We had 16 attendees, from our county, Kendall, and two other counties, Kerr and Bexar. We discussed the current health care system and took a head count of those who have private health insurance. There were 3 who had private health insurance. The others are covered by Tricare for Life, Medicare and a federal retiree program. Those were not subject to health insurance programs (employer based, non Medicare), were very concerned that their family members did not have insurance, as well as the fact that a large number of local families, who are not retirees, are uninsured. The overwhelming thought was that we need SINGLE PAYER healthcare, covering everyone.
Obviously we saw the benefits of single payer health care as a way to decrease national cost, cover everyone in the nation, and make our nation more competitive with most of the cilvilzed world, where their populations are covered by national health care.
In addition, we discussed the myth of "socialized medicine" and discussed the benefits of healthcare in other countries, as we were fortunate to have attendees who were originally from other nations and could speak to their health care experiences. In addition, our foreign diplomats (retired) also spoke on their experiences.
We decided to have an event that would hopefully include local Republican health care providers who have seen the difficulties billing for health care reimbursement (ethically speaking) and others that are single payer advocates. We are to seek out the single payer advocates, inviite them to speak June 27th, and invite the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center for blood donations, and teh American Red Cross to discuss CPR/AED. We are not sure if we can accomplish this, but we will try to do so.
We have worked our fannies off to go to the inauguration, the first time in 36 years of marriage that we have done something this spur of the moment, and then find that Rev. Warren will give the invocation? That's not making us very happy. I don't like the evangelicals in my own family and then this?
Why not Rev. Jim Wallis or the Rector of Riverside Church? Oh I am not happy.
I woke this morning to a beautiful Tx Hill Country fall day, the leaves have just turned orange on our native plum tree and the red was starting on the top of our big tooth maple tree, and Obama is now the President-elect, what more could anyone ask for?
Placido sent me this email, and I am sharing with as many people as possible. Please consider writing, calling or emailing Senators Harry Reid, Daniel Akaka and Carl Levin and stressing the importance and the need for a South Texas VA hospital. It is entirely too much to expect veterans to come all the way to San Antonio from way south Texas.
Thanks,
Sally Tarasoff (USAR veteran)
Kendall County Democrats will have a huge float in the Labor Day Parade in Boerne, Texas on Aug. 28th. The parade is at 10 am down Main St. in Boerne. Ya'll come by!
The donkey's name is -- Audassity.
Give me a break. Puhleez. Grampy McCain, et al, just get over it. Grampy mentioned the dollar bill images in June, but now it's news? Well, how else does Grampy get in the news cycle, I guess. The whole thing is just total crap brought to us by the media, who hype stuff that is meaningless in order to get us to watch their sad, pathetic 24-7 so-called news. When most of the people at Obama rallys are WHITE people, how the heck can you even speak of racism and make it believable? Oh, duh, Americans can be so gullible, after all if you say it often enough, you can make it seem true...ask George Bush and Co. They catapulted the propaganda and lied to us enough than many believed Saddam caused 9/11. See, how stupid we are? So now will we fall for that kind of BS and believe Obama is pulling the race card? Only if we are stupid. I am sick of this crap and sick of the lies.
All the baloney in the latest news cycle brings me back to a post on another blog that I have about bento boxes. I am proud that my family encompasses three (or more) racial/ethic groups. We are quintessentially what makes up the fabric of our nation, a veritable tapestry of humanity, with many ideas, many foods, many traditions, all of which help make our country a better place -- and can do so, if we just stop bickering about our differences and instead embrace and enjoy our differences. And how do we start? FOOD. Food is what brings us together, we like food, and we like ethnic food. So if the food is so good, what is the matter with the people??? Huh???? Tell me that one. Oh...they don't look like you. Well, get over it and try to meet people that don't look like you. This might come as a shock to you, but most people in the world really just want to have a family and raise their family in peace, and with love. Doesn't matter where they come from or what their religion, etc. They just want to raise good kids. So, take a step up to the plate and as you embrace that Mexican, Cuban, Thai, Chinese, and Soul food that tastes so good, go meet the people from that country and thank them for their style of cooking that you love so much. It is a start.
