a return of prohibition. Alcohol is far more damaging than pot and we all know it.
Ten states have legalized it, but the federal government argues that they trump states rights. That’s Bush for you. He wants complete control over everything and everybody, and he won’t stop till he gets it no matter how many of us have to suffer and die for it.
Mumps Outbreak
I have a question about this mumps outbreak. Are these people who are getting the mumps the same babies that did not get vaccinated ? Or is it that the vaccines are only effective for a certain amount of years? Since I’ve always heard that it’s far worse for an adult to have the mumps than a child, and if the vaccine doesn’t last, then why are children getting the shots and not adults?
People, also, why are you getting on a plane, sick without taking some kind of precautions? I have a right to fly and not catch a disease you have. You do not have the right to get me and others sick. I don’t know that it would have helped, but maybe the least you could have done would have been to wear a mask while on the plane.
In the meantime this outbreak is still spreading.
Ugly People Are Bad Parents?
There was a study done in early April in England by a man who I shall just refer to as an idiot. He and his helpers for lack of a better word, observed people in stores with their children. The results were that ugly people lost sight of their kids something like eight out of ten times, while attractive people rarely lost track of their kids.
This story is too ridiculous for me to even comment on.
Bush To Sign Bill
President Bush is about to sign a bill that gives the go ahead for a plan of over 300 steps to be taken, for if and when the bird flu pandemic hits. This would include which front liners and in what order, would receive the vaccine.
Isn’t it wonderful that our president and government are so on top and prepared for something that may or may not happen.
I am not usually given to conspiracy theories, but I am suspicious of this bird flu, especially when it involves the military enforcing quarantine amongst civilians.
We still do not know the real reason for the attack on Iraq, he was taken by surprise when 9/11 happened even though he received many heads up, and he hasn’t given a rats behind about our open border until very recently.
I had posted an article called Deadly Flu Virus, last year on this blog. Read it. I can’t help but wonder if this coming pandemic is hiding something that we have done and don’t want to admit, or if it is a play for power over the American people.
Medicaid Recipients May Lose
Some Medicaid recipients may lose benefits, states fear, because of a new law that says they must prove citizenship.
The law requires that they must show proof such as a passport or a birth certificate.The problem seems to be that a lot of poor people may no be able to provide such proof. They may not live in the same state they were born in, or may have lost all contact with any family they might have had.
In light of this the states may not save as much money as they had hoped, in enacting this new law.
Doctors vs. Drug Companies
Doctors are now saying that drug companies are making patients out of otherwise healthy people, by inventing or over inflating certain health conditions, such as menopause symptons, restless leg syndrome, and irritalbal bowel syndrome.
While I believe and agree to an extent. I have to also note that unless you are suffering from one of these conditions, you really have no business telling someone else who is, that it’s just a natural part of life, so just deal with it. Many doctors take that view.
Let’s talk about restless leg syndrome. I have suffered from this condition for years, before the commercials made it popular.Let me tell you what happened to me as an example.
You are tired and it’s time for bed. You lay down but you have this strange creeping sensation in your legs. You feel like they want to run a marathon, you can’t relax, you certainly can’t fall asleep. You get up and walk a bit to make them tired, you rub them, you jog in place, you even try hitting them, you want to wear them out, but nothing works. It was getting late one night and I had to get up early for work the next morning, but I couldn’t sleep because of my legs, I was so tired and desperate to relax. No dice. I had some tylenol pm so I took a couple,I waited awhile and nothing. I got dressed and went to the store for an over the counter sleep medicine, I got home and took a couple. I waited a half hour and still nothing, so I took a couple more, nothing. I repeated this process a couple times. I still could not sleep. I realized that I had taken way more sleep medicine than I should have. I stood up to go to the bathroom and found I could barely walk. Now I was scared I had overdosed. Now I found my body wanted to sleep but my mind was racing. I probably overreacted, but I was afraid that if I fell asleep I might not wake up again. So I looked for some instant coffee to eat figuring some of that would keep me up. Now it really gets funny, and no I don’t mind if you’re laughing at me. All we had was regular coffee so I ate some of that. I thought that I should keep moving so I did something even more stupid. I got in the car and drove myself to the er. I did’t go in because I figured since I had taken the sleep medicine they might see it as a suicide attempt and keep me there in the psch. ward. So I just sat in my car figuring that if I felt like passing out I could get out of the car in time and get to the hospital doors. After forty five min. or so, I found out what happens when you eat coffee grounds. I threw up all over myself and the car. I was hoping I had thrown up some of the pills too, so I drove home. I lay awake for a while and finally decided an hour before I had to get up for work, that it would be safe to fall asleep, and I did.
The next day I went to see my family doctor and told him this story. He laughed and then gave me some xanax. From then on before bed if I felt restless I took one and safely fell asleep. Now I know my story is ridiculous but to have a doctor discount it as nothing, when there is a medication that can easily solve the problem, is insulting.
I think it falls on the doctors to diag. properly and to recognize a true case and how much it’s interfering with a persons life.
Chocolate, The Best Medicine
A doctor in the UK is asking permission to test treating patients with severe heart disease with chololate. They said it will be six to twelve months before they know exactly which kind of chocolate to use. It has to be dark chocolate, and it should have at least eighty-five percent cocoa.
Dark chocolate of this kind is full of flavonoids. These flavonoids can be destroyed by certain processes used to make certain chocolates. This is why it will take awhile to identify the best kind to use for these heart patients.
There are other fruits and vegetables that are also rich in flavonoids, grape seed among them. Many other health care providers are against using the chocolate since chocolate is high in calories. They think since so many other foods can be used, the chocolate should be passed up.
They are urging people not to start pigging out on chocolate, even for health reasons. Much research and testing has to be done before we know what kind and how much to eat.
My suggestion is pure cocoa beans, you can buy them peeled and eat them whole. They are said to be the perfect food. They are very bitter because there is no sugar or anything else added. They do taste good dipped in a little bit of honey though.
Congress to Vote on New Bill
Congress wants to enact a bill to eliminate what they consider to be junkfood in school and on school grounds. This would also include school fundraisers.
While I think the main idea may have some merit, I am picturing the school fundraisers now, and I don’t think that selling the same healthy foods they will be eating at lunch will make them any money. I guess bake sales will be gone, and rice krispie treats will be a thing of the past.
The intention is good, but the solution is not to ban, the solution is to get kids to not want the junk food as a main staple of their diet.Further, the solution includes teaching moderation.
I also have a slight problem with what most people would consider junk food. A hamburger seems like a well balanced meal to me, and there are even alot of ways to cut the fat down in that.
I can just speak from what has been my experience with my own children. When they were very young I served all the right things on their plates. I never forced them to eat fruits or veggies, in fact I never forced them to even try them, and they did get treats and some meals were what is considered to be junk food. I love fruits and vegetables so I always ate them. All the while they grew up they loved them as much or more than I did. Today they are 18 and 20. They are healthy and slim. They still like soda and chips and fries sometimes, but they continue to eat healthy as their main diet.