With major insurers opting out of the exchange and premiums going up is it still worth keeping or even tweaking? Will it eventually be replaced by HillaryCare and how would this differ from DonaldCare? How are our nation's part-timers holding up those kept under 30 hours/week because of the original mandate? Finally whatever happened to if you like your colonoscopist you can keep your colonoscopist?
Whatever you want to call healthcare, it just goes grows and grows. That latest figure is $9043 per person
ReplyDeletein the US. Other countries with similar expense are Switzerland and Norway, so it is hard to blame the big
pharma profits, high hospital costs or even Obamacare.
If socialist countries can't keep the rise in check, the
only answer is to kick all the sick people off the system,
which Paul Ryan (R) the House leader plans on. If you got
a solution, let me know, please!
...and if you read the linked chart, note it DOUBLED during
ReplyDeletethe Bush administration, but has only gone up 15% since.
Perhaps it is an economic 'correction'?
Dunno, most people are unhealthy? Should we blame McDonald's?
ReplyDeleteBTW did you ever get a dvd of any of your procedures?
ReplyDeleteNO, I couldn't think of a catchy title. They have a hospital up in the university town that advertises
Deleterobotic surgery called 'DaVinci'. Couple bothersome things about robot surgeons: questionable bedside manner, and like the painting robot in Japan that grabbed the night janitor and painted him to death,
robots are prone to routine. Imagine, "Hello, my name is Dr. Nutzenbolts. Breath in."
Thru my research learned the increasing use of propofol during colonoscopies esp. in the Northeast greatly adds to health care costs although this one is not complaining.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that with Micheal J. out of the picture, the market would be flooded with the stuff,
Deletemaking it inexpensive. Pricing is based on the strength and as near as I can tell, about $5+ per 20 ml. Many infusion preps are much higher, many are lower. Patients seem to prefer it. A single shot for
Shingles is about $300 and if you have ever gone over
a clinic bill, the charges for aspirin, bandaids and
a paper cup of orange juice are unbelievable. Healthy
is cheap.
Easy for an expert to tell doctors to drop propofol to save on health care costs. I'm not the Bear Grylls type, I prefer the deep sleep.
DeleteI read today that drug costs are driving the hospitals to ask congress for help. Prices skyrocket for no reason, other than big $$ profits.
DeleteAnd probably a huge factor in the latest overall
healthcare increases. You know, if you beat up a sick guy you go to jail. But if you just bankrupt him it's good business. And some people worry about
government.
Read a story the other day, a woman battling cancer went $17,000 in debt to cover a cancer surgery herself. Shouldn't happen in America, should have spoken at both conventions.
DeleteI've been advised to change my diet (whole grains, fiber etc.). So the other day at work when I'm leaving they're getting ready to have pizza so I quietly leave. Next day woman asked me if I stayed for pizza. Before you know it you can get a rep as an antisocial anorexic. Tough following doctor's orders.
ReplyDeleteGuess you will have to wait for an after work celery and watercress party.
ReplyDeleteExit instructions often say weight loss/diet and exercise. Been there done that and you always gain some of it back. What's the point/purpose? Stay as you are and light up a pipe.
ReplyDeleteSo basically CERN and the LHC are causing glimpses in the fabric of reality, psychologists are saying the phenomenon of a collective mass misremembering of basic facts and news events is rather easily explainable and the Amorths and the evangelicals are blaming the Devil and the Antichrist. So goes one analysis. How does this relate back to health care? It's causing people basic stress and anxiety, those who remember Forrest Gump saying "life is like a box of chocolates" and not "was like." There's some basic confusion over medicine and anatomical structures but that's always been there. Those who heavily lean towards the paranormal obviously have a bias and skepticism is itself a bias so we're left pondering why Snow White in our childhood said "mirror mirror on the wall" and not "magic mirror" (the current version). After you see the doctor there's a psychiatrist down the hall and he'll be condescending and while you're talking he'll note "just plain nutz" on his clipboard. E-mails, we can talk about that. It's a little late for Comey but he's trying to salvage his rep imo. The Cubs, well at least they got this far;)
ReplyDeleteCubs: they haven't won a series in 108 years. I hope they do this time, because the team is getting really old, ya know?
DeleteRe CERN and the LHC some would say glimpses and some would say glitches. Take your pick.
