Grandparent's Day is celebrated in September. Lately, it has been overshadowed as it falls the same time as memorial events for 9/11. Perhaps this is a good time to remarket the concept.
Grandparent's Day should be an occasion to gather family members and children around their elderly relatives. The idea is to share family heritage and traditions that might have been taken for granted or ignored because everyone is too busy and going their own way.
Having a warm fuzzy day honoring grandpas and grandmothers is welcome respite from our hard driving life styles, but today's culture just wants to get past the "grannie" part of the idea.
There is a current car commercial that features a senior couple heading for a beach party while the grown son is making his own dinner in a microwave:
"They always said I had the fun parents. Now where is the fun now?" The son is back home, and living with Mom and Dad, but reflects attitudes about growing old that are more mainstream today.
The stereotype of Gran knitting in her rocker, and Grandpa chewing on his pipe while reading the newspaper, are out of fashion. Today's baby boomers are trying to stay employed as long as possible and do not like to be reminded that they are headed out to the scrap heap.
The mention of "Grandparent's Day" is likely to be met with conscious denial by baby boomers not ready to retire. I know of an 84 year old who does not want to go to nutrition centers because that is where the "old people" are.
There is a need for the care and comfort and leadership which seniors supply without equal. However, getting this resource to the younger generation is the problem. If we see this as a delivery problem, as a marketing problem, maybe changing the name will update the concept.
Seniors have love and experience in abundance. Children left out because they don't have grandparents could be otherwise feel included if the celebration of love and tradition were just called something else....
Seniors rock.
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Saturday, July 21, 2012
From the Personal File: Medicaid Kranks Along
Sometime in the early spring, the knob that supports my walker handlebars snapped off. The maintenance man here at my apartment complex offered to repair it. After several days, he finally located a screw long and small enough to fit and installed it. In the meantime, the retailer who had supplied me with my original walker years ago gave me another without charge from a stock of used pieces.
This knobby issue was not to be the end of my troubles. The brake and cable on the left side sheared off leaving me with no brakes. Once again the retailer sat down for an estimate. Parts and labor were as formal as going to the automobile repair shop. The technique was about the same, the part wasn't too bad, but the labor (to attach a cable to the outside of the walker frame?) doubled the amount.
It looked like a new machine was the practical way out.
Enter Medicare and Medicaid. If you need a new mobility issue, there is a time limit. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Well I definitely made the time line and I was entitled to a new "mobility device". The next step was to get the doctor to write a prescription and fax to the retailer.
Glitch # 1. The retailer calls me and says that she can only give me a walker without a seat.
"What!" She explains that my Medicare "mobility" party will only pay for part of my rollator.
Glitch #2. I called my visiting nurse again and found out that she was leaving for another position outside the politically supervised agency supplying me with services, but, not to worry, the additional sum would be picked up by her office.
Flash to July. Now this has been going on since March.
My walker is now in pieces. It was merely dilapidated in March and by now it is dangerous.
Picture this: The brakes were gone, scotch tape wrapped and secured the cables away from the handles so I could grip them, one of the hooks of the wire basket attaching it to the walker had sheared off, the seat had broken off and now rested unsecured between two bars of the main frame, and the four hard rubber wheels were cut and ragged from rolling over Trenton's rough streets and cobblestones.
Glitch # 3. I called the retailer to see how soon I could pick up my replacement. The answer was not good. Since the script from the doctor, submitted to Medicare's "mobility" clearinghouse, left an amount not covered, they were not going to give it to me.
Glitch # 4. My visiting nurse director had not yet assigned me to another case worker. I got a letter this week advising me that they were assigning someone.....well... I had to call on Friday.
Glitch # 5. The worker answering the phone from another agency, (they had gone outside since they felt they were overloaded) who patiently explained to me she did not know what to do. (!) She was new to the situation and had to find out how to "handle" the situation.
Glitch # 6. When she found the papers to file or whom to contact, she would "get back to me".
I almost exploded. I explained to her that I cannot use a wheelchair due to my particular injuries, can't afford a powerchair ($60,000 for van, $10000 for lift, and $8000 for chair) and rely on my ten year old Hyundai and my Medicare walker to stay active in the community.
I also told her that my walker seat has served as my writing surface in class since desktops are not low enough for my peculiar situation....and that this past week was expecially hard for me. During my exam, the seat of my walker fell through the frame! My exam papers, calculator, pens and scratch paper went flying in a noisy jumble to the floor.
I was mortified.
