Health Care Reform & Welcome to Barbara O'Brien

Owner/proprietor of The Mahablog (est. 2002)

Guide to Buddhism at About.com.

After several years of editorial and production management in the book and magazine publishing industry, I set out to be a freelance web content provider. My personal politics blog, The Mahablog, was launched in 2002. I am a frequent contributor to several websites, including The Guardian’s Comment Is Free site. Since 2008 I also have been the Guide to Buddhism for About.com.

Note: I’m looking for work as a writer — permanent, temporary, part time, full time, on location (New York City area) or telecommuting. Contact me by email if interested.

Barbara contacted me, via e-mail, and asked to be allowed to publish on my little blog. As someone who appreciates those with liberal and vocal viewpoints I heartily welcome her and add her to this little corner of the blogosphere! She has an excellent blog of her own and you should think about checking it out.

http://www.mahablog.com/



Would Health Care Reform Help You?

Many obstacles and stumbling blocks remain in the way of health care reform. The House and Senate bills will have to be merged, and then the House and Senate both will vote on the final bill. We don’t yet know what will be in the final bill, or if the final bill will be passed into law. Passage will be especially difficult in the Senate, where it will need 60 votes to pass. It is still possible that after all this angst, just one grandstanding senator could kill the whole thing.

But just for fun, let’s look at what conventional wisdom says will be in the final bill and see if there is anything in it that will be an immediate benefit to people with mesothelioma cancer and other asbestos-related disease.

It is likely that the final bill will provide additional funding for state high-risk insurance pools. Currently more than 30 states run such pools, which are nonprofit, state-sponsored health insurance plans for people who can’t buy insurance because of pre-existing conditions. The biggest problem with such pools is that, often, the insurance they offer is too expensive for many who might need it. Both the Senate and House bills provide $5 billion in subsidies for state high-risk pools to make the insurance more affordable.

Under the Senate bill, beginning in 2014, private companies would no longer be able to deny coverage to adults with pre-existing conditions, nor could they charge higher premiums for people with pre-existing conditions. Until then, the state high-risk pools could provide some help.

Closing the Medicare Part D coverage gap — also called the “doughnut hole” — is another potential provision that could help some patients with asbestos-related disease. The “doughnut hole” is the gap between the coverage for yearly out-of-pocket expenses provided by Medicare Part D and Medicare’s “catastrophic coverage” threshold.

For example, in 2009 Medicare Part D paid at least 75 percent of what patients paid for prescription drugs up to $2,700. After that, patients must pay for all of their prescription medications until what they have paid exceeds $6,154. At that point, the catastrophic coverage takes over, and Medicare pays for all but 5 percent of the patient’s drug bills. The final health care reform bill probably will provide for paying at least 50 percent of out-of-pocket costs in the doughnut hole.

You may have heard the bills include budget cuts to the Medicare program, and this has been a big concern to many people. Proponents of the bill insist that savings can be found to pay for the cuts, and that people who depend on Medicare won’t face reduced services. But this is a complex issue that I want to address in a later post.

The long-term provisions probably will include many other provisions that would benefit patients with asbestos-related disease, including increased funding for medical research. Although there are many complaints about the bill coming from all parts of the political spectrum, on the whole it would be a huge benefit to many people.

— Barbara O’Brien

March 16, 2010

Drug Induced Stupor

Nothing like an unknown ache & pain, a few Vicodin and some wine to really make for a swell weekend!! Boy, do I know how to party like a rock star!!

It was a sharp pain, Friday night, that woke me from a dead sleep. Sharp pain in my left shin area just below the knee. I finally got back to sleep. Saturday night the same thing. I just could not get comfortable in the bed and more difficulty getting back to sleep. Went to work Sunday morning and it was not until I had done some kneeling, at work, that I came home at the pain and become intense. I also noticed while I was sitting, at the desk and doing the banking, at work that it actually was like a burning sensation. I had more comfort standing as a did it. It also was very uncomfortable to sit and drive, although I did not have a standing option there.

When I got home, Sunday afternoon, I tried to ice, but the pain and tearing/burning sensation was just too severe, so John took me to the med center. They took x-rays and gave me a knee brace. They also took blood to check for gout. So, that is where I am now. Waiting to hear about the results. As I sit here it is still burning/hurting. The Vicodin takes the edge off at night, but I can't take that and expect to work!! Not if people want their $5.00 latte to be what they asked for!!

At home though is another story! Last night it was wine and Vicodin and re-runs of NCIS. Iced off and on, but nothing seems to really help. They also gave me some steroids for inflammation, but I would have thought by now that if there was inflammation that they would have helped. I can walk fine, but it is the sitting and kneeling that are painful. It just feels like the meat is tearing away from the bone. How fun does that sound!! Sure makes the wine and Vicodin sound inviting doesn't it.

It just sucks when shit starts to happen to your body parts that are out of your control and it is not anything that can be deduced quickly. Things that require multiple tests suck! I am just wondering if I did not get a small stress fracture when I tried to run last Thursday, on my day off, and now I am feeling it. There you have it folks....another example of how healthy pursuits are dangerous!!

As for the Max update................he moved back home after two days in a bachelor pad with four guys, all 18, who are on their own for the first time. We all have talked and hopefully it is moving in a better direction for all of us!!

They Take Away More

The memo came down that we are going to be accruing less vacation time for every hour that we work. Half as much to be exact. We will have to hit four and five years of employment to earn back the amount that we have been earning thus far. We are no longer able to have a personal day each six months. Only the salaried employees can have those. Also, new employees can only begin to earn vacation hours after a year. Any time requested must be done a minimum of 30 days in advance and NO time may be turned in for pay. You MUST actually take the time off. Some people have had a financial need and have turned it in to make ends meet and now that is not an option.

They told us that they figured we would rather give up vacation perks rather than health insurance. They are right about that, but here it is coming down to them holding the health benefits over our heads. They know how important the health care issue is to many of their employees and they are going to make the most of it. We know it is only a matter of time before they ask us to pay more for our benefits. There is a limit to how high I will go. At some point it will not make sense to stay there if it becomes more feasible to take John's insurance.

Many of us that rely on the insurance plan are worried. Each week it seems as if there is a new cut and a new memo. All the management is nervous about getting the axe. It is hard to maintain a good attitude and still smile and serve the public when you do not hold your own company with much regard.