ZERO PAGES

Zero Pages -----the perfect Republican health care bill and that is just what they passed the last eight years.

Whew, it is going to be a long month in December if they are going to be blowing the hot air back and forth, to and fro for the month and/or longer.

I know exactly what Medicare Advantage programs are.....they are a huge advantage for the corporations. If you happen to have a condition that needs the attention of a specialist outside their "ahem" NETWORK you will find out just how little choice you have. You will eat up valuable time trying to persuade them to approve an outside specialist and if they do for a one time appointment, if you need to continue with this specific physician out of network, you will in all probability pay full out of pocket costs.

Then there is the doozy of a prescription coverage plan --well it really does rate an F for failure instead of a D for dumb....... requiring seniors and others to continue paying a coverage premium when at the donut dropoff you get none........coverage that is, but in the curious way that everything is set up to benefit the corporations now in this country, the screaming and hollering should be cacophonous at such usury.

And no negotiating to favor the enrollees and if you don't enrol you are made to pay an interest rate for life when you do decide to enrol ...... who dreamed that one up, arm twisting for sure. Larcenous?

Not exactly a season to be jolly that's for certain.


graysmoke

PULLING RABBITS OUT OF THE HAT

If you think that is quite a trick, then you ought to get a bang from watching the Sunday morning lineup on the weekly misinformation shows.

Displaying the unbelievable metamorphosis of the R's, becoming instantly knowledgeable on inauguration day 2009 of how to fix everything that they had ignored, neglected, or denied for eight years. Polishing up their newly minted knowledge was Kay Hutchison, John Kyl, the Cheney daughter (that qualifies her as a political strategist, in case you have ever wondered about that label), Marcia Blackburn, and mislabeled Independent Joe Leiberman plus assorted others.

Those broadcasts are getting so very HO-HUM.


graysmoke

wrench-man

Who is dotting T's and crossing i's????

And why?

I'm talking here about "-id" and not "-ak" - just so you will know, as in Stup.

Was he a Pitt tool?

And now he is acting oh so innocent.

Ah the stench of politics.

TA-TA LOUIE

Dobbs is leaving CNN pronto........good, now if some of the vomit kings on Fox would do the same maybe cable media could hope to clean itself up.

Not many details on LD's sudden exit......

I stopped watching him many moons ago only catching fly-bys when channel surfing, enough to confimr his continued descent into being overly absorbed by his irrationality regarding some immigrants.


graysmoke

AVOIDABLE?

Has the FBI again fumbled the ball? It sure looks that way---- time to replace Mueller? YES.

There are too many haystacks built unnecessarily by the ceaseless paranoid "SECURITY" screenings that now make life miserable. Will removing shoes at airports have helped identify Hasan as a threat? NO. But these senseless security pursuits result in such a surfeit of data to be processed that the system can never get to the actual culprits that need surveillance and apprehension for further evaluating.

Just as in 9/11 there were signs......plenty of signs.....that Hasan was a truly potential threat.

As days pass I feel sure there will be more revelations of how near the danger point the Major was. A human IED.


graysmoke

HOW TRUTH IS AVOIDED

Of course I am watching the House debate the 3692 bill for health care reform.

It demonstrates precisely the divide between the two dominant political parties and how the congressional power is distributed among them at this point in history. The R's are confidant that they could do it cheaper and better, but one must ask - then why didn't they in the past eight years. And they perform brilliantly on the politically acceptable form of lying. Just edit what you want to do to slant the real text of the bill. They never mention that the misinformation about Medicare cuts, does not apply to regular Medicare benefits, but to the C programs otherwise called Medicare Advantage. The advantage goes to the corporations, huge subsidies transfer money from the government ( everyone's taxes) to the corporations which then maximize profits by denying coverages, not approving any out-of-network consulting or strictly limiting it and then in their compensation packages reward the top echelon with levels of bonuses etc that are beyond the average workers comprehension.

For the last twenty-two years I have lived in 55+ adult communities and have learned much about different coverages. And how they apply in the real world. Here's an example: I have a brother-in-law with a rare eye condition, he needed to see one of two specialists that had knowledge of the treatment and management of his condition. After a tedious period of begging for approval to go outside the network for one of those - he was over time granted three consults and no more......so they now pay out-of-pocket so that he can continue to have the services for this anomaly with the out-of-network specialist. No middle of the road solution where the carrier HMO would at least pay the amount they would allow if he were seeing an in-network physician.

My such a neat way to fatten up the bottom line for the corporation. This is all too common. And that is what is being addressed in the reform bill. Remember this when the R's keep harping on medicare cuts. Don't fall for their selective lying.


graysmoke

New Term/Congress

Lately I have become so bored with the cold molasses speed of Congress that I have invented a new adjective.

So roll the drums, and toot the horns, please!

coddlymollowing

I think that is very descriptive........there are aggressive forms of this and passive forms.

The parties use one form when in opposition to legislation and the other form when affirmation is the goal. So make a game of coddlymollowing while waiting for the molasses to thaw!

graysmoke

H1N1 PRIORITY GROUPS

For those of us over 64 - I guess we are viewed as expendable. I don't quite buy the rationale that perhaps some flu we have had in the past may have been similar to H1N1 and therefore we may have some resistance - resulting in a less serious illness and less mortality.

Cutting the age off at 64 for those with underlying conditions is very poor selection criteria because some of the underlying conditions may be more serious in those older than 64 and also it smacks of age discrimination which isn't permissible.

I also think that those individuals who think they may have the H1N1 should see their physicians and have the swab testing to confirm or vice versa. Think of what anxiety could be avoided if one has already had it and survived, no more waiting for vaccines that may become available too late anyway.

Like so many things attempted in the USA, not having enough lab resources to produce the vaccine in the quantities required and in time to provide the maximum protection, seems to again be a case of where smaller would be better, meaning if it is taking longer for the egg injection of the virus to develop to where it is ready for the next step- then having smaller but more facilities would enable the producers to time programs to minimize this problem.

Will this turn out to be a winter of worry? Seems that is a certainty for those not in the priority groupings.


graysmoke