This is Andy, he is my brother and he is amazing. He is going on his mission to South Africa on June 24, he was supposed to leave in August, but they changed his date. This is me saying goodbye to him. I love him lots and will miss him.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Elder Andy Simmonds
This is Andy, he is my brother and he is amazing. He is going on his mission to South Africa on June 24, he was supposed to leave in August, but they changed his date. This is me saying goodbye to him. I love him lots and will miss him.
Lietuva
Tomorrow I am going here...this picture was taken June 11, 2007...my last steps in Lithuania...
I am going to see my people. This is Anna, she was my companion and she is one of my people
Su meile.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Not ashamed...
I love twilight, not afraid to admit my addiction.
http://www.twiordie.blogspot.com/
ha ha love it!!!
goodnight to all.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Massachusetts Plan
My boss is out of town and I have had some time to catch up on some reading I have been meaning to do around health care. I came across this article today and I was struck so strongly with this story. Enjoy.
(*On July 1, 2007, the state if Massachusetts began offering an online choice of four private insurance plans for people without health coverage. The cost is zero for the poor; for the rest, it is limited to no more than about eight per cent of income. If you were not insured you will be penalized. The state has 97.4% of their population insured.)
An extract from an article in The New Yorker Magazine, January 12, 2008
“Getting there from here”
How should Obama reform health care?
By Atul Gawande
“I am among the state’s majority that would not go back to the old system of health care in Massachusetts. For years, about one in ten of my patients – I specialize in cancer surgery – had no insurance. Even though I’d waive my fee, they struggled to pay for their tests, medications, and hospital stay.
“I once took care of a nineteen-year-old college student who had maxed out her insurance coverage. She had a treatable but metastatic cancer. But neither she nor her parents could afford the radiation therapy that she required. I made calls to find state programs, charities – anything that could help her – to no avail. She put off the treatment for almost a year because she didn’t want to force her parents to take out a second mortgage on their home. But eventually they had to choose between their daughter and their life’s savings.
“For the past year, I haven’t’ had a single Massachusetts patient who has had to ask how much the necessary tests will cost; not one who has told me he needed to put off his cancer operation until he found a job that provided insurance coverage. And that’s a remarkable change; a glimpse of American health care without the routine cruelty. “
(*On July 1, 2007, the state if Massachusetts began offering an online choice of four private insurance plans for people without health coverage. The cost is zero for the poor; for the rest, it is limited to no more than about eight per cent of income. If you were not insured you will be penalized. The state has 97.4% of their population insured.)
An extract from an article in The New Yorker Magazine, January 12, 2008
“Getting there from here”
How should Obama reform health care?
By Atul Gawande
“I am among the state’s majority that would not go back to the old system of health care in Massachusetts. For years, about one in ten of my patients – I specialize in cancer surgery – had no insurance. Even though I’d waive my fee, they struggled to pay for their tests, medications, and hospital stay.
“I once took care of a nineteen-year-old college student who had maxed out her insurance coverage. She had a treatable but metastatic cancer. But neither she nor her parents could afford the radiation therapy that she required. I made calls to find state programs, charities – anything that could help her – to no avail. She put off the treatment for almost a year because she didn’t want to force her parents to take out a second mortgage on their home. But eventually they had to choose between their daughter and their life’s savings.
“For the past year, I haven’t’ had a single Massachusetts patient who has had to ask how much the necessary tests will cost; not one who has told me he needed to put off his cancer operation until he found a job that provided insurance coverage. And that’s a remarkable change; a glimpse of American health care without the routine cruelty. “
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
F A C T S about H E A L T H C A R E
This is what I learned at work so far today:
Medicare and Medicaid were created in 1965, the inception of the Children’s Health Insurance Program in 1997, the expansion of prescription drug coverage for seniors in 2003.
Democratic Members and staff of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions – along with our colleagues at the Senate Finance Committee, the House of Representatives and the Administration – have been laying groundwork and preparing legislation to reform the U. S. health care system.
About 200 million Americans obtain health insurance today through their employers and the private health insurance market. About 80 million Americans get their coverage through federal and state health programs, chiefly Medicare and Medicaid.
Nearly 50 million Americans now lack health insurance, and tens of millions more hold policies – such as many sold in the individual market – that provide little real protection in the event of serious injury or illness.
To establish this new set of protections and assistance, citizens also need to play an important role. Any health insurance system, public or private, can’t workable and is more expensive if consumers wait until they get sick before signing up. That’s why national health reform requires that everyone who can afford to must sign up for coverage.
Ten million Americans need long-term services – personal care, assertive technology and other supportive services – a number that will increase to 26 million by 2050.
Are you covered?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)