HEALTHCARE FROM THE PRIVATE SECTOR – OR IS THIS A “YOU ARE GETTING SCREWED ANNOUNCEMENT?"

A letter to: Boxer, Feinstein and Obama. We received a letter from Anthem Blue Cross last week that in essence says that you have no health insurance security at all - even if you are current with all your premiums. The letter code is HCID:339A63055, Contract Code: 7889. In reading the five page document it makes it clear that Blue Cross/Anthem intends to stop writing and stop carrying individual health plans in the near future. In fact, it is quite clear that this is their intention as they are providing you with a list of time frames in which your coverage will disappear. Is this a result of the new Healthcare Law? If so, what are you doing about it? What are you doing about this? I am sure that all the others will follow suit and this is happening under your watch. A prompt reply with specific actions is requested - no, demanded!

That e-mail was sent today, Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend. I am sure that the government takes time off, except when the GOP doesn’t want recess appointment (that is another blog at another time). However, I expect that Boxer, Feinstein and Mr. Obama are working anyway – this is a big country to run.

Is this Blue Cross letter is a result of the new Healthcare Law? What this going to happen anyway? Is this the best case for a single payer system? Would citizens get this kind of letter from a universal  Government Medicare Program? It couldn’t happen. It wouldn't happen!

We know that private insurance premiums are on the rise as are deductibles and the negotiated rates are decreasing. So, the insurance companies are charging more for which they are paying less. The CEOs are taking record breaking bonuses and salaries. Even Blue Shield’s CEO is getting in excess of $4MM a year and Blue Shield is a non-profit corporation.

So, when you get the 180 day notice to find other coverage (prior to the law governing pre existing conditions exclusions taking effect) you are screwed. You paid your premiums for years, the insurance company knows all there is to know about you and will be glad to share that data with the Medical Information Bureau – you are screwed! Who is gonna want you – at any price or deductible or stop gap? Forget it. Blue Cross is number one in group policies – if you are an individual you are screwed.

But, our Tea Party friends, who will be getting just as screwed, do not want any safety net such as Universal Healthcare. No, can’t have that because that is socialism – or is it? It is part of the social contract that the government  has with its citizens, you and I, is to support the citizen’s right to the pursuit of happiness. Can’t be happy if you are not healthy or not getting healthcare.

We can talk about all the abuses, we can talk about all that it is wrong with Universal Healthcare, when push comes to shove, it is still better that what we have. The Canadian system is terrible until you talk to a Canadian. The system in England is very bad until you talk to a Brit – they all think Americans are nuts when it come to healthcare! I heard the rhetoric so I asked many friends in Canada, I called some in the UK and they all said the same thing – America has the best technology but the worst delivery systems for that technology. So, they feel that access is the best when it is available. The long waits that we hear about. True, but that is in areas and towns where there are limited facilities – much like we have in Texas, central California, the Dakotas, etc.

So, what is the point? We have an opportunity to tell our government that enough is enough. Medicare for all – it works and will work forever when healthier citizens are paying into the system, not just covering the oldest, least healthiest part of our population. That would be the best group plan ever!

You decide!

WHO READS THIS STUFF?

When I started to blog about 11 months ago I asked myself some serious questions: 1. Who reads this stuff? 2. Do I have anything worthwhile to say? 3. Does that matter? 4. I am I doing it to just vent? 5. Am I feeding my ego? The answer to questions 2 through 5 is “yes.”

Before I get into the last four questions I must answer the first one. The answer to the first question also addresses question number five as well. In looking at the “stats” page for my blog (actually having stats is an ego builder) I found some interesting facts. Some I never would have imagined. While I am not getting an abundance of hits as The Huffington Post does, I am getting a small share. Here is the fact that kind of says to me I do have something to say. My blog, Much Ado About Some Things has been read on four different continents. Readers as far away as China have read my blog and there are more than one. I publish in English only.

Going the other way, my blog has been read in Iran, also more than one. England, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Russia , Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all have readers of my blog. Wow, I am influencing the world! Now, that is an ego builder of the highest order.

To some friends and family I often e-mail the blog. I am sure by now some of them have directed these e-mails to the Junk Folder. I hope not. Yes, I post it on FaceBook. But all my friends are in the United States with the exception of a couple. China does not have FaceBook. I can’t speak for Iran, Russia or Kuwait. I guess my blog is read worldwide and I am also hopeful that my readers are getting a glimpse of our culture through my words. So, now I know who are reading this stuff or at least where they are reading my stuff. As to who specifically, I have no idea. So, question number one is partially answered.

Question two is easy to answer – YES. I have a lot so say. Some people over the years have labeled me opinionated. I guess I have earned the label. But as I grew older my opinions change, become modified, less harsh and, I believe, well thought out. I do my reading and research, so my opinions, in my opinion, are well educated opinions. Expressing myself makes what I have to say worthwhile. If I change one person’s idea on a subject or give them some food for thought or even help them firm their own opinion up, it is a worthwhile effort.

The answer to the third question is an opinion. Yes, I think what I have to say matters – at least to me. I have to assume that it matters to the readers that come back for more of what I have to say. They can mentally argue with me, make comments, agree with what I have to say or be entertained by what I have to say. They spend the time reading it so it does matter.

Like I said, I am somewhat opinionated so this is a way to vent for me. Once I get it off my chest I feel better. Being right or wrong doesn’t matter – being able to bloviate does. No, I am not doing it just to vent. It is also recreation. I enjoyed writing ‘Hello, My Name Is Peggy” I loved sharing my adventures in China and my experiences in Egypt. I had an opportunity to discuss my fears and my joy of the coming baseball season. (By the way most of the new names are back in the minors by now).

The answer to all of the questions is that I enjoy writing and it is gratifying to be read. To be read worldwide is a mind blower!