First, Congress should kill this sorry excuse for a Health Care Reform Bill.
Second, Joe Lieberman should be stripped of his Chairmanship, then Kicked the Fuck out of the Democratic Caucus….loudly and soundly.
Third, Democrats should abandon Bipartisanship, come up with a Single Payer Bill, and ram that fucker through…
Reconciliation sounds good.
Dems have the Majority…what’s the fucking problem/?
A much slimmer Majority of Republicans held us all hostage during Lil George…
Is it that the Dems are too nice?
Or is it, as I suspect, a lack of Spine/Stones?
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
Pain makes ya bored
A "Stop health Care Reform!" advertisment appears next to my Blog!
What can one do in the face of such incredible, well-funded, rediculousness?
I managed to plant 2 beds of Garlic and set 2 (very heavy) steel posts...in the last week.
Rest of the time, I've been laying here, in a vicodin haze....
Neck-down pain.
I'm doing good to do the laundry and dishes.
And cook.
Gotta earn my keep, after all.
My wife is very understanding....
The Depression that inevitably results from being a couch creature is almost as bad as the pain.
Daytime Tv...sucks.
I've watched all the dvd's we've collected over the years....and I read, a lot.
Now, it appears that my eyesight is in trouble.
The walmart magnifyers (x2.5) no longer do the trick.
Add "real glasses" to the list of health related things I can't afford.
sigh.
Still waiting for the county "indigent care" chick to get back to me....perhaps she'll have good news.
And I reapplied for Disability/SSI...for what it's worth.
Preemptively, I asked the (very nice) woman if i could get my employment records.....
Last time I applied, I got all the dates and stuff wrong...only to find out that they had the correct info right in front of them.(duh! they're Social Security...)
I was told it would cost me $57 to get my records.
Not gonna matter, anyway...my "credits" have decreased in the last 3.5-4 years...and I am probably not eligable for Disability/SSI.
Won't know for sure for a very long time, I suppose...given the glacial pace of these things.
One good piece of news...Doc upped my dosage of Vicodin...so I can take what's necessary without running out.
I'm still quite miserly, tho....Titration, and all.
With news being the only, somewhat, intelligent thing on TV during the day....I surf through all those channels.
Even Fox.
The "Debate" on health is an endless source of hollerin' at the boob Tube.
Bachmann's nutty Tea Party at the capital, yeaterday, marked the end of my Tolerance.
I switched it off and attempted to sleep.
Today, I've been sending irate e-mails to the AstroTurfers...including the RNC.
And I know that it will not make a difference.
They don't even hear contradictory opinions.
It's like arguing with Geese.
What can one do in the face of such incredible, well-funded, rediculousness?
I managed to plant 2 beds of Garlic and set 2 (very heavy) steel posts...in the last week.
Rest of the time, I've been laying here, in a vicodin haze....
Neck-down pain.
I'm doing good to do the laundry and dishes.
And cook.
Gotta earn my keep, after all.
My wife is very understanding....
The Depression that inevitably results from being a couch creature is almost as bad as the pain.
Daytime Tv...sucks.
I've watched all the dvd's we've collected over the years....and I read, a lot.
Now, it appears that my eyesight is in trouble.
The walmart magnifyers (x2.5) no longer do the trick.
Add "real glasses" to the list of health related things I can't afford.
sigh.
Still waiting for the county "indigent care" chick to get back to me....perhaps she'll have good news.
And I reapplied for Disability/SSI...for what it's worth.
Preemptively, I asked the (very nice) woman if i could get my employment records.....
Last time I applied, I got all the dates and stuff wrong...only to find out that they had the correct info right in front of them.(duh! they're Social Security...)
I was told it would cost me $57 to get my records.
Not gonna matter, anyway...my "credits" have decreased in the last 3.5-4 years...and I am probably not eligable for Disability/SSI.
Won't know for sure for a very long time, I suppose...given the glacial pace of these things.
One good piece of news...Doc upped my dosage of Vicodin...so I can take what's necessary without running out.
I'm still quite miserly, tho....Titration, and all.