DeleteLike maybe they should go the way of the Washington Senators. I've never really studied the game in any great statistical depth but don't most teams do good from time to time? Then there's the Cubs. I asked one guy at work who's a Cubs fan why not be a White Sox fan instead but I think it's like a Mets/Yankees thing.
DeleteTotal Recall- humans store memories differently than computers. We don't have hard drives with magnetic bits and bytes. We have multiple storage areas cross-linked and overlayed that run on microbiochemistry and microelectriciy. And we have
Deletea built-in delete function that responds to both
overstorage and seldom referenced recall usage. So,
human memory is fallible, generally the further back
in time.
..which IMO, is a problem in jury trials. Say witness A reports a large man with a mask driving a
BMW, while witness B swears no, it was a slim teenager driving a Honda. Through in DNA samples
which show neither. The juror is faced with choosing and all they have to go on is their own bias. Studies show that juries prefer eye-witness
to circumstantial and lawyers play the game with a vengeance. So me, I don't worry about whether someone remembers Berenstain, Bearenstein or
Baron Schien; tis a minor detail. Our brains are
so efficient that we know what the picture is even
when the fine detail is smudged. Throw the same
problem at a computer and watch it devolved into
a closed feed back loop, smoke and put up a screen
message 'please close all tabs and reboot'. Then you
press the 'help' button and find 'Mandela Effect-
Hard Drive Infected. Least that's the way I see it.
According to wiki one of the many purposes of CERN is to see if there are other dimensions. We really don't understand everything about the universe yet these scientists are smashing subatomic particles into each other at the speed of light. How has this benefited humanity? Some say it might be altering the fabric of reality, those cumulative glitches again. We've only scratched the surface with quantum mechanics and scientists are known for their excessive curiosity, their tampering with nature. Can the LHC create a mini black hole for instance?
Deletelike, what's a Higgs Boson done for ya lately? It seesm human curiosity drives some researchers to dissect the tiniest subatomic particles, while others using similar esoteric mathematics, poke around the galaxies. It's what physicists do. Remember Isaac Newton, how he applied mathematics
Deleteto the curios property of things falling to earth
and planets circling the sun. (I'm thinking old
Isaac was too intelligent to ride in a smart car)
Not sure if it is a Mandela Effect, but I seem to recall a number of old Sci-fi books and movies
Deletethat conjectured future things...some of which came
to pass. Or not, depending on if one is a member of
that cynical tribe that thinks the lunar landing
was faked. (One small step for man, one big fraud
for earthlings)
Imo most Mandela Effects can be dismissed but here's why it can be important. Clark Gable in GWTW: "Frankly my dear I don't give a damn." Say two years from now the experts insist he said crap instead of damn and then the psychobabblers explain the machinery of memory and why it's fallible. Any right-thinking person should say um this doesn't work for me.
DeleteWe talked about the colon at length but here again. For me and others the colon and large intestine were not synonymous. Growing up I always referred to the large intestine as the large intestine interchangeable with bowel but I always understood the colon as connected to the rectum. Actually the large intestine has three names which makes it kind of unique.
DeleteMeghan Kelly's contract at FoxNews is running out. Rumors
ReplyDeleteabound. I've only caught a couple of her best moments..informing Karl Rove that the Fox projects Obama
winning 'NO, No, can't be!' And the icey Meghan reply,
"Suck it up, karl" Then last week when thrice married sleaze lizard Newt accused her of being 'only interested in sex'. She rolled her eyes and suggested he check himself
into anger management counseling. So...my guess is maybe
a contract with Comedy Central?
FBI has about 650,000 new emails to go through somehow connected maybe to Anthony Weiner's wife or ex-wife with only about a week before the election. Can they maybe borrow a quantum computer from Stephen Hawking?
ReplyDeleteDunno. It confuses. I just sent an e-mail to George
DeleteWill asking that since the GOP owns Trump, what does he think a Trump/Newt/Christie/Giuliani administration would do in the next 4 years.
--awaiting a swift reply.
Hillary should have learned from the expert on how to handle
Deletee-mails.
So basically this election comes down to who is the less corrupt.
Delete..or who Putin wants.
DeleteIndividual freedom is a big issue for politicians and voters. In GOP Idaho, this extends to a splinter religious
ReplyDeletegroup in the rural south that refuses medical attention.
