No Death Panels, but Maybe A Death Spiral

Because we are all forever-learners, another article on the ACA:

But even as designed, Obamacare was as much an expansion of Medicaid as it was anything else. With the exchanges proving so unattractive, it may happen that the majority of new coverage under Obamacare will amount simply to an expansion of the Medicaid rolls.

Medicaid expansion is expensive, but that won't be the worst problem. Medicaid systematically underpays doctors and hospitals. Yet doctors and hospitals are forbidden to refuse Medicaid patients. They compensate, therefore, by raising charges to other patients—an invisible subsidy that will now inevitably grow even larger than before—and that will show up, among other places, in yet higher costs on the exchanges, inducing more people to drop coverage, accelerating the death spiral.

Redistribution is not the core design flaw in Obamacare. The core design flaw is that Obamacare had its priorities upside down: it put coverage expansion first; cost control a very distant second. What we are discovering now is that without cost control, coverage expansion quickly devours itself.

The comment section is worth consideration too.

FIF: Throwing the Baby Out With the Bathwater... Into the Street to Get Hit by an Ice Cream Truck

Halloween's over, but opinions are rampant below. So, beware. Boo!

Because it's clear that many Americans don't know that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Obamacare are the same thing, I'll tell you now that they are and I'll be referring to them as the ACA. Not to say there's anything wrong with calling it Obamacare. ACA is just shorter to type. Here we go.

Good, bad or ugly, the ACA (the Act, not the site) isn't working for 3% of Americans. That's 9 million people.

But the ACA was intended to bring the many poor/uninsured/uniformed Americans who use urgent care facilities or emergency rooms as their primary medical intervention into a sustainable market.

ERs are the most expensive place to get care.

And those uninsured people who use the ER are much less likely to be able to pay their medical bills.

Hospitals make up the difference for all those unpaid bills by charging the paying customers more.

For the sake of those 9 million who are paying a lot more for their insurance,
for the sake of the uninsured who need affordable care,
and for the sake of the regular Americans who want to pay fair prices for excellent care,
we need bipartisan cooperation.

Or a simpler title for this post: Mend It, Don't End It.

Or for some imagery, we need the losing party not to crash the ice cream truck just because they didn't get an allowance this week.

George Stephanopolous, ABC News, said in this last election cycle that he, as a journalist, feels it's his duty to stay impartial and for that reason he doesn't vote. He doesn't want to have a dog in the fight so that his heart doesn't influence his reporting. I chose to declare myself as "Post-Partisan" for the same reason. I don't want to file along a party line. I want to keep my allegiance open to new ideas and smarter thinking.

I wish there were more of both on the issue of healthcare reform.


What do you think?



(BTW, Flip It Friday is now FIF. Get it?)

Comments = Vaccines

This blogger I love is joining a campaign to help children around the world get life saving vaccinations.

Join her! All it takes is a comment!

Not to mention she has an AMAZING story and great blog!

And this is Amanda Peet, the campaign's spokesperson:

I never ask you to give to anything I don't also give to. Here's where you can give.

Flip-It Friday: Blogging is like singing with headphones in... in prison.

A friend was picking my brain (ew!) about blogging lately and said I could re-purpose the whole shebang for a blog post. Lucky me, luck you.

What is your view of personal blogging in general? 
I like posts that share personal stories, teach us something and/or have a good plot to them. I don't like blogs that are:
- all about someone's outfit of the day/hair products/well-designed inspiring quote from an author they've never read.
- not well edited. Good writers are only made so by good editing. Brevity is an art form in itself!
- have no tension or conflict (Your mom* may be the only one who wants to hear about the errands you ran today or what you ate for lunch.)
- have conflicting viewpoints (One cannot post about budget finds from a store supplied by sweatshops alongside lipstick that stops human trafficking.)

Though, I don't have to have anything in common with the writer (Orange County mom of 4) to love how they write and what they write about.

Why do you do it? 
Because I'm a middle child and I have the deep-seeded need to be heard... and social media makes it so easy to feel like a star! Seriously, though, I do it because writing and thinking are synonymous to me. It's how I process life. And its probably why I've retracted some things (hello, Kony 2012) as I learn and evolve. I have such a habit of thinking in a writing format (i.e. full sentences, editing as I go, picking words that sound good to me) and I now write blog posts in my head while walking the dog, brushing my teeth, sitting in traffic. Not all on-the-go thinking gets written down, but I do get the satisfaction of knowing that the thought has been thought. Ya know?