<strong>My previous post on this subject, from last Easter Sunday:</strong>We decided not to celebrate Easter twice this year. For once we will only celebrate Orthodox Easter on April 27th. It worked out great, we relaxed and the grandkids had Easter festivities at the other Grandma's house. I did get the urge to cook, when I discovered our HEB (grocery store) was closed and I had to fix lunch for Monday with what I had in the house.I came up with a Tandoori chicken with leftover greek yogurt, and a sort-of tabbouleh with Manchego cheese, tomatoes and green onion. Mexico meets the middle east so to speak.
We are all looking forward to Orthodox Easter and our favorite foods: Pashka (cheese), Kulich (bread), Mama's blini (crepes, which I have not mastered yet) and piroshki (yeast bread rolls filled with a meat mixture). Yummy. Everybody's favorite is the bread and cheese, even my new son-in-law is a fan, and it is sure very different from the food he grew up with in Puerto Rico, but he loves it.
We are the quintessential American family comprising 6-7 ethnic groups (and 3 racial groups), sharing our foods and customs across the board. We are proud of our various heritages and holidays, celebrating Russian Orthodox Easter, Cinco de Mayo, 4th of July, Dia de los Muertos, Three Kings Day, Martin Luther King Day, and various saints days (Catholic, Orthodox and Episcopalian). We ARE America, we are what makes our country so special and so great....a mix of cultures, ideas, love and faith. Our children and grandchildren are the future of our nation, and the colors of our nation. We are so proud of all of them.
So, in the spirit of rebirth, in this Easter season, please take time to let new ideas take wing. It is time for us to discuss where our nation needs to go, how we put our dreams into action, and how we work for a future for ALL of us, no matter our color, or belief system.
To quote Barack Obama (who we support):
<blockquote>In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper.
In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well. </blockquote>
What does our nation value?
While I was participating at the Texas Democratic Convention in Austin, June 5-7, 2008, my youngest daughter, age 26 (mother of 2) was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She was hospitalized with a blood sugar of over 400 mg/dl, following symptoms of thirst, blurred vision and fatigue, the classic symptoms of diabetes. Prior to this she had been in excellent health, not even a hint of gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with her 2 children.
She has insurance, but it covers very little. The diagnosis was shocking, but the sticker shock for her medications and supplies, which are critical to keeping her alive, was even more stunning.
The statistics:
This week, the total cost for supplies as she was discharged from the hospital (and we shopped around) $700.
My daughter and her husband earn $10 per hour. My daughter’s insurance does not cover medications. What I want you, the reader, to picture, is how they (or you) can manage to live on your salary, pay for a home, raise 2 children, and still afford to pay $700 per month for medication to keep you alive.
It is stunning to me, that in the richest nation in the world, that prides itself on being “number one” we don’t have national health care. No, we would rather allow people like my daughter, to suffer due to lack of care, poor care, no care, or complications from a treatable disease due to lack of funds, rather than save money and help them care for themselves. In other words, we as a nation, would rather pay many times more for emergency room care, and indigent care (which increases our insurance premiums) rather than pay for preventative and maintenance care. This is a national disgrace.
What is even worse, is that during my daughter’s hospitalization, she got one (count ‘em ONE) visit from a diabetic educator and ONE visit from a dietician. How much can a person learn about managing a life threatening disease in one visit? In addition, during her hospitalization, there was no visit from a social worker or anyone else to inform her about what resources were available to her in order for her to find a way to pay for her life sustaining treatment.
As an RN, and her mother, I am outraged at the poor quality of care we offer our citizens. I can help my daughter, and together we will learn the best way to help her manage her diabetes. What happens to others? How do they learn what to do, and how to best care for themselves. How do they afford their medication?
For our family, I hope we can find the proper resources to pay for my daughter’s medication. For the rest of our nation, and others like my daughter, what do we do? How do we resolve this problem? How do we care for those who need assistance?
This is why I believe that a single payer health care plan is the only way to go forward.
Senator Obama, please help all of us.