Every year 2-4 of their little kids die of ruptured appendix, untreated pneumonia, homemade splints on broken
legs etc. The argument goes on and on, whose rights here:
parents, or kids and should a state interfere. Since the GOP
is pro gun, anti roe v wade, anti planned parenthood and anti education, they stay in a huge majority. IMO, 'rights'
for some almost always remove 'rights' from others and politics, religion and society is the arena in which 'rights' are allocated or denied. Whose rights are
you after?
I could write a 100 page blogpost about how Roe was a terrible decision logically and constitutionally and it would have nothing to do with being anti-abortion. Looking at it objectively PP has a right to exist but am still unclear how that translates into a moral even legal obligation to fund them. Those cases you mention re kids being denied basic medical attention because of their parents' beliefs that's an easy one. If Mom or Dad wants to forego that blood transfusion fine but until the kids reach adulthood and can make that decision for themselves they should get the transfusion. Fringe stuff.
DeleteEvery morning I wake up with a song running through my head.
ReplyDeleteDon't seem related to what I ate, or what I dreamed, and sort of an eclectic range: 'Try to Remember the Kind of September', the 'New Zealand National Anthem', the Everly
Brothers 'Devoted To You', '76 Trombones', and the downright
weird "I'm Strictly a Female Female'. Analysis?
Wow. Mandela Effect or Mandela Affect? Going back to that subject the shrinks still don't explain how so many can remember actual news coverage of Mandela dying in prison in the 80's unless the CIA is still doing MK-ULTRA. I like your choice of songs and would add Judy Collins' "Both Sides" to the mix.
DeleteI think I've awoken to that one too. A woman philosopher's favorite version was by the composer
Deletesinger Joni Mitchell a talented, enigmatic and sort of
sad folksinger of the musically fertile 60s.
Hyperplastic polyps but since my prep was suboptimal I'm supposed to go back in two or three years.
ReplyDeleteI think you could reasonably argue minimum 5 years.
DeleteHow did you manage suboptimal, pizza for breakfast?
With whoever wins the presidency, spiraling health
costs may order anesthesia free colonoscopies. Which would greatly reduce that overused procedure.
If you follow instructions and it's still less than perfect what's the next prep starvation? Yeah everyone's a hero with the propofol ("I had 5 of them"). Take away the drug cocktails and see if they still lecture their co-workers and friends.
DeleteBecause of it's cloudy white color and strong temporary amnesia effect, propofol is sometimes termed by healthcare types as 'milk of amnesia'. Sure, you don't remember any
ReplyDeleteunpleasant poking and snipping, but does that negate any
procedural Mandela Effect?
You're not keeping a Mandela diary yet for those quirks of memory down through the years? A good Moleskine will do. No mental ambiguities like you remember a time when your friend was two inches bigger?
DeleteAs old as I am, memory is a bit foggy. I can remember the
ReplyDeletecovolume coefficient in the Van der Waals equation, but just
yesterday, I forgot the quarterback of the Packer. I am one
of the type that if I write something down, I remember it far better than just hearing it. So, how did Mandela get the
first name of Nelson...and did his close associated refer to
him as Nelly?
Wonder how many colonoscopists are into cave exploration...
ReplyDeleteor mining for that matter?
Watching the game Cubs winning 7-0. I go Yogi said it ain't over 'til it's over. Someone said it ain't over 'til the fat lady sings. Who said what? Mandela?
ReplyDeleteAnother big Halloween night here: a 4 year old Batman and
ReplyDeletehis mommy. Is it the cemetery across the street, or what?
A thought on the colonoscopy prep. A two day prep would be better and more effective as imo it takes longer than commonly thought to truly cleanse your system. This would be extremely unpopular though and would bring to mind the sufferings in King Lear. Most of us probably on the day before the prep eat very well because it's a kind of last supper. Ease into the prep, don't have a Henry VIII meal and expect the dulcolax and miralax to get rid of it the next day. Everyone brags about their procedures but any stats on the quality of the preps?
