205.Health Care Reform & The VA System:Here We Go Again?
America is on the brink of making some very important decisions as relates to healthcare in this country. Currently, our politicians are bouncing around various proposals for the future of healthcare in America. Most recently Congress reported “trimming” this healthcare bill to $1 trillion .The facts about our current healthcare system support the need for some serious realignment in order to cover the healthcare needs of more Americans.
FACT: One-third of adults (31 percent) and more than half of all children (54 percent) do not have a primary care doctor (National Medical Expenditure Panel Survey)
FACT: 46.6 million Americans, (15.9 percent of Americans — about twice the population of Texas) were uninsured in 2005. (U.S. Census – August 2006)
FACT: More than two-thirds of uninsured adults in the United States, worked in 2005. In other words, 39.8 million workers, who had no health care — more than the population of Canada.
FACT: Federal spending for health care totaled more than $600 billion in 2005, or roughly one quarter of the federal budget. (U.S. Office of Management and Budget)
FACT: The total medical expenditures for full- and part-year uninsured in 2004 came to nearly $124 billion — more than the combined appropriations in 2004 for Iraq and the anti-terror programs.
FACT: Of 23 industrialized countries, the United States had the highest infant mortality rates. U.S. rates were similar to those of Poland and Hungary. (OECD, Commonwealth Fund Scorecard, 2006)
FACT: The United States ranked among the bottom of industrialized countries on healthy life expectancy at age 60 — meaning Americans spend more years lived in poor health resulting from chronic illness or disability. (OECD, Commonwealth Fund: Results from a Scorecard, 2006)
FACT: Barely half — about 49 percent — of adults receive recommended preventive care and screening tests according to guidelines for their age and sex. (Commonwealth Fund Scorecard 2006)
FACT: Close to 100,000 Americans die annually from medical errors — more than double the number of Americans who die annually in car crashes (Institute of Medicine).
90% of Americans feel our current system needs fundamental changes. Two thirds of Americans feel that the federal government should be involved in the guarantee of universal healthcare for all citizens.
While I support the need for healthcare reform,I wonder if many Americans realize how the federal government has run the largest federal healthcare system in the country, The Veterans Adminstration Heathcare System?
In this article,VA Medical System in Shambles, Veterans Groups Say , veteran groups find fault with the errors and dangers that the VA has inflicted on thousands of our veterans. Recently, veterans were unknowingly exposed to hepatitis and HIV through poor cleaning techniques of equipment.(VA Blasted Over Tainted Procedures) Another 92 veterans were improperly treated for prostate cancer and given incorrect radiation doses. I think exposing our veterans to HIV/Heptitis is a risk none of our vets signed up for when they served our country.
While the VA has made ammends to solve this problem this doesn’t help those who have received negligent care. To be fair, there are many dedicated and competent workers in the VA system and to those due thanks are given. However, there seem to be all sorts of excuses why such grave oversights occurred….but the bottom line is that this federal system has failed to serve our veterans in the manner in which they deserve.
President Obama recently had the following to say about healthcare reform in America:
Ultimately, the debate about reducing costs — and the larger debate about health care reform itself — is not just about numbers; it’s not just about forms or systems; it’s about our own lives and the lives of our loved ones.
While the statistics on healthcare speak for themselves,so should the performance and negligence of the federal VA health care system. While we do need healthcare for all Americans, the VA is a reminder that our health and the lives of our loved ones is too valuable to put in the hands of the government.
204. The Ghost of The Mind
When one finds themselves with too much time on their hands, old memories seep into ones consiciousness more and more. I understand these things first hand and I fear others will soon experience these same memories of better times with the increase in unemployment and the number of foreclosed homes and displaced families.