How do you disconnect from readers and just write what you want? Or do you struggle with that? This has been a process. It's trial and error. I often think,"My dad is going to read this" and that keeps me from going overboard. Although, I do write about politics, religion and women's health so much that it's a wonder he still reads. I think he comes for the pictures of Roo. Which is also a good point - throw in some cute dog pics and people will forgive you!

You mentioned in one post you "don't feel safe in your own blog" since family members got the address, how real is that concern? Does it effect what you write? 
How I felt in that scenario is how one feels when they've been caught dancing and singing while wearing headphones. And I believe that some family has stopped reading because of that. Oh well. Again, its the "processing" thing I mentioned above. I had not shared my URL with many people when the Mr. thought he was doing me a PR favor by handing it out. I felt violated. Like someone had been reading my middle school diary. I can't write about some things because the situations are too specific for me to generalize with fake names and locations. Unfortunately some of my best/worst thoughts cannot be expressed because of the people involved. It is restrictive, but I keep going and honestly think that it's better this way. Everything written online is out there forever so it's better that I censor myself. Plus, I've been able to use my blog to leverage freelance opportunities now.

What is your view of writing things that offend people? (like you said you did sometimes) Does that make you nervous or do you just not care? 
Blogging is like prison. Beat someone up right away and no one will mess with you. (J/K... I think). I'm as bold online as I am in real life. I'm not afraid of tough conversations or confrontations. I've gotten into it with another blogger before. Not badly, but we did exchange snarky comments. I realized then that I need to speak my piece on MY blog. Instead of leaving inciting comments on someone else's blog, I can use those points to launch into a counter-post on my site. I get to control the content and they get to ignore my criticism. Win, win.

How much time do you spend on it (mental head space as well as executing posts)? 
Some posts are 15 minutes, some are an hour. If there are a lot of pictures or if the post is on a sensitive topic, I like to spend more time on them. If I spend more than an hour I know I haven't perfected the idea and I save the post in drafts. I stick by my idea of brevity.

Do you have any goals, like to get more readers? Comments? 
I used to watch the pageviews more. I had goals to get more comments too. But I don't have sponsors and I don't make any money on my site. If I did, I think I'd be worried about the numbers more - but I also wouldn't be able to write about whatever I want. The difference between a hobby and a job-by is the paycheck, right? I think I'll forgo monetary strings to be able to rant for now.

So why do/would YOU blog? 

Or have I just scared you?

This doesn't scare me (maybe it does?). And it has nothing to do with this post. I just hope in my heart of hearts that this is how they dress at home.

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*Your mom!

How to Kick The Flu in Two

I got the flu and only needed 2 days off of work. Here's how I did it.

1) Sleep until you cannot sleep any more, then take a melatonin and go to bed at 8 PM.
2) Drink water, juice, any fluids you can stomach (not alcohol or caffeine as they interrupt your sleep)
3) Take a multivitamin with your chicken noodle soup (so as not to upset your stomach).

I'm baffled by how many adults continue to carry out their normal lives when their sick. They take some tylenol and then carry on like nothing's wrong. Meanwhile, they infect others and take 2x longer to get well.

I know taking time off of work is not possible for everyone. And I know that taking time out from life is not always possible either. Single moms with pets and full-time jobs? Hats off to you!

I'm thankful for my husband and family and flexible job that allowed me to stay in bed and eat soup and sleep 12 hours a day in order to get well. I had incredible help and options and that's really what got me well :)

For pictures, you can see my annoying instagram on the right ----->>>>

(Pre)Friday Flip-It: Taco Supreme Court Ruling: Nacho Grandma's Healthcare

What do you call cheese that doesn't belong to you?

... Nacho cheese!

Heyo! (Does that give the title some context?)

I can't wait until Friday to flip-it on you guys. Tell me: What do you think about the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the new proposed healthcare law?

Comment below with:
- Your health insurance status (have vs. not-have)
- Your political views (if you're comfortable sharing them - I showed you mine, remember?)
- How you currently pay for healthcare/how much you need (i.e. Are you chronically sick?)

Aaaand to lighten it up, here's Katy Perry:

I can't say what it is. I think it's her low female voice (a contralto, Wikipedia says). I won't read Twilight, The Hunger Games or finish the Harry Potter series, but I will watch Katy on YouTube... on repeat. There you have it, I'm a book snob but a chick-pop junkie.

Also an update on the hair. Here's day 2 of the Keratin Treatment:

I wrapped it up last night to shower, but was still worried about the humidity in the shower frizzing it out. I blew it out with a hair dryer for about a minute just to make sure that it was totally dry. This morning I combed it slightly and ran out the door. 

Healthcare Rant: Update!

