Comments for More Light Than Heat

Comment on Large type for challenged readers by morelightthanheat

morelightthanheat — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 01:35:38 +0000

Willpen,
My belated wishes for a joyous holiday season to you and yours. We were away for Thanksgiving, visiting MIL out of state. It’s been a difficult year for so many this year. I’ve missed your posts and your comments but knew you were busy with work changes. We can all hope that 2010 will be better. Do stop by when you have the chance.

MLTH

Comment on Large type for challenged readers by willpen

willpen — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:11:21 +0000

MLTH,

I just wanted to stop by to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving. My life has been so crazy lately, that I just don’t have the time to come visit with all my blogger friends and that saddens me. Hopefully this new year will bring some peace and tranquility to this crazy world that we live in.

As always,

Willpen

Comment on Needed: Primary Care Physicians by morelightthanheat

morelightthanheat — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:58:08 +0000

As one who has also been without insurance, it’s easy to find a doctor to take you. You simply pay full price for office visits and pay cash. Sometimes you can find a doctor who will cut you some slack on price, but they’re more than willing to take you because you represent zero additional administrative cost to them. They have no insurance companies to do battle with in caring for you.

I’m not trying to be flip. The reality is that doctors, in general, support reform. Ask your doctor what percentage of the office visit charge goes to the administrative costs (salaries, benefits, office space, time) of dealing with multiple insurance companies. Then ask about overhead in dealing with Medicare patients compared to the reimbursement rates. The reason reimbursement rates are lower is because Medicare patients represent lower overhead costs to the doctor.

I had a discussion with my eye doctor about health care reform. He spouted the usual conservative talking points about costs. But Medical (California’s version of Medicaid) represents a significant portion of his patient load. In other words, he benefits directly from a single payer, government run health care system. And when I pointed out to him that having a much larger, much healthier patient pool in a single payer system such as Medicare for everyone would lower per capita costs, it was as if he’d never considered that part.

Most corporations favor reform. They understand that health care costs are crippling their ability to compete in the global market because their competition doesn’t have those costs. And most doctors favor reform because they realize that dealing with multiple insurance companies and their reluctance to pay claims promptly or at all represents a huge expenditure of time, money and aggravation and creates a very uneven system that doesn’t serve patients well. It may serve individual patients well (until they really need insurance), but it doesn’t serve society well.

Comment on Needed: Primary Care Physicians by Amy

Amy — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:51:38 +0000

Thanks to the new plan for healthcare – we are losing our family physician, as are my parents. He is heading for the hills to get out of the way of the impending changes – and we (the ones without insurance) will have one devil of a time finding a new doc.

Comment on Is anyone listening? by William Battista

William Battista — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:11:51 +0000

I just wanted to point out that insurance carriers can deny an individual a medicare supplement plan if they are outside of their open enrollment period. Many states have different regulations as well as many carriers. If an individual decides that they want a supplement when they are 66 and they haven’t had credible coverage since they became Medicare-eligible then chances are they could be penalized with underwriting questions.

Some carriers like Blue Cross Blue Shield in Illinois offer guaranteed issue at any time without underwriting or pre-existing conditions.

The key for Medicare-eligible individuals is to take the time during their open enrollment period to educate themselves about Medicare and the Supplements to ensure that they are making the right decision. A very informative site out there is http://www.over65insure.com. It is easy to navigate with easy to read content, plus people can cost compare carriers and their premiums.

All Supplement Plans are standardized by the government – so people need to understand that carriers charge different premiums for the same coverage!

Comment on Too much reality? by morelightthanheat

morelightthanheat — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 21:27:38 +0000

@ OTEC: Perhaps I didn’t express myself as clearly as I should have, but you missed the point of the post. Our culture has placed an excessive value on material acquisition. And the promise of high compensation via a reality show can be very seductive. It’s not surprising that participants in these shows as well as people who seek easy money can be seduced. Sure, there are other examples of what you call bad parents. But let’s look at the single common thread among them — the desire for the material benefits that media attention can bring. Perhaps a solution is to have a serious discussion about the merits of pimping one’s kids and placing a higher value on material things than on one’s contribution to improving society.

Comment on Too much reality? by Outside the Echo Chamber

Outside the Echo Chamber — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:37:37 +0000

Some one once said, that in the future, every one will be famous for fifteen minutes. I am not sure that Mr. Warhall had personal reality shows (or blogs for that matter) in mind, however, it does seem to fit the mold. That being said, as a fan of some reality shows, there are distinct differences between them. The Gosslins and the Duggers started out the same. And in my own opinion had the Gosslins not decided at some point to make being “Jon and Kate plus 8″ their jobs, it would have gone down a similar road as the Duggers.
The Duggers have continued to be an other wise ordinary family raising kids in extrordinary circumstances. The Gosslins (leaving Jon’s commitment issues aside for the moment) seem to have made the choice that being “Jon and Kate” was a better gig than her being a nurse that was staying home to be the primary care giver to the kids, while Jon went to work as an IT analyst. Now I have no doubt that being “Jon and Kate” is a far more profitable gig than being an IT guy for the Commonwealth of PA but like with most things there is a cost as well.
I understand that your over all point was a comment on society rather than the quality of either of the shows. However, I suspect that you haven’t seen either of these shows. I agree that the lure of a potential financial windfall is a temptation for some parents. All one has to do is look at the likes of Lindsay Lohan, Brittany Spears, Gary Coleman etc., to see that parents can and will use their children to improve their own lot in life.
Bad parents will continue to exist despite the existence of television and movies. To blame the fraud that seems to have been committed by “ballon boy” and his family on the existance of a specific genre of television program is short sighted.

Comment on Equal means equal by Left-Eyed Jack

Left-Eyed Jack — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:11:01 +0000

Thank you for your insightful blog on this topic. I’m grateful for all those who are willing to stand up for the oppressed.

Comment on Equal means equal by morelightthanheat

morelightthanheat — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:33:52 +0000

So glad you stopped by. I’ve missed Jack’s posts. I’m delighted to see that you’re back.

Comment on Equal means equal by Mrs. Jack

Mrs. Jack — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:28:44 +0000

Right on! I agree completely.

Do drop by for a visit.