Archive for Health Care
Healthcare for those who can afford it
Posted by: | Comments“Hi, Tom. When did you get back in town? Your regular table is available. Can I get you a Guinness?”
It’s a creaky little pub at the edge of downtown Charlotte where, well, everybody knows your name. In a town filled with prefab, coming in for dinner is like coming home.
“Linda” is one of the regular waitresses and hadn’t seen me in a couple of months. The first thing she wanted to tell me was that she had finally scheduled a surgery to remove the lump on the right side of her neck. It’s been growing since we met in August last year, but with little money and no insurance, she’s been unable to do anything about it. The lump is now about the size of a small potato and making her jawline disappear.
She didn’t say how much the surgery might cost, but it almost cost her several thousand dollars more. The clinic told her that this type of surgery was usually done on Fridays. Being a waitress, that wasn’t her best financial strategy. They told Linda she could move it to Monday and she jumped at the idea. Only after asking did she find out it would cost a couple thousand dollars more to get the surgery done on Monday. She stayed with Friday.
No one at the clinic offered that information up front. “If I hadn’t asked,” Linda said, sounding exasperated, “I would have paid all that money extra. It would be like me serving you beer in a bottle without telling you that you could get the same beer for less on draft.”
As is, Linda will be making payments on the surgery for — she doesn’t know for how long.
“The best health care system in the world,” for those who can afford it.
Let’s Change The World
Posted by: | CommentsGoogle is planning to launch an experiment that we hope will make Internet access better and faster for everyone. We plan to test ultra-high speed broadband networks in one or more trial locations across the country. Our networks will deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today, over 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections. – Google Fiber Initiative
I’ll post the whole thing here at some point, but for now take yourselves over to googleavl to read all about Asheville’s effort to invite Google to town.
“You all heard about the Information Superhighway of the internet back in the day. Compared to a superhighway, this network is like a teleportation device. It’s so far beyond what anyone else is using that it gives Asheville the opportunity to dream big.”
Perspective
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1,774.7 deaths per year, according to the U.S. Department of State vs. 45,000 deaths per year, according to the Harvard Medical School and Cambridge Health Alliance. Graphic by Jake Lewis.
RNC Winter Meeting: Saving Americans from Themselves
Posted by: | Comments“These poor bastards just didn’t realize they were living in a socialist nightmare …” [timestamp 6:04]
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| The Apparent Trap | ||||
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Domestic Partnership Benefits for City Employees
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On Feb. 9th your Asheville City Council will consider the question of whether to provide equal compensation for equal work. Domestic Partnership Benefits (DPB) for city employees with same-sex partners address a number of very important social and economic factors:
- Improve recruitment and retention of quality employees
- Provide equal compensation for equal work to our employees who are denied the option to marry
- Improve Asheville’s reputation as one friendly to our LGBT citizens
- Improve Asheville’s reputation as friendly to gay tourists
- Strengthen families through health, stability, and respect
- Compete with private sector employers
- Bolster Asheville’s reputation as a creative, accepting, diverse economic climate for entrepreneurs
Providing Domestic Partner Benefits to same-sex employees will also:
I’ve moved forward with this initiative now because City staff will be presenting an analysis of our health and benefits packages in a worksession on March 9th. Including our LGBT employees is crucial. Seven other government entities in North Carolina have already passed DPB. Three of them, including Mecklenburg County, passed same-sex only DPB. It’s perfectly legal, responsible, and just.
I’ll be offering a lot more on the subject between now and the Feb. 9th meeting. Stay tuned.
Follow me after the jump to learn more about how this simple step forward can benefit us all and how you can help make it a reality.
2010: The Year a Nuthin’
Posted by: | CommentsGlued To Their Thighs
Posted by: | CommentsJon Stewart once again voices the baffled frustration most Democrats feel when contemplating the Party leadership. No matter what happens in Massachusetts today, Democrats are still holding all the cards. The question is, “Why do they refuse to play them?”
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Mass Backwards | ||||
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Potpourri/Goulash
Posted by: | CommentsHanna Raskin has a tasty article on Roots Cafe in this week’s Mtn. X. The cafe is located at the corner of Craven and Riverside. There is no sign. Go to the back of the building, go inside, and get covered in yum.
If you haven’t drained outdoor water pipes and left a couple faucets dripping, then you’ve got some froze-up pipes by now. Please leave your plumber recommendations in the comments!
I’m going to share some very exciting data with y’all soon. I got to have a look at the draft yesterday. One daunting and important tidbit is this – While recycling rates are rising, so is the amount of solid waste that we’re all sending to the landfill. No bueno.
When you write your next insurance premium check, think of Edward Hanway. ”CIGNA insurance company’s chief executive officer and chairman of the board H. Edward Hanway’s Dec. 31, 2009 retirement comes with a $73 million dollar bonus. Hanaway retired from his posts after serving for ten years in those roles. His overall compensation in 2009 exceeded $12 million.”
Did you attend Blue Ridge PRIDE last year? If so, the organizers want to hear from you. Click here to take a short survey, and help make next year’s PRIDE an even greater success.
Buncombe County Commissioners are examining ways to boost local farmers and local food. How can we partner, Commishes?
Top Thirteen Local Political Stories of 2009
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Pic lifted from Jason Sandford
With all these Top Ten lists floating around the internets, I thought I’d toss another reflective log on the fire. Add your own top stories in the comments, and you get bonus points if you put together a Top Ten Local Political Stories of the Decade.
Buncombe County Commissioners and Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce come out in support of I-26 Alternative 3. After the strong design work from the Asheville Design Center and unanimous support from the City Council, it looked like our community might move the mighty DOT to create something that actually works for Asheville. When the CoC and 3 of 5 County Commissioners swung in the direction of Alternative 3, further delay was guaranteed.
See the rest in ReadMoreLand… Read More→
Health Care End Game
Posted by: | CommentsThe AMA endorsed the Senate’s health care approach.
As the final Senate vote looms, House leaders say they won’t roll over to the Senate’s demands. TPM reports:
“I don’t see how we don’t largely accede to the Senate,” a House leadership aide said.
What tweaks are still possible to the health reform bill once it reaches conference? The Times’ David Leonhart lists a few this morning. Chris Bowers has more on the conference fight at Open Left.
Quinnipiac University’s Polling Institute finds a majority of Americans disapproving of the health care reform taking shape in Congress:
53% “mostly disapprove” of the health care changes being considered in Congress, compared to 36% who “mostly approve.” Meanwhile 56% disapprove of Obama’s handling of the issue compared to 38% who approve.
The Miami Herald makes its guess at who will be the key conferees:
While health care committee members haven’t been named yet, it’s widely expected that they’ll include Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., one of the Senate bill’s architects, as well as: Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev.; Senate committee chairmen Max Baucus, D-Mont., and Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; and House committee chairmen Charles Rangel of New York, and George Miller and Henry Waxman of California, according to Harkin.
Stay tuned.