Aside from being forty years older than the next oldest student, I try to stay out of the way with my walker, huddled against a wall in a front chair so I don't take up much room. There was no way that my situation could escape notice this exam day! I was embarrassed and distressed. I was also frustrated...but by the time I could get home to phone, any office contact would be fruitless because most Trenton offices close at 4pm. Needless to say, my call to nursing services commenced first thing the next day.
As of this moment in time, I need a working rollator. I can use the frame to roll down the hall, but the seat is not attached and there are no brakes so it is not safe to use.
I guess I have no alternative than to wait until that Monday call with an update.
It started with a knob, and now is a heck of an example of how disconnected, (Yeah, Lord!) disconnected the system has become. The total cost of a premium walker with seat and push bar is around $250. We are probably talking about $50 dollars difference between Medicare and Medicaid....so what the heck is the problem? If they gave me a wheelchair, it would be in the thousands....
I wonder if nursing services might not want to replace the two case workers who left since they handled the problem by moving cases into other outside agencies....just wondering is this is after all an administrative economy move.
Just wondering....and things krank, krank, krank along. (That is the sound of my walker kreaking and kranking along...)
Oh, I offered to expedite things by advancing the difference between Medicare and the visiting nurse share and was told ......there is no provision to reimburse patients!
Man, this system sucks.
Seniors rock!
This knobby issue was not to be the end of my troubles. The brake and cable on the left side sheared off leaving me with no brakes. Once again the retailer sat down for an estimate. Parts and labor were as formal as going to the automobile repair shop. The technique was about the same, the part wasn't too bad, but the labor (to attach a cable to the outside of the walker frame?) doubled the amount.
It looked like a new machine was the practical way out.
Enter Medicare and Medicaid. If you need a new mobility issue, there is a time limit. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Well I definitely made the time line and I was entitled to a new "mobility device". The next step was to get the doctor to write a prescription and fax to the retailer.
Glitch # 1. The retailer calls me and says that she can only give me a walker without a seat.
"What!" She explains that my Medicare "mobility" party will only pay for part of my rollator.
Glitch #2. I called my visiting nurse again and found out that she was leaving for another position outside the politically supervised agency supplying me with services, but, not to worry, the additional sum would be picked up by her office.
Flash to July. Now this has been going on since March.
My walker is now in pieces. It was merely dilapidated in March and by now it is dangerous.
Picture this: The brakes were gone, scotch tape wrapped and secured the cables away from the handles so I could grip them, one of the hooks of the wire basket attaching it to the walker had sheared off, the seat had broken off and now rested unsecured between two bars of the main frame, and the four hard rubber wheels were cut and ragged from rolling over Trenton's rough streets and cobblestones.
Glitch # 3. I called the retailer to see how soon I could pick up my replacement. The answer was not good. Since the script from the doctor, submitted to Medicare's "mobility" clearinghouse, left an amount not covered, they were not going to give it to me.
Glitch # 4. My visiting nurse director had not yet assigned me to another case worker. I got a letter this week advising me that they were assigning someone.....well... I had to call on Friday.
Glitch # 5. The worker answering the phone from another agency, (they had gone outside since they felt they were overloaded) who patiently explained to me she did not know what to do. (!) She was new to the situation and had to find out how to "handle" the situation.
Glitch # 6. When she found the papers to file or whom to contact, she would "get back to me".
I almost exploded. I explained to her that I cannot use a wheelchair due to my particular injuries, can't afford a powerchair ($60,000 for van, $10000 for lift, and $8000 for chair) and rely on my ten year old Hyundai and my Medicare walker to stay active in the community.
I also told her that my walker seat has served as my writing surface in class since desktops are not low enough for my peculiar situation....and that this past week was expecially hard for me. During my exam, the seat of my walker fell through the frame! My exam papers, calculator, pens and scratch paper went flying in a noisy jumble to the floor.
I was mortified.
Aside from being forty years older than the next oldest student, I try to stay out of the way with my walker, huddled against a wall in a front chair so I don't take up much room. There was no way that my situation could escape notice this exam day! I was embarrassed and distressed. I was also frustrated...but by the time I could get home to phone, any office contact would be fruitless because most Trenton offices close at 4pm. Needless to say, my call to nursing services commenced first thing the next day.
As of this moment in time, I need a working rollator. I can use the frame to roll down the hall, but the seat is not attached and there are no brakes so it is not safe to use.
I guess I have no alternative than to wait until that Monday call with an update.
