First, go read this comic to get a smile on your face. Then go get a caffeinated substance and come back (or wait until your brain is functioning for the day) and check this link for statistics on what Americans think about health care reform and if they are able to pay for insurance, medical care, etc and what they think about the troops Afghanistan and the president - all very 'light' topics to start the day.
First I found it interesting that the local TV station focused on a very small number of points from the report - I think they call this skimming the highlights. I read the damn thing. Its 22 pages. I got a second cup of the coffee while halfway through (not that is boring but I ran out of coffee). What does the report tell me:
- There are lots of confused Americans about health care reform and no one really knows how we will figure out a new plan.
- Most Americans do go to the doctor regularly and have insurance.
- The targets of health care reform are going to be insurance companies and hospitals. (What about medical companies who see their products expensively here to pay for 'research' but are available much cheaper out of the US?)
- All the sin taxes are going up - cigarettes, alcohol, etc. - to pay for these changes.
- Finally, most people like the president, what he is doing, and the economy's direction. I am not sure how this fits into a survey on medical issues and health care reform, but they snuck it in.
How does this report help us? I am not sure. It does allow us to be confused in places and overwhelmed with data in others but it also gives us a snapshot of where we are. Perhaps it will be more significant if they can go back in six months and show us what people think on the health care issues (not the political crap) as compared to now. Then we mght be able to better judge it.
But now that you are all bored to death. I am working from home, making broccoli soup, and going for a walk with a friend this morning. She got pneumonia about the same time I sprained my ankle so we have resorted to the more fattening coffee options for quite a while. Today is our first walk since sometime in early July. We will go slow and stay on flat ground - along the lakes where it is pretty - and not go too far. But I really have to work first. None of this internet stuff this morning for me... Well, maybe a little.
1 comment:
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The research, conducted by doctors at Brigham Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, said that until now there was the idea that there was a preventive effect of aspirin and other pain relievers, both cancer and the problems heart.
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