I will continue to work tirelessly to help you get elected, as I have since June 2007. Remember, my husband and I worked your San Antonio event June 24, 2007, on our 35th wedding anniversary…and we have block walked, phone banked and everything else since that time. Consider those with chronic illness and help improve healthcare for them. After all, what does our nation value, guns and the corporations, or our citizens? I am hoping it is the citizens.
Thank you.
Austin is expensive, no doubt, but there is a hostel!
Sen. Obama, when you are President of the USA, how will you address issues regarding healthcare in America today?
Specifically, will you hold town hall meetings across the county consisting of bedside nurses, nurse's aides, respiratory therapists, and other allied health professionals in order to discuss the issues facing those that deliver the actual bedside care? Will you listen to the thoughts of those who struggle, and try to give compassionate, professional care in a for profit setting, that does not allow professionals to deliver the standard of care that we believe our patients deserve?
Second, as a former US Army Nurse and VA nurse, I would like to know how you will address the top-down change in culture in these facilities? In my experience in the VA, and US Army, I found that healthcare professionals who are well versed in history (i.e. history of US conflicts) can find common ground with their patients, and therefore develop more empathy and compassion for them, if only they know their histories.
For example, I had never heard much about Iniwetok, but took care of military personnel who were there and were exposed to the atom bomb testing. I took care of those who were involved in the Normandy Invasion, the invasion of Siciliy and Italy, and in the North African campaign, the Philippines and Corregidor, etc. Only those who invaded Normandy are recognized by most Americans, because that battle is well known. Those involved in other military battles, such as the invasion of Sicily, Italy, North Africa and later, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama, are also unrecognized. VA and US military staff should know of each of the conflicts, and understand them, and thus be trained to recognize the Veterans of these (and all other campaigns) and learn to value their sacrifices. Until and unless those who take care of our military veterans are well versed in the history that led to the battles in which they were involved, they are likely unable to give these veterans their due respect. Therefore, caregivers in the VA and in military institutions should be well schooled in history, so they can be more respectful of the veterans.
The same goes when it comes to taking care of our civilian elders. They have had a world experience that goes beyond the bounds of high school and college history classes, We must instill in our young folks a hunger to learn the lessons of our nation's history beyond the "blurbs" their school books now have.
National healthcare is more than just health care, it's about our nation as a whole, learning where we have been, and were we must go. It is learning our history, which will teach us volumes.
Most of all, I believe that our healthcare professionals, those who give direct care to patients, deserve more input regarding the things that will help them deliver quality patient care, and we need your help.
Thanks to Oscar Garcia. Check out events for 78006. A nice way to end the day after the Obama event in SA on Tuesday.
http://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/meeting/4rpxk
I want to thank everyone for the GOTV effort prior to the South Carolina primary. 1,200 phone calls, it's amazing!
As a baby boomer, who is strapped by many requirements including work, care of grandchildren, etc. I am thankful that so many people found the time, the will, and the strength to work so hard to get those phone calls made. Many of you were students, and I thank you. Those younger than us boomers are the wealth of our nation, you are our treasure. We are so appreciative that you, the treasure of our nation, and our nation's future were so strongly moved that you got out and worked for what you believed in. Please keep up your strength, your joy, and and your sense of purpose. We need you! We thank you!
Onward to the next primaries!
How positively exciting! ! We were stunned, just stunned when 30 seconds after the polls closed Obama was announced the winner. It was surreal. So we, hunkered down to wait for the results as they came in from each precinct.
Amazing, awesome, and now.....we block walk! GOTV for Barack.
Friday Dec. 21st, from 2 to 4 pm, we will be delivering phone cards at the Audie Murphy VA. The phone cards are provided by Working Assets, now CREDO.
Come on by and help me do the second annual delivery of phone cards! Meet at the volunteer center to the right of the main entrance of the VA.
I heard on the Ed Schultz show that Coloradans are precinct leaders in droves for Obama! Change is what America wants, state by state.
I can't afford to go and help on out of state campaigns for Obama, but if you can, please go!
Ready to go!