It started with a knob, and now is a heck of an example of how disconnected, (Yeah, Lord!) disconnected the system has become. The total cost of a premium walker with seat and push bar is around $250. We are probably talking about $50 dollars difference between Medicare and Medicaid....so what the heck is the problem? If they gave me a wheelchair, it would be in the thousands....
I wonder if nursing services might not want to replace the two case workers who left since they handled the problem by moving cases into other outside agencies....just wondering is this is after all an administrative economy move.
Just wondering....and things krank, krank, krank along. (That is the sound of my walker kreaking and kranking along...)
Oh, I offered to expedite things by advancing the difference between Medicare and the visiting nurse share and was told ......there is no provision to reimburse patients!
Man, this system sucks.
Seniors rock!
Friday, July 20, 2012
Trenton's Mud Is Not Saratoga Spa
After two years of murkiness, the FBI finally stepped in and raided the homes of Mayor Tony Mack, his brother, and one of his associates. Instead of clarifying long standing issues of cronyism and misdirection of funds, the result is a congealed mess of uncertainty for Trenton residents.
Legendary Saratoga Springs is known for mineral rich springs and herbal mud baths that are reported to relax and heal body and soul. If you try mud therapy, where the sticky smelly stuff oozes into every pore, being surrounded by Mother Earth makes you feel pampered and special. Think more mud might work for Trenton?
Consider mud. If you live in the city, you are surrounded by sights and sounds, seeping into every cranny of being, garbage juices and mortar dust...did you know that blood smells like iron and leaves a metal tang on the palate...which decomposes to a sickening sweet fetid note that hangs in your clothes until someone cleans up the mess? Not exactly the herbal version.
After time passes, organic matter becomes melded into mud. Leaves and trees, sand and critter carcasses, layers and layers of all sorts of organic stuff, imbedded with artifacts and fossils, merge on the way to becoming coal.
Trenton has no shortage of mud: marina mud, Delaware flood overflow, alley way gully washes, and of course Trenton-special City Hall Mud. We almost have a patent on that recipe.
Well, the Feds want the recipe.
Think we will ever find out how they are doing in their search?
Even the governor indicated that reasons for these surprise raids are not forecast in advance and even an educated guess, based on speculation, might have less than a 25% chance of getting right.
Instead of clarifying matters, mud therapy under FBI hands is likely to leave us just feeling dirty and worse off than before.
But we are used to that.
Hopefully things will be better and any positive parts of the Mack administration tenure will surface and reassure residents that voting him in to office was not all bad.
We senior citizens remember when this city was vibrant and full of light. Now it behooves us all to see that corners are hosed down, the crap hauled away, and the city is left once again to find its way.
One more thing:
Don't forget. The Mercer County Senior Art Show is underway at Meadow Lakes in West Windsor. The awards reception is August 3 from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Artwork not going on to the New Jersey Senior Art Show will be released to artists immediately following the reception. Paintings may not be taken down before the show is over. Call 609-989-6661 for information.
Art rocks!
Legendary Saratoga Springs is known for mineral rich springs and herbal mud baths that are reported to relax and heal body and soul. If you try mud therapy, where the sticky smelly stuff oozes into every pore, being surrounded by Mother Earth makes you feel pampered and special. Think more mud might work for Trenton?
Consider mud. If you live in the city, you are surrounded by sights and sounds, seeping into every cranny of being, garbage juices and mortar dust...did you know that blood smells like iron and leaves a metal tang on the palate...which decomposes to a sickening sweet fetid note that hangs in your clothes until someone cleans up the mess? Not exactly the herbal version.
After time passes, organic matter becomes melded into mud. Leaves and trees, sand and critter carcasses, layers and layers of all sorts of organic stuff, imbedded with artifacts and fossils, merge on the way to becoming coal.
Trenton has no shortage of mud: marina mud, Delaware flood overflow, alley way gully washes, and of course Trenton-special City Hall Mud. We almost have a patent on that recipe.
Well, the Feds want the recipe.
Think we will ever find out how they are doing in their search?
Even the governor indicated that reasons for these surprise raids are not forecast in advance and even an educated guess, based on speculation, might have less than a 25% chance of getting right.
Instead of clarifying matters, mud therapy under FBI hands is likely to leave us just feeling dirty and worse off than before.
But we are used to that.
Hopefully things will be better and any positive parts of the Mack administration tenure will surface and reassure residents that voting him in to office was not all bad.