With news being the only, somewhat, intelligent thing on TV during the day....I surf through all those channels.
Even Fox.
The "Debate" on health is an endless source of hollerin' at the boob Tube.
Bachmann's nutty Tea Party at the capital, yeaterday, marked the end of my Tolerance.
I switched it off and attempted to sleep.
Today, I've been sending irate e-mails to the AstroTurfers...including the RNC.
And I know that it will not make a difference.
They don't even hear contradictory opinions.
It's like arguing with Geese.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
bootstraps and healthcare
I sent this letter to both "my" senators, and my "representative", today:
"I am 39 years old. Almost 20 years ago, I had a wreck…broke my right hip, left ankle messed up my knees and my left eye. I had insurance at the time, and was rebuilt. I learned how to walk again and returned to work and attended college.
The insurance company soon “dropped” me and I haven’t had insurance since. With “preexisting conditions”; it is either too expensive, or simply unavailable.
I have known for almost two decades that I would need certain procedures at this time in my life. However, I could find no way of preparing for this eventuality, myself.
Now, the time has finally arrived. I am disabled.
Handicapped.
A cripple.
A new hip is needed…as well as an ankle fusion, laser surgery on my eyelid to remove eyelashes that “grow the wrong way”, and (my doctor tells me) a new knee in the near future.
The nearest hospital informs me, cheerfully, that the “estimated” cost is somewhere north of $80,000…not including the cost of a hospital stay, the anesthesiologist, and all manner of “incidental” fees that no one seems to be able to predict.
Physical therapy, to help me learn to walk (a third time) was never mentioned…I assume that I’m on my own, there, as well.
I have been out of work for 3.5 years now…I was a chef/cook, and could no longer handle the job. The pain was too great.
Since then, I’ve been a marginally effective house-husband and stay-at-home dad.
This is not without its rewards, but they are intangible…and the welfare of my family suffers with me out of commission.
I applied for Disability 3.5 years ago, when it became clear that this was not a temporary condition, and that the long awaited date of reckoning had arrived.
I have been denied, repeatedly, in this process. Sent to a psychiatrist (?), and “their” orthopedic doctor, who took x-rays of my back and left knee, and pronounced me healthy. My back, left knee and mind have never been at issue.
I borrowed money, and went to another “bone doctor”, who said I was, in his words, “screwed” and in need of a hip and ankle-fusion immediately.
This was more than a year ago.
In November of ’08, I had a hearing with a Judge, by video. I received the decision, in April,’09…denied.
This Judge, obviously harried…overworked, understaffed…spent two out of nine pages denying that I was “mentally disabled”, (due to my honesty on a form.I am depressed but this was never at issue..) and denying the rest…based on “their” bone guy, and a whole host of non-doctor “bureaucrats”.
My doctors, with the exception of a guy I saw in ’05, were dismissed.
Also, it seems that since a doctor never “ordered” me to use a cane, or the various braces and supports I use every day, or to elevate my legs, that I am somehow not genuine.
From the beginning of this process, I have been made to feel, by turns, as if I were a liar, a cheat, a traitor and a bad person, in general.
There has been no compassion, no sympathy given me. Just interminable waiting and procedures unrelated to the conditions I allege make me “disabled”.
The system is broken.
For profit healthcare is a colossal failure.
The disability system is a catastrophe…as a direct result of budget cuts and the resultant staff reductions.
I will lie here, disintegrating, while you people argue about “socialism” and “bootstraps” and “rationing” and the poor, poor corporations who designed this horrid system having to “compete” with a public system.
Meanwhile, I am expected to pay, even if my “share” is negligible, for your’ own excellent healthcare.
My “bootstraps” were boiled and eaten years ago.
If/when my final appeal fails, I will be left with no alternative but to try to borrow more money and go to Cuba…where the same procedures cost less than one third of what I was quoted here.
You can be certain that should that come to pass, my entire experience will end up on You-Tube, for all to see.
Please, try to remember who you supposedly work for.
I am not a corporation.
I am not rich.