The Thought Police are coming....check out this proposed bill. Guess it's ok, (NOT ! ) we already have Big Brother watching all our communications. Hi Big Brother...do I have enough "code words" on this page? Per Randi Rhodes website http://www.therandirhodesshow.com/live/ my favorite radio commentator. I'll supply the links below. _____________________________________THE VIOLENT RADICALIZATION AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM PREVENTION ACT:An Act passed by The House in late October and currently before the Senate Homeland Security Committee is as bad as or WORSE than the McCarthy Era when people were labeled and jailed for anything HE deemed UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES.Language inserted in the act does partially define "homegrown terrorism" as "planning" or "threatening" to use force to promote a political objective, meaning that just thinking about doing something could be enough to merit the terrorist label. The act also describes "violent radicalization" as the promotion of an "extremist belief system" without attempting to define "extremist."Here is the FULL TEXT OF THE BILL:Note Section 899A Homegrown Terrorism where it becomes a crime "to intimidate or coerce the US government, the civilian population or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objective". And Section 899B Paragraph 3 – The internet is a tool of terror._________________Links:S. 1959: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1959 Votes on the Violence, Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorist Act: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2007-993Bringing the War on Terrorism Home: Congress Considers How to 'Disrupt' Radical Movements in the United States. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=7439Philip Giraldi from Huffington Post wrote more about the Act http://www.huffingtonpost.com/philip-giraldi/the-violent-radicalizatio_b_74091.html_______________________________-and who voted yes?Texas Aye TX-1 Gohmert, Louis [R] Aye TX-2 Poe, Ted [R] Aye TX-3 Johnson, Samuel [R] Aye TX-4 Hall, Ralph [R] Aye TX-5 Hensarling, Jeb [R] Aye TX-6 Barton, Joe [R] Aye TX-7 Culberson, John [R] Aye TX-8 Brady, Kevin [R] Aye TX-9 Green, Al [D] Aye TX-10 McCaul, Michael [R] Aye TX-11 Conaway, K. [R] Aye TX-12 Granger, Kay [R] Aye TX-13 Thornberry, William [R] No Vote TX-14 Paul, Ronald [R] Aye TX-15 Hinojosa, Rubén [D] No Vote TX-16 Reyes, Silvestre [D] Aye TX-17 Edwards, Thomas [D] Aye TX-18 Jackson-Lee, Sheila [D] Aye TX-19 Neugebauer, Randy [R] Aye TX-20 Gonzalez, Charles [D] Aye TX-21 Smith, Lamar [R] Aye TX-22 Lampson, Nicholas [D] Aye TX-23 Rodriguez, Ciro [D] Aye TX-24 Marchant, Kenny [R] Aye TX-25 Doggett, Lloyd [D] Aye TX-26 Burgess, Michael [R] Aye TX-27 Ortiz, Solomon [D] Aye TX-28 Cuellar, Henry [D] Aye TX-29 Green, Raymond [D] No Vote TX-30 Johnson, Eddie [D] Aye TX-31 Carter, John [R] Aye TX-32 Sessions, Peter [R]_______________________________________Bringing the War on Terrorism Home: Congress Considers How to 'Disrupt' Radical Movements in the United States by Jessica LeeGlobal Research, November 25, 2007 indypendent.org
Under the guise of a bill that calls for the study of "homegrown terrorism," Congress is apparently trying to broaden the definition of terrorism to encompass both First Amendment political activity and traditional forms of protest such as nonviolent civil disobedience, according to civil liberties advocates, scholars and historians.The proposed law, The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (H.R. 1955), was passed by the House of Representative in a 404-6 vote Oct. 23. (The Senate is currently considering a companion bill, S. 1959.) The act would establish a "National Commission on the prevention of violent radicalization and ideologically based violence" and a university-based "Center for Excellence" to “examine and report upon the facts and causes of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism and ideologically based violence in the United States" in order to develop policy for "prevention, disruption and mitigation."Many observers fear that the proposed law will be used against U.S.-based groups engaged in legal but unpopular political activism, ranging from political Islamists to animal-rights and environmental campaigners to radical right-wing organizations. There is concern, too, that the bill will undermine academic integrity and is the latest salvo in a decade-long government grab for power at the expense of civil liberties.David Price, a professor of anthropology at St. Martin's University who studies government surveillance and harassment of dissident scholars, says the bill "is a shot over the bow of environmental activists, animal-rights activists, anti-globalization activists and scholars who are working in the Middle East who have views that go against the administration." Price says some right-wing outfits such as gun clubs are also threatened because "[they] would be looked at with suspicion under the bill."The Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC), which has been organizing against post-Sept. 11 legislative attacks on First Amendment rights, is critical of the bill. "When you first look at this bill, it might seem harmless because it is about the development of a commission to do a study," explained Hope Marston, a regional organizer with BORDC."However, when you realize the focus of the study is 'homegrown terrorism,' it raises red flags," Marston said. "When you consider that the government has wiretapped our phone calls and emails, spied on religious and political groups and has done extensive data mining of our daily records, it is worrisome of what might be done with the study. I am concerned that there appears to be an inclination to study religious and political groups to ultimately try to find subversion. This would violate our First Amendment rights to free speech and freedoms of religion and association."