We senior citizens remember when this city was vibrant and full of light. Now it behooves us all to see that corners are hosed down, the crap hauled away, and the city is left once again to find its way.
One more thing:
Don't forget. The Mercer County Senior Art Show is underway at Meadow Lakes in West Windsor. The awards reception is August 3 from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm. Artwork not going on to the New Jersey Senior Art Show will be released to artists immediately following the reception. Paintings may not be taken down before the show is over. Call 609-989-6661 for information.
Art rocks!
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Mercer County Senior Art Show 2012
Entries for this year's Mercer County Senior Art Show are due on July 16 from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm and the show runs from July 18 to August 3.
Once again, Meadow Lakes, Springpoint Foundation has generously offered the use of their beautiful facilities to Mercer artists and artisans. The address is 300 Meadow Lakes, East Windsor, and their phone contact numbers are 1-800-222-0609 and 609-987-8900.
The closing reception for artists and friends is August 3 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. Winning works will be held to go on to the statewide New Jersey Senior Art Show held in the fall.
Once again, art categories range from acrylic painting to photography. For a Mercer County Senior Art Show brochure, please contact the Mercer County Office on Aging at 609-989-6661.
If you were not able to make the registration deadline by June 29, please call for updates.
The continued success of Trenton's Art All Night is a wonderful reminder of how vital art is in New Jersey. The New Jersey Senior Art Show, limited to artists aged 60 and over, demonstrates to budding artists that they are embarking on a lifetime of productive and rewarding activity...
Art rocks!
Once again, Meadow Lakes, Springpoint Foundation has generously offered the use of their beautiful facilities to Mercer artists and artisans. The address is 300 Meadow Lakes, East Windsor, and their phone contact numbers are 1-800-222-0609 and 609-987-8900.
The closing reception for artists and friends is August 3 from 1:30 to 3:30 pm. Winning works will be held to go on to the statewide New Jersey Senior Art Show held in the fall.
Once again, art categories range from acrylic painting to photography. For a Mercer County Senior Art Show brochure, please contact the Mercer County Office on Aging at 609-989-6661.
If you were not able to make the registration deadline by June 29, please call for updates.
The continued success of Trenton's Art All Night is a wonderful reminder of how vital art is in New Jersey. The New Jersey Senior Art Show, limited to artists aged 60 and over, demonstrates to budding artists that they are embarking on a lifetime of productive and rewarding activity...
Art rocks!
Sunday, July 1, 2012
It Seems Like Yesterday
Now that the Affordable Care Act has been upheld by the Supreme Court, the elderly and disabled can look forward to a more holistic and affordable approach to medical needs. The dreaded "donut hole" will be fazed out and eventually closed. Visits to the doctor to check out your overall condition before you get sick are now covered under the new law.
Most of us seniors know someone who has been affected limited income, stretching Social Security checks, trying to pay for prescriptions and doctor deductibles while leaving room for food. The cost of medical care has gotten so high that serious illness can lead to modifying treatment or even bankruptcy. Many doctors told me of their dismay with a system that was broken and needed to be fixed. Now that this law is going into effect, hospital stocks are up in spite of the rest of the market's skepticism about European developments. Traders felt that "Obamacare" is good for the hospitals and good for business. Who knew?
As I was going through some old family papers today, I compared some of the newspaper clippings with current events. How did medical costs, the basic cost of surviving a medical emergency in our hazard-filled high tech-environment, get to be so extremely expensive?
In an article written in the Blairstown Press on July 19, 1899, the editor writes: "Vernon, the 11 year old son of Allen Frutchey of Upper Mt. Bethel was killed when driving a reaping machine on his father's farm. For some reason, the horses ran away and he was thrown off the reaper. His little sister who was sitting on the seat with him was unhurt." This was before automobiles and ambulance service so the poor chap succumbed.
Another entry reads: "The mother of Mrs. Ervin Beck, Mrs. Lavina Emery, died at the former's home in Walnut Valley at the age of 79. Her husband died several years ago meeting a horrible death by falling from a haymow onto the tines of a pitchfork. The deceased was the mother of...." This was before antibiotics and emergency care that could have saved him. She died at home of old age...
In a later column dated July 19, 1922, the Press editor records: " Merrell Landes fell thirty feet from the haymow on the Charles Lewis farm and was hurt, but not seriously." In those days, if one was able to walk, thrifty hardscrabble farmers likely did not seek medical assistance because of what it might cost.