I don’t “contribute” to anyone’s campaign.
I am an American, a fifth generation Texan.
And I need a hand up.
Thank you,
...etc"
I expect nothing to come from this...unless I end up in Cuba.Then they'll be REALLY interested.
Ya hafta be a Fetus to get these folks to care about your health.
,
"I am 39 years old. Almost 20 years ago, I had a wreck…broke my right hip, left ankle messed up my knees and my left eye. I had insurance at the time, and was rebuilt. I learned how to walk again and returned to work and attended college.
The insurance company soon “dropped” me and I haven’t had insurance since. With “preexisting conditions”; it is either too expensive, or simply unavailable.
I have known for almost two decades that I would need certain procedures at this time in my life. However, I could find no way of preparing for this eventuality, myself.
Now, the time has finally arrived. I am disabled.
Handicapped.
A cripple.
A new hip is needed…as well as an ankle fusion, laser surgery on my eyelid to remove eyelashes that “grow the wrong way”, and (my doctor tells me) a new knee in the near future.
The nearest hospital informs me, cheerfully, that the “estimated” cost is somewhere north of $80,000…not including the cost of a hospital stay, the anesthesiologist, and all manner of “incidental” fees that no one seems to be able to predict.
Physical therapy, to help me learn to walk (a third time) was never mentioned…I assume that I’m on my own, there, as well.
I have been out of work for 3.5 years now…I was a chef/cook, and could no longer handle the job. The pain was too great.
Since then, I’ve been a marginally effective house-husband and stay-at-home dad.
This is not without its rewards, but they are intangible…and the welfare of my family suffers with me out of commission.
I applied for Disability 3.5 years ago, when it became clear that this was not a temporary condition, and that the long awaited date of reckoning had arrived.
I have been denied, repeatedly, in this process. Sent to a psychiatrist (?), and “their” orthopedic doctor, who took x-rays of my back and left knee, and pronounced me healthy. My back, left knee and mind have never been at issue.
I borrowed money, and went to another “bone doctor”, who said I was, in his words, “screwed” and in need of a hip and ankle-fusion immediately.
This was more than a year ago.
In November of ’08, I had a hearing with a Judge, by video. I received the decision, in April,’09…denied.
This Judge, obviously harried…overworked, understaffed…spent two out of nine pages denying that I was “mentally disabled”, (due to my honesty on a form.I am depressed but this was never at issue..) and denying the rest…based on “their” bone guy, and a whole host of non-doctor “bureaucrats”.
My doctors, with the exception of a guy I saw in ’05, were dismissed.
Also, it seems that since a doctor never “ordered” me to use a cane, or the various braces and supports I use every day, or to elevate my legs, that I am somehow not genuine.
From the beginning of this process, I have been made to feel, by turns, as if I were a liar, a cheat, a traitor and a bad person, in general.
There has been no compassion, no sympathy given me. Just interminable waiting and procedures unrelated to the conditions I allege make me “disabled”.
The system is broken.
For profit healthcare is a colossal failure.
The disability system is a catastrophe…as a direct result of budget cuts and the resultant staff reductions.
I will lie here, disintegrating, while you people argue about “socialism” and “bootstraps” and “rationing” and the poor, poor corporations who designed this horrid system having to “compete” with a public system.
Meanwhile, I am expected to pay, even if my “share” is negligible, for your’ own excellent healthcare.
My “bootstraps” were boiled and eaten years ago.
If/when my final appeal fails, I will be left with no alternative but to try to borrow more money and go to Cuba…where the same procedures cost less than one third of what I was quoted here.
You can be certain that should that come to pass, my entire experience will end up on You-Tube, for all to see.
Please, try to remember who you supposedly work for.
I am not a corporation.
I am not rich.
I don’t “contribute” to anyone’s campaign.
I am an American, a fifth generation Texan.
And I need a hand up.
Thank you,
...etc"
I expect nothing to come from this...unless I end up in Cuba.Then they'll be REALLY interested.
Ya hafta be a Fetus to get these folks to care about your health.
,
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