Remember this post on the screwed-up nature of healthcare and my own personal woes with prescription coverage? (Dad, this is the post I said you could skip reading since it related to women's health. Likewise you can skip this one ... it includes a personal story, so just be warned.)

---

Well, here's what I did about the IUD situation:

The last week in May: I spoke with my HR department about the fact that IUDs aren't covered by our spectacular insurance even though the doctor's visit to *cough* "place them" are. She said that there's likely nothing we can do since it isn't in the plan, but she thought it was weird that only IUDs were explicit from the plan when other forms of more expensive birth control were covered. She said she'd talk to our insurance broker and see what the reasoning was behind that decision.

Monday, June 4th: I went to see my lady doc (who, by the way, is the best lady doc I've ever had. I'm not going to share her name because I want to make sure she doesn't get too popular and not have time for me. Do you keep any secrets like this?). Mr. S left the ultimate IUD decision up to me. I decided it was now or never and scheduled a same-day appointment for the 4th (there were time constraints on when this could be done). Let me remind you that this was a $1,000 product, not currently covered by my insurance.

(Skip to the bottom to see how the whole IUD thing went. Again, men in my life other than S, you may not want to read that.)

Tuesday, June 5th: Felt crappy, but was glad I did it.

Wednesday, June 13th: HR manager comes to me and says, "So, in talking to our broker we thought that it was strange that it wasn't covered. It wasn't covered in our old plan, and when we switched brokers, we just copy/pasted the whole plan without revising things. We are slowly revising things to meet the current need and this is one of the things we chose to revise. As of July 1st, we will cover the procedure and the pharmaceutical product."

I then say, "That's nice, but I already had it done." I had no reason to wait since they gave me no indication that there would be any change. I made it clear that I had to do the procedure at a certain time of the month and that time came and went.

HR then said that if I could get my doctor to forward-date the procedure to have happened in July, then it would be covered.

I then call my doctor's billing department, my insurance company and get a sort of run-around saying that my HR department or insurance broker would have to write a letter to the insurance company saying that the procedure would be covered on the date it was given. They can't just change procedure dates.

I go back to HR and tell them what I find and she said that she'd go back to the broker and see what they could do.

Thursday, June 14th: HR manager comes to me and says that they have looked up my insurance claim and have agreed to backdate the coverage to include my procedure and the expensive product used!

I'm so happy I could cry. Life isn't fair for me ... in a good way.

via

Advice I can tell you that I learned from this experience:
- Always call your insurance company to see what is covered on your plan. Ask questions if it doesn't make sense.
- When calling your insurance company, make sure you get the reference number attached to your conversation. This way, if you have to call them back you can pick up in the conversation where you left off.
- Price shop other, comparable procedures/pharmaceuticals and see if you can bargain with your HR/insurance broker - it helps make your case!
- If you feel your insurance should cover something that it doesn't, you can file a grievance appeal after the claim has gone through.
- It never hurts to ask!

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The IUD Sitch
Since the IUD has to be placed during a certain point in your cycle, I needed it to be put in on short notice. I went back and forth with the doc about pain killers as I've heard and read that this is a painful procedure. She offered to call me in something stronger, but said that Vicodin wouldn't help me as much as I thought because of the type of pain (inflammation) that it would be. She suggested I take a strong amount of ibuprofen right as I get into the docs office. So, I went with the Advil.

Holy balls that was the worst 90 seconds of my life. Intense pain. The kind where I didn't know what to do with my hands and they were shaking and squeezing my stomach. Thank Jesus that I didn't move and that my doc is a pro at these (already did a few that day even before I got in the office!) because she said it could take up to 5 minutes to do, but only took us 90 seconds. After the  preliminary measurement and actual placement was over, I felt immediate relief. Like-just-hit-the-ground-after-nearly-falling-out-of-your-parachute-harness relief. She had me lie their for a few minutes to get my bearings and calm down from the adrenaline rush.

I imagine that this was like getting a piercing on an internal organ. The initial pain is awful, but the adrenaline is addictive. Don't get me wrong. I don't want to do this again, but I can see where people are coming from with tattoos/piercings. I'd had piercings (3 in the ears, 1 in the nose), but none hurt like this.

So anyway, the first day was mostly shocking, but I was ok. The next day, thankfully, I worked from home. I would have needed to take a sick day if I didn't work from home. I felt crampy all day and was couch-ridden. Nothing I haven't experienced before with normal woman-issues. I have taken ibuprofen off-and-on for the past week to maintain the pain, but it's only gotten better. Some days I need no meds or heating pad at all.