During this period of time, one local physican customarily charged $1.00 for visits and $1.50 if he had to set an arm or fix eyeglasses. During prohibition, one doctor prescribed whiskey for his patient and charged $1.50 for a pint to treat "digestive disturbances".
In a Blairstown Press article dated July 15, 1937, the editor states: "Two boys, Harold Aber, 18 and Junior Nolan 17, of Union City, were hurt when they fell from a rumble seat along the Hope Road. They had been to Blairstown and were hitch-hiking back to Hope where they were visiting. Edwin Schneider gave them a lift and they were having a fine time enjoying the "fun" of standing up in the rumble seat. After a while Schneider missed them and turning back found them along the road. Aber (was) unable to walk and Nolan unconscious. They were taken to Newton Hospital." Here ends the record but one wonders how they got there. Now there was a medical facility in Newton, Sussex County, but it was a good 12 to 15 miles from the scene of the incident. Perhaps Schneider drove them there himself.
The Press also states in the July 15, 1937 article that "Irvin Phillips, 83 died at the home of his son Edward of Yellow Frame." Elderly people were cared for by family members and many died at home. There is a shift under the Obama administration philosophy to caring for persons in their own homes instead of the current reverse graduation process of hospital-rehab-nursing home that we see so often today.
The Press also notes in the July 15, 1937 article that "Mrs. Otto Haldiman was painfully injured when the horses ran away. She received a sprained ankle and bruises...Mrs. Orphia Hall has returned from Easton Hospital after surgery....Miss Grace Raynolds returned from Easton Hospital after an appendicitis operation..." Easton Hospital was about 30 miles away, in Pennsylvania and across the Delaware River.
By 1951, rural area residents were sometimes served by going all the way to Orange Hospital in Orange, New Jersey. Urban areas could support medical facilities to perform complex surgeries.
Costs had increased from the 1930's but were still low. One financial record in l972 shows doctors visits were up to $11 to $15 per visit, Newton Hospital's radiologist charged $4 to read xrays and all patient bills were sent to the insurer, Prudential Insurance of America, Medicare B Division, for reimbursement. It appears that Medicare paid the hospital bill of about $100 per day or less.
As employers competed for a depleted work force following WWII, they found that offering medical insurance was an incentive for hiring men. That optional offering morphed into the entitlement situation that currently exists. When an employee is cut out of his job, he loses his health benefits which affects his entire family. This evolved into one of the deciding factors for the present state of the Affordable Care Act, justifying many insuring entities instead of more efficient centralization.
Employer coverage is not taken lightly by someone in the job force. The threat of losing medical coverage supplied by an employer's pooled coverage is mainly because of the difference in cost. A company writes more favorable terms for a client with many employees who do not make claims for coverage. The employer, in turn, looks for young and healthy employees so the insurer will give him the lowest rates.
Independent coverage can also have terms dictated by the insurer which often meant that coverage could be denied for preexisting conditions, making it prohibitively expensive to be a single policy.
Regardless of the political posturing, having a central government-run healthcare entity is the most efficient. Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, and most of the rest of the world has taken steps to assure that their citizens are covered by basic health services. Having a centralized offering worked for them but the United States has been reluctant to change.
This bring us to Obamacare.
Yep.
It looks like we may be taking a huge step forward by taking some small steps backward. Or is it the other way around? We are taking the first step forward to get back to what we had before...before medical overheads and drug costs became so enormous that they could lead to bankruptcy, or before employers figured insurance consequences were part of a resume...
My opinion is that we have nothing to lose by giving it a chance. We could be worse off if insurers continued to dictate vital terms of service and medical emergency rooms continued to cope with costs from uninsured patients.
America rocks.
Most of us seniors know someone who has been affected limited income, stretching Social Security checks, trying to pay for prescriptions and doctor deductibles while leaving room for food. The cost of medical care has gotten so high that serious illness can lead to modifying treatment or even bankruptcy. Many doctors told me of their dismay with a system that was broken and needed to be fixed. Now that this law is going into effect, hospital stocks are up in spite of the rest of the market's skepticism about European developments. Traders felt that "Obamacare" is good for the hospitals and good for business. Who knew?
As I was going through some old family papers today, I compared some of the newspaper clippings with current events. How did medical costs, the basic cost of surviving a medical emergency in our hazard-filled high tech-environment, get to be so extremely expensive?
In an article written in the Blairstown Press on July 19, 1899, the editor writes: "Vernon, the 11 year old son of Allen Frutchey of Upper Mt. Bethel was killed when driving a reaping machine on his father's farm. For some reason, the horses ran away and he was thrown off the reaper. His little sister who was sitting on the seat with him was unhurt." This was before automobiles and ambulance service so the poor chap succumbed.
