So we have a new president elect (who shall remain nameless). My biggest problem with him is that he claims he will dismantle the Affordable Care Act. This is a serious issue. I do not give a rat's a$$ about political partisanship or how Hillary is a liar or whatever label you want to put on anyone. I only care about health care for those of us sick people.
What if health insurance was taken away from all of us chronically sick people? That would be murder essentially for many people who can't afford their health insurance and are seriously ill. And if they don't die, they would be bankrupt.
This is a serious problem. I am not sure how health insurance could be taken away from someone once they get it. But if the insurance was cut back so it wasn't really providing the needed coverage, that is different.
I see this as a fine line that needs to be watched carefully. I can understand if he wants to reorganize it and change how it is funded, but not how he could change the actual coverage and financial benefits it provides.
Hmmmm.... I will be watching.
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Showing posts with label government. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 16, 2016
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Putting a deadline on cancer
The government, in all its brilliance, has put a deadline on breast cancer. They want to make it go away by 2020. Seriously, they gave breast cancer a deadline to go away. How many smart politicians were involved in this bill (H.R. 3067?? There is even a non profit, Breast Cancer 2020 which is the National Breast Cancer Coalition's strategic arm, behind them urging them on, complete with a website counting down till Jan 1 2020. They state:
"NBCC's mission is to eradicate breast cancer by designing and acting on effective strategies addressed to the administration, Congress, research institutions and health care providers to end this disease. The Coalition informs, trains, and directs patients and others in effective advocacy efforts. Nationwide, the women and men we have trained are shaping breast cancer public policy by participating in legislative, scientific and regulatory decisions; promoting critical analysis of breast cancer information, media coverage and actively working to change all systems that affect our mission to eradicate breast cancer."
A friend, diagnosed with a later stage breast cancer, told me about the bill. I had already heard about the organization but I have thought they were a bit ridiculous. How did they pick this deadline? How do they plan to meet it? A congressional act will help but research breakthroughs don't happen on schedule, they happen when they happen. And if the FDA gets involved and anything has to go through the clinical trial process, according to BC2020's clock, we only have 7 years, 310 days, and 15+ hours to get approval.
The more I think about it, the dumber I think it is:
I am not impressed. This strategy is too focused and doesn't account for too many issues. If I could give it a rating, I would give it 5 stars for effort, 3 stars for strategy, and 1 star for brilliance.
"NBCC's mission is to eradicate breast cancer by designing and acting on effective strategies addressed to the administration, Congress, research institutions and health care providers to end this disease. The Coalition informs, trains, and directs patients and others in effective advocacy efforts. Nationwide, the women and men we have trained are shaping breast cancer public policy by participating in legislative, scientific and regulatory decisions; promoting critical analysis of breast cancer information, media coverage and actively working to change all systems that affect our mission to eradicate breast cancer."
A friend, diagnosed with a later stage breast cancer, told me about the bill. I had already heard about the organization but I have thought they were a bit ridiculous. How did they pick this deadline? How do they plan to meet it? A congressional act will help but research breakthroughs don't happen on schedule, they happen when they happen. And if the FDA gets involved and anything has to go through the clinical trial process, according to BC2020's clock, we only have 7 years, 310 days, and 15+ hours to get approval.
The more I think about it, the dumber I think it is:
- A Congressional act and media coverage will greatly help in eradicating breast cancer - NOT.
- They want to eradicate what part of breast cancer? The cause, find a cure, or what? They talk about getting everyone to work together but to what end?
- And if this is all about ending breast cancer, what about curing those of us who have already had it? Especially all the women who have late stage disease?
- What about other types of cancer? I think there are over 1.6 million cancer diagnoses in the US each year of which 220,000 are breast cancer but what about the 1.38 million people facing other cancer diagnoses.
I am not impressed. This strategy is too focused and doesn't account for too many issues. If I could give it a rating, I would give it 5 stars for effort, 3 stars for strategy, and 1 star for brilliance.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Not a political post
This is not a political post but I admit it is slanted towards politics. We are all aware of how our elected representatives in both houses of Congress have been playing a long game of 'its my way or the highway' and end up at cliff hanger votes at the last minute. Well these lovely leaders are at it again. The payroll tax vote was rejected by the Senate and they went home until after the first of the year. Why am I blogging about the payroll tax vote? I am not.
I am blogging about the fact that tied in with that vote are several other issues including the unemployment extension, some stupid pipeline thing and the 650,000 doctors who treat medicare patients are facing steep drops in compensation on January 18. That is what I care about. I am ignore all the other crap tied in with this one vote that is the current holiday stale fruitcake that will be left to kicked in to a corner somewhere in January. (I do realize that there are a lot of people affected by the other things tied in with the vote who are also stressed - I do acknowledge their issues but they are outside the realm of my blog.)
People who rely on Medicare are now stressed and worried through their holidays because the politicians are idiots and only care about their own egos than then people they represent. "The “vote seriously destabilizes Medicare, and causes anxiety for physicians and seniors who depend on it,’’ said Lynda Young, Massachusetts Medical Society president, in a statement yesterday."
If there is a backlog in processing claims because the vote is not taken, the Medicare computers will likely crash causing even more problems. Too bad the politicians don't remember that the seniors who use Medicare are the most likely to vote. But this isn't a political post.
I am blogging about the fact that tied in with that vote are several other issues including the unemployment extension, some stupid pipeline thing and the 650,000 doctors who treat medicare patients are facing steep drops in compensation on January 18. That is what I care about. I am ignore all the other crap tied in with this one vote that is the current holiday stale fruitcake that will be left to kicked in to a corner somewhere in January. (I do realize that there are a lot of people affected by the other things tied in with the vote who are also stressed - I do acknowledge their issues but they are outside the realm of my blog.)
People who rely on Medicare are now stressed and worried through their holidays because the politicians are idiots and only care about their own egos than then people they represent. "The “vote seriously destabilizes Medicare, and causes anxiety for physicians and seniors who depend on it,’’ said Lynda Young, Massachusetts Medical Society president, in a statement yesterday."
If there is a backlog in processing claims because the vote is not taken, the Medicare computers will likely crash causing even more problems. Too bad the politicians don't remember that the seniors who use Medicare are the most likely to vote. But this isn't a political post.
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