Asherman's hearing loss worsening

Sorry to hear about your situation, but glad to hear your wife is doing better. Hope everything takes a better turn soon. Take care of yourself.

Gee, Asherman, I am sorry for your troubles.

As depressing and frustrating as things seem at the moment, we will be alright. This whole situation is a "wake-up call" in that it reminds us of how easily we've become attached to a certain style of living. All things pass, and all is illusory. Our suffering is directly proportional to our attachment to things that ultimately have little value. Ok, I get it.

Now, please can I have back my toyes? Please?

That is the Asherman we know and love.

I feel your pain though. I just had a little visit to the ER myself for a stupid little accident. Cost me a pretty penny all out of pocket. In the mean time, our neighboor who can't seem to stop having children she can't afford, barely works enough to cover rent every month (but has satellite TV and a TV in every room of the house), yet has state paid for health insurance. Badger Care: "The best Health Care Somebody Else Can Buy for You" should be their motto.

I could never qualify for it. I work and am responsible enough to not have kids because we know we can't afford it right now.

Ash


Ash, sadly you and Natalie have come face to face with the health care crisis in this country. As a staunch conservative, are you ready to consider the merits of a national single payer national health care plan for everyone?

My greatest fear is that my daughter will face the same problems you've experienced. My son also is at risk because he's unable to perform his normal work until he has both knees replaced, which means that health insurance based on a job is lost. Our A2K friend, Dyslexia, had the same huge hospital bill problem when he had his stroke last year and, with a now pre-existing condition, is denied health insurance even if he could pay the premiums.

Something is dreadfull wrong with this. We must end health insurance coverage linked to employment. This was a great idea when it was started during WWII. But it is no longer a viable platform for having medical insurance.

BBB

http://www.pnhp.org/

"Health care is an essential safeguard of human life and dignity and there is an obligation for society to ensure that every person be able to realize this right."... Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Chicago Archdiocese

Physicians for a National Health Program is a not-for-profit organization of physicians, medical students, and other health care professionals that support a national health insurance (NHI) program. Specifically, we believe that a single-payer system (where the government finances health care, but keeps the delivery of health care to mostly private control) is the only solution to solving the United States' many health care problems: 43 million citizens with no health insurance, many more with only limited coverage, skyrocketing health insurance premiums, malpractice costs, long-term care issues, and relatively poor health indicators, when compared to similar industrialized nations.

PNHP has already played a critical role in building public awareness of the single-payer alternative. We published the first major single payer proposal in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1989. Our plans for quality improvement, financing, and for reforming long-term care, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, sparked discussion and media coverage. PNHP members have addressed hundreds of grand rounds and conferences, testified before dozens of federal and state legislative committees, spearheaded single-payer efforts in several states, and worked extensively with the media and local community groups to educate the public. Members receive our quarterly newsletter, have access to PNHP slide sets and other resource materials, and are invited to participate in policy-setting national meetings and to be involved in our over two dozen local chapters.

We believe that the current malaise afflicting health policy debate will be short lived; that bold and articulate advocacy for national health insurance can coalesce the broad constituency for change. Please join us in insisting that medicine be a public service, not a business.

---Dr. Quentin Young

The national single payer plan details:
http://www.pnhp.org/publications/a_national_health_program_for_the_united_states.php

Asherman--

Sometimes life is one damn thing after another.

Hold your dominion.

Bush Health Care: Catching Up With Canada
Opinion: Bush Health Care: Catching Up With Canada
By Nicholas Kristof
10/5/05

In a sign of the growing disenchantment with our health system, 13,000 doctors have joined Physicians for a National Health Program, which lobbies for a single-payer government-financed health program.

There are four main problems with the existing system. First, it leaves out 45 million uninsured Americans, and their number is rising. Second, it is by far the most expensive in the world, costing 15 percent of our national income, yet our outcomes are awful - U.S. life expectancy is worse than Costa Rica's. Third, our business competitiveness is undermined when, for example, medical expenses add $1,500 to the sticker of each General Motors car. Fourth, our system is catastrophically inefficient: according to a study in The New England Journal of Medicine, health administrative costs are $1,059 per capita in the U.S., and just $307 in Canada....

Whatever the mechanism, all children should be covered. It's a disgrace that we use public funds to save the lives of nonagenarians but not those of 9-year-olds. And kids are a bargain: per capita medical spending is $1,525 for children less than 5, and $9,000 per person aged 65 to 74. A second principle is that we should put less emphasis on curative medicine and more on public health and prevention - everything from preparing for avian flu to encouraging exercise... as a wise new book, "Prescription for a Healthy Nation," argues, you get more bang for the buck when you promote healthier lifestyles - fighting obesity, cigarette smoking and the like....

Reforming the health system won't be easy. In the real world, poor kids don't see doctors not only because they're uninsured, but also because Mom doesn't have a car, can't easily get time off from work, or doesn't speak English. Those are hard nuts to crack - but one reason to think that we can do better is that much of the world does better....Isn't it worth fighting one more time for reforms, so that we Americans can get health care every bit as good as Canada's?

BBB
I visited Natalie in the hospital this morning. She is doing better, but still has a way to go before she can come home. As of now, it looks like she will have a total of six weeks of hospitalization---and no health insurance. A savings buster.

BBB

Asherman's wife finally home from hospital
I visited Asherman at his home yesterday. Natalie was at the pharmacy getting prescriptions. Ash will kill me for telling you this, but he was resplendent in Natalie's pink chenille robe as he loafed around the house for a day of relaxation. I always knew there was something weird about him. :wink: :wink: :wink:

Ash's youngest son and daughter-in-law flew in last night from San Francisco to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.

To bring you up to date with Natalie's illness. She was in the hospital for nearly three months. Their medical bills are beginning to look like the national debt due to no health insurance and Natalie being too young by two years for Medicare,

Natalie was released from the hospital because she no longer needs IV antibiotics. Now comes the expensive pill drugs at home.

Asherman, being a Buddhist, is taking all of this with a fatalistic outlook.

Glad you are home, Natalie.

Ash, please get yourself a manly robe.

BBB

Re: Asherman's wife finally home from hospital



Perhaps something in lilac would be better...

Hmmm, I myself don't answer the door if people drop by, whatever robe I'm wearing. (Presently in my navy blue, burgundy, green, and gold one.)
Did you call first?
If so, he may be truly free in spirit re others' opinions.

Nope, I dropped in following my departure from a doctor appointment.

I didn't make a single comment about the robe. Neither did Ash except to say he was indulging in a lounging day. We both laughed. He offered me coffee, but I declined, not wanting to spoil the moment.

BBB

What a picture, BBB!

You realize, of course, that you will have to choose something equally eyecatching to wear when you visit them the next time.

Eva


Will my gownless evening strap be OK?

BBB

Sure, if it's okay with Natalie.

I'd stay with the theme, though. Something manly would be funny.

O.K. The leopard skin thong was in the laundry.

Yer a good sport, Asherman...

<I still have my faux leopardskin slippers on>

Pictures, people! PICTURES!!!!!