Another entry reads: "The mother of Mrs. Ervin Beck, Mrs. Lavina Emery, died at the former's home in Walnut Valley at the age of 79. Her husband died several years ago meeting a horrible death by falling from a haymow onto the tines of a pitchfork. The deceased was the mother of...." This was before antibiotics and emergency care that could have saved him. She died at home of old age...
In a later column dated July 19, 1922, the Press editor records: " Merrell Landes fell thirty feet from the haymow on the Charles Lewis farm and was hurt, but not seriously." In those days, if one was able to walk, thrifty hardscrabble farmers likely did not seek medical assistance because of what it might cost.
During this period of time, one local physican customarily charged $1.00 for visits and $1.50 if he had to set an arm or fix eyeglasses. During prohibition, one doctor prescribed whiskey for his patient and charged $1.50 for a pint to treat "digestive disturbances".
In a Blairstown Press article dated July 15, 1937, the editor states: "Two boys, Harold Aber, 18 and Junior Nolan 17, of Union City, were hurt when they fell from a rumble seat along the Hope Road. They had been to Blairstown and were hitch-hiking back to Hope where they were visiting. Edwin Schneider gave them a lift and they were having a fine time enjoying the "fun" of standing up in the rumble seat. After a while Schneider missed them and turning back found them along the road. Aber (was) unable to walk and Nolan unconscious. They were taken to Newton Hospital." Here ends the record but one wonders how they got there. Now there was a medical facility in Newton, Sussex County, but it was a good 12 to 15 miles from the scene of the incident. Perhaps Schneider drove them there himself.
The Press also states in the July 15, 1937 article that "Irvin Phillips, 83 died at the home of his son Edward of Yellow Frame." Elderly people were cared for by family members and many died at home. There is a shift under the Obama administration philosophy to caring for persons in their own homes instead of the current reverse graduation process of hospital-rehab-nursing home that we see so often today.
The Press also notes in the July 15, 1937 article that "Mrs. Otto Haldiman was painfully injured when the horses ran away. She received a sprained ankle and bruises...Mrs. Orphia Hall has returned from Easton Hospital after surgery....Miss Grace Raynolds returned from Easton Hospital after an appendicitis operation..." Easton Hospital was about 30 miles away, in Pennsylvania and across the Delaware River.
By 1951, rural area residents were sometimes served by going all the way to Orange Hospital in Orange, New Jersey. Urban areas could support medical facilities to perform complex surgeries.
Costs had increased from the 1930's but were still low. One financial record in l972 shows doctors visits were up to $11 to $15 per visit, Newton Hospital's radiologist charged $4 to read xrays and all patient bills were sent to the insurer, Prudential Insurance of America, Medicare B Division, for reimbursement. It appears that Medicare paid the hospital bill of about $100 per day or less.
As employers competed for a depleted work force following WWII, they found that offering medical insurance was an incentive for hiring men. That optional offering morphed into the entitlement situation that currently exists. When an employee is cut out of his job, he loses his health benefits which affects his entire family. This evolved into one of the deciding factors for the present state of the Affordable Care Act, justifying many insuring entities instead of more efficient centralization.
Employer coverage is not taken lightly by someone in the job force. The threat of losing medical coverage supplied by an employer's pooled coverage is mainly because of the difference in cost. A company writes more favorable terms for a client with many employees who do not make claims for coverage. The employer, in turn, looks for young and healthy employees so the insurer will give him the lowest rates.
Independent coverage can also have terms dictated by the insurer which often meant that coverage could be denied for preexisting conditions, making it prohibitively expensive to be a single policy.
Regardless of the political posturing, having a central government-run healthcare entity is the most efficient. Canada, England, France, Germany, Italy, and most of the rest of the world has taken steps to assure that their citizens are covered by basic health services. Having a centralized offering worked for them but the United States has been reluctant to change.
This bring us to Obamacare.
Yep.
It looks like we may be taking a huge step forward by taking some small steps backward. Or is it the other way around? We are taking the first step forward to get back to what we had before...before medical overheads and drug costs became so enormous that they could lead to bankruptcy, or before employers figured insurance consequences were part of a resume...
My opinion is that we have nothing to lose by giving it a chance. We could be worse off if insurers continued to dictate vital terms of service and medical emergency rooms continued to cope with costs from uninsured patients.
America rocks.
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