Family and Friends

Discharged

I’m not sure how I feel about it, but the hospital is making tentative plans to discharge my mother. This should be good news, right? The thing is, she’s not being released to go home – she’s not well enough. Instead, they’re making arrangements for her to be placed in an assisted living facility. If my life had a soundtrack, something foreboding would be playing…
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Soapbox

Back on the healthcare rant

I love it when folks say: “I want my doctor making treatment decisions, not the government,” as if an insurance company never set treatment terms. I loved it even more when our insurance company said they wouldn’t cover treatment for Beth’s Aspergers. Why? “Because Florida Law only requires us to cover treatment for Aspergers if it’s diagnosed before a child…
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Wellbeing

It's all my fault

You don’t want to read this post. Why am I writing it then? Therapy. I have a theory for why I’ve been feeling down lately, and the title to this post is a strong clue. Since it’s apparent no one else is ever at fault for things that go wrong, the logical conclusion is it must be my fault. When everything is your fault and you accept responsibility – even if it’s just…
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Family and FriendsSoapbox

Stray comment

I was having a good day. Everything was fine until I heard one stray comment. Do you have days like this? Can one or two sentences ruin it for you? I wish I could say I have the self assurance to shrug off what other people think and say, but it’s not me. Not at all. It sticks with me. It burrows and churns through my mind, infecting everything that follows. “I don’t get it.
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Going for Broke

What customer?

“What about our shareholders Bob? Who’s looking out for them?” – The Incredibles You know me. I love insurance. I love it so much I bought a bunch of it. We’re like that ice cream place that brags about all the flavors they’ve got. It’s a good thing too, because it’s coming in handy after Cheryl’s accident. I know what you’re thinking…
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Family and FriendsWellbeing

Adding insult and injury to injury

Many of you know Cheryl was in a car accident a while back. A few of you know about the mess physical therapy made of her injuries. Only Cheryl and I know about our most recent adverures in the mysterious world of insurance, so I gatthered up all my frustration and this post was born. Way to grab you readers, eh? A month back Cheryl went for another opinion, seeking to avoid immediate surgery.
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Going for Broke

F...ing insurance

Warning! My potty mouth comes out of storage for this one. We got the official fuck-off letter from the other guy’s insurance company the other day. I can’t say I wasn’t expecting it, but it was still a bit maddening. The dude had the minimum amount of insurance required by law, which apparently dates back to when a dollar was still a lot of money… back when change…
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Soapbox

Already heard the ads

Newsvine / AP: Health care is returning as a campaign issue, with special interest and advocacy groups preparing to spend at least $60 million to push politicians to embrace universal access to medical coverage. I’d like to believe this will be an issue this fall, but I have to think it’s a distant third on most people’s list behind the economy and war. If I could choose…
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PoliticsSoapboxThe Sunshine State

Have pity on your health insurance company

I mentioned a Republican representative from our state legislature the other day, the one I heard on the radio. I kind of suggested he might’ve said something that made me a little mad; “pissed off” may have been the words I used. Well, if you don’t want to read a rant on Florida politics, now is the time to bail. The Florida Legislature is in session for two months of…
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PoliticsSoapbox

Why is S-CHIP an issue?

An op-ed in the NYT discusses the big argument against expanding S-CHIP: that parents will drop private coverage in favor of S-CHIP (or substitution). An Overblown Fear About S-Chip – New York Times: New York estimates that only about 3 percent of the children enrolled in the program came from families that dropped employer coverage to obtain S-chip. Mathematica Policy Research, in a report…
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