ReplyDeletePatient direction following aside, there seem to be
Deleteat least three prep protocols:
Bowel Preparation: Polyethelene glycol (PEG). Brand names: Golytely, Colyte, Nulytely, Trilyte, Halfytely
Description:
This electrolye-balanced solution is consumed in large amounts (4 liters) the night before the procedure. You drink 8 ounces every 10 minutes until the bowel runs clear or you finish the solution. Another method is to divide the solution into 3 liters the night before and 1 liter the morning of the colonoscopy. A newer preparation uses 2 liters of solution taken with a laxative. -and-
Bowel Preparation: Oral soldium phosphate (OSP) solution. Brand names: Fleet Phospho-soda, EZ-Prep, Fleet Accu-prep
Description:
Two small doses of OSP solution are diluted in 8 ounces of fluid and area taken 10 to 12 hours apart. Each dose must be followed by 16 ounces or more of liquid. You must get adequate liquids during the preparation and after the colonoscopy. -and-
Bowel Preparation: Oral sodium phosphate tablets. Brand name: Visicol, OsmoPrep
Description:
Twenty tablets are taken the evening before the colonoscopy, 4 at a time with 8 ounces of clear liquid every 15 minutes. Anywhere from 12 to 20 more are taken a few hours before the procedure. Bisacodyl can be added.
My guys (three different ones) prescribe the Golytely
kit, which seems to work well if you don't mind drinking 3/4 gallon of salty slime. Which makes some
people (probably the sane ones) throw up. The studies
I've seen show the methods compare favorably, although
the OSP pills can cause electrolytic imbalance. Another factor is that some colonoscopists use a water
(and maybe soap?) enema on the propofolized victim...
er patient.
Seems overly complicated and easy to not follow perfectly.
DeleteI have a vague impression of Yogi being responsible for both quotes. Some people said it one way and others said it the other way but it means roughly the same thing. I'm not a Cubs fan but feel rather bad for them and so let's hope they win. Another way to look at it: with quantum physics and weird science in general even if they lose in an alt-reality they'll come out on top (maybe).
ReplyDeleteI think those are both Yogisms. They make sense in a para-Mandela way, sort of like "90% of the game is
Deletehalf mental". I usually root for the underdog and this game is underdog vs wayunder dog, so yup, Cubbies
deserve it most.
Why the two versions? I think Yogi anticipated the Mandela Effect and just wanted to confuse us. Re a Steve McQueen movie: "He must have made that before he died."
DeleteLester for the Cubs pitching fairly well. Had a 3 run lead in the 7th with 2 outs and gave up a base hit. Worst-case scenario he gives up another run. Cubs mgr. pulls him out and brings in big reliever who gave up a homer to Indians to tie the score now I can't go to bed. Modern managing;)
ReplyDeleteNow there's a rain delay and they pulled the tarp out. Cubs had it in the bag. Going to bed.
ReplyDeleteA lot of us thought the Cubs should have left Hendricks in
ReplyDeletein the 4th inning. Did the network pay the manager under the table just to make the game exciting?
I was impressed by the umps. They made some very good calls on some very close plays. That Cubs manager might go through so many pitchers he may have to toss the ball himself one day.
ReplyDeleteI noticed one of the pitchers quite obviously and often wetting his fingers with his mouth in some of the games. Didn't Gaylord Perry used to get in trouble over this? Those Mandela Effect discussion boards are becoming quite stale of late. I thought I'd give 'em some fresh material.
ReplyDeleteMy oldest memory still seems fresh, although it has probably evolved over the years: 1944, my 3rd birthday.
ReplyDeleteWe were living in an apartment in Milwaukee, my dad was
a lead welder on B-24 landing gears, I had the flu and it
was my birthday. I got my first car, a maroon peddle tin
ford. Mandela Effect: the things I forgot that year, my
mother told me later- I ran away, the entire neighborhood was out searching and found me in the middle of a construction project, digging away with my yellow shovel
and bucket as the turnapulls and bulldozers worked around me. Next, she took me on a bus and I was afraid of the folding doors. Enough so, that when she got off, I stayed on. The bus made U-turn and the driver kicked me out with
a complaint about my desperate screaming. And when I was real tiny she took me in the baby carriage to a department
store (which was pretty sparse in WWII. I started hollering, the tell me, and she found me in the carriage
with teeth marks on my cheek and a nasty little kid standing
there grinning. She accused the kid, the kid's mother said he would only bite if someone bit him first...my mother closed the case, noting my complete lack of teeth. Mandella
at age 24 was making trouble with the Colonial authorities at the time, so I won't bother with the details on any ME
discussion boards.
Maybe Nixon was experiencing Mandela effects.
DeleteWith his sweaty face and darting eyes, methinks Nixon was suffering from post-Joe McCarthy syndrome.
DeleteHave to ask Kissinger, I guess.