The Boerrne christmas parade is HUG! We invite all of your to our little town for the festivities from Nov. 30 on to Christmas. The parade is Dec. 1st, and I would suggest you come 2 hours early to find parking and place to sit and watch the parade. Make sure you wear Obama stuff and have literature to pass out.Being seen is a good bunch of publicity.
Besides, it's great fun, and there is live music, kids activities, beer garden, food, carriage rides and good old Texas fake snow! What more could you want?
Worth reading as well:
M. Gregg Bloche
Broad adoption of "consumer-directed health care" would probably widen socioeconomic disparities in care and redistribute wealth in "reverse Robin Hood" fashion, from the working poor and middle classes to the well-off. Racial and ethnic disparities in care would also probably worsen. These effects could be alleviated by adjustments to the consumer-directed paradigm. Possible fixes include more progressive tax subsidies, tiering of cost-sharing schemes to promote high-value care, and reduced cost sharing for the less well-off. These fixes, though, are unlikely to gain traction. If consumer-directed plans achieve market dominance, disparities in care by class and race will probably grow.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/562847_1
We turn over $2.2 trillion of our money each year to those who manage our healthcare, without holding them accountable for efficiency or quality. Not surprisingly, these folks -- hospitals, insurers, governments -- they use the money to benefit themselves. Jack Morgan, the insured, middle-class protagonist in Who Killed Health Care?[1] was killed by this system.
Insurers, hospitals, and governments have gotten fat on our bloated healthcare costs, which kill the competitiveness of US firms. More than 40 million Americans are uninsured, mostly because they cannot afford it, while 300,000 people die every few years from medical errors.[2] Arrogant insurance bureaucrats deny people the services they paid for, while many insured find their coverage inadequate for serious illnesses. The uninsured -- they are charged the highest prices by our allegedly nonprofit, ostensibly "charitable" hospitals and are all too often driven to bankruptcy.[3-5]
Meanwhile, many doctors leave the profession because of insurer, hospital, and government micromanagement of their activities. Physicians enrolled in my MBA courses at the Harvard Business School tell me, "I can no longer practice medicine." The grip of the powerful status quo also scares off those entrepreneurs who represent the best hope of transforming healthcare.
Only 1 stakeholder can fix this -- you and me. We must take back our money so we can decide how to spend it. We should be buying health insurance for ourselves, using the foregone salaries and massive taxes we once turned over to the self-serving healthcare industry crew. Switzerland's consumer-driven healthcare system points the way: With their excellent, private healthcare system, the Swiss have universal coverage and spend 40% less.[6]
We are at war for control of an annual $2.2 trillion -- an amount equal in size to China's whole economy. If we do not win it, our health and economy will go down in flames. My new book Who Killed Health Care?[1] details the consumer-driven battle plan that can revive our doctors, our economy, and our good health.
That's my opinion. I'm Professor Regina Herzlinger of the Harvard Business School.
Article from medscape.com
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I have a fundamental disagreement with Obama's position on healthcare and still believe we need single payer healthcare. However, maybe we should look into the Swiss system? Where ever we go, in the end HMO's, PPO's and the insurance industry need to go.