Trump is closing in the polls. Has he switched to a Cubs
ReplyDeletehat?
Actress Tippi Hedren wrote a book she of "Birds" fame and claims Alfred Hitchcock was obsessed with her, stalked her and wanted to bed her. She told "Inside Edition" the worst thing is to be the object of someone's obsession when you're not interested. Those last four words are key. Put another way if you looked like Alfred Hitchcock why would you go this route?
ReplyDeleteShe could legitimately have ornithophobia too.
DeleteWell far as I know Hitch doesn't have a long line of accusers now coming out so it's kind of a tossup in my head. Certainly he had to know how he looked, had to have a body image and that being a rotund introducer of mystery shows with jowls and a slow drawl. Not exactly a chick magnet, no Charles Boyer to see here. Dunno, the man is long gone, she writes a book and who's to say?
DeleteColonoscopy digression - if I can't get the prep right do I have the pleasure of going every two or three years? Can I borrow a jog of that stuff?
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering how they determine 85% clearance? Souns like a blue light special to me. Is the entire colon
Delete(or as Mandela terms it, large intestine) 15% cloudy,
or is there fecal matter stuck in the secum, or did he
forget to clean the scope optics. There is a mystery
there.
Well as I say in my day my Mom used the term "bowel" alot as did you have a bowel movement and I kinda went with large intestine. Back in my day maybe colon was a bit too scholarly like saying "how's your fetus?" But anyway this bugs me as I remember not eating solid foods quite vividly and then the flush in the evening which lasted about an hour. I'm guessing maybe most folks' preps aren't 100% but I didn't talk to the others. It wasn't bad enough like Dr. Oz's first time when he had to go back in a month or two so I'm going with my theory that a complete two day prep would be far better for everyone.
DeleteWe suppose they could invent a nuclear suppository.
DeleteI suspect that the PEG prep may be the most thorough, being a viscous high molecular weight
water soluble polymer. But you have to drink almost
a gallon. PEGs are a huge business, found in cosmetics, foods, pill shells, non-ionic surfactants, various preservative methods and paint balls. ---Paint Balls: got a call in the lab one
time from and engineer up in Quebec. She represented a paint ball ammunition place and was
interested in special ammo primers. She had rather
romantic French accent. I went to Engineering and
discussed her problem with a chubby little engineer
who would be the best contact. He was adamant-we
don't do that cockamamie crap. So he called her back and darned if pretty soon he was saying 'oh no
problem, 'we shut everything down and make what you
need' and sort of floating above his chair daydreaming of Catherine Deneuve, Bridget Bardot and Leslie Caron....where was I? Oh yeah, PEG.
Simplify the prep. We get the part about not eating but take one Anublast tab in the morning and one in the evening and be done with it.
DeleteSpeaking of which there was the propofol guy, the doctor and a rather attractive young nurse I guess in the colon room with me. Me not uncomfortable but it's kind of a blip on your radar screen when you walk in the room. To see you at your most vulnerable moment!
DeleteColonoscopy staff in a small town; my first one, the
Deletenursed had me disrobe, then mentioned that she was the little girl that lived next door and wondered if I still mowed the lawn smoking my pipe. Next colonscopy, the nurse taped on the anesthesia port
and mentioned that her mother used to work for me.
I need a bigger town, ya know?
I'm thinking a person with serious bulimia disorder,
Deleteconstantly gorging and purging, might be full of purging advice. I'm half bulimic: do the gorging part.
Did you think to have the colonoscopy crew check out your tinnitus?
DeleteI always mentioned it at those consultations. Two small hyperplastic polyps removed and still have it.
DeleteI see that clown outfits aren't the only questionable costume these days.
ReplyDeleteKind of original. Ya want a bear to pee on you?
DeleteIt appears Obama Care is down the drain. IMO, the old GOP
ReplyDeletefavorite is to have each individual have a healthcare savings account. You have the money, you can pick your
Dr. and to hell with whatever retirement savings you have.
Big pharma will absolutely love it. Prices will skyrocket
far worse. The few remaining Democrats will be blamed and
we will elect a primitive primate next time. Your take?
Libs are blaming Comey for Hillary's defeat but one of the main reasons Trump won was because many people on the exchanges started receiving their higher premiums in the mail. Trump after his sitdown with Obama said he's willing to keep certain parts. What no keg of beer?
Delete