It is not uncommon for me to reflect back upon my life, the woulda, shoulda, coulda’s of life in the past. Read the rest of this entry »
203. How to keep a good nation down (or lower)!
When watching the news on our leading companies such as General Motors, Chrysler, ExxonMobil, our Banks, our former steel and other metals industry… I get damn depressed. I was reading Greg Palast’s Armed Madhouse, and it caused me to research our government’s Department of Labor a bit further…
In 2004 the United States Department of Labor decided that businesses were not making enough money. So being led by the nose by the National Council of Chain Restaurants the US. Dept. of Labor came up with a few whiz bang ideas to help out those keeping restaurant labor costs down as well as then reaching out into all sectors that donate money to political campaigns, In the August 2004 a bunch of idiots in the federal labor department they started implemented the following gems that they started creating around Labor Day 2003.
202. Memorial Day 2009
Like many Americans, I intend on enjoying this Memorial Day weekend as a holiday that welcomes in the summer season. It’s easy to forget what this national holiday actually is about. While we enjoy a day off on Memorial Day we should all give thought to the real spirit of this day and what it represents for our country and each of us .
Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.
Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan(pictured above), national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
During this Memorial Day week the theme of the Presidential address is “Sacrifice” which pays tribute to American’s veterans,service men and women. Indeed, the sacrifices of our military should never go without sincere and enduring appreciation by all Americans. While we celebrate this Memorial Day of 2009,let us all remember that this appreciation extends not just on this holiday weekend but throughout each and every day of the year.
The “National Moment of Remembrance” resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that on Memorial Day at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans “To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence.
Wanderingvets extends our thanks to all our veterans & members of the military on this Memorial Day of 2009.
201. Ten Trillion Dollar Bailout For Business and Zero For You
According to the Associated Press:
Social Security and Medicare are fading even faster under the weight of the recession, heading for insolvency years sooner than previously expected, the government warned Tuesday.
Wow! like we did not know this already? That with money going to Bailout companies like AIG (who paid themselves bonuses), GM & Chrysler (who are still filing for Bankruptcy), as well as the other large Fortune 500 companies that are laying off rapidly (See Layoff Tracker).
Ok maybe I missed how saving these companies that are in a natural course of readjustment from mismanagement deserved all of this cash from the U.S. Government, while the Fed, congress and our president has mismanaged our Medicare and Social Security Systems (which we pay into from our earnings).
Our elected officials have now come to the conclusion that it would now be prudent to raise retirement age of everyone born after 1960 to qualify for Social Security – a benefits cut, as well as to deny the cost of living raise for 2010 – 2011 to benefit recipients. Read the rest of this entry »
200. Health Effects of Unemployment and Poverty
Mental Illness has long been one of the leading tenets in the cause of Homelessness both in the United States as well as world wide. With all of the Bailouts for Big Businesses, the citizens that are most impacted (laid off workers, the unemployed, and those fearing future job cuts) have been totally ignored by the Federal and States governments.
Economic turmoil (e.g., increased unemployment, foreclosures, loss of investments and other financial distress) can result in a whole host of negative health effects – both physical and mental. It can be particularly devastating to your emotional and mental well-being. Although each of us is affected differently by economic troubles, these problems can add tremendous stress, which in turn can substantially increase the risk for developing such problems as:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Compulsive Behaviors (over-eating, excessive gambling, spending, etc.)
- Substance Abuse
The above quote comes from then Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration as well as showing the normal pattern of the causes for homelessness. Read the rest of this entry »
199. How I find jobs for survival or It is OK to lie!
Dear Friends:
Two years ago I lost my my income, home, most of my golfing buddies and all material goods due to the obliteration of the housing and mortgage industry in todays financial tail spins. I was an early casualty, as well as a well paid six-figure a year former company executive. My reputation was good enough during the 1990’s and 2000’s that if I wanted to change positions all I had to do was make a phone call and never miss a beat.
In the fall of 2007 that all changed. I was faced with many bills and zero income after a job loss and lost everything. I was not the only one though. I called everyone I knew for positions, the industry was and is a terrible mess. I emailed hundreds of resumes to all sorts of companies. Unfortunately, unless you were entry level they did not want to talk to you. Being in my very early 40’s and a former upper mid level management I was considered too skilled and had earned too much for them to want to take a risk on. I heard more “we cannot pay you what you were making”, “we feel you will get bored here”, “you have a lot of experience”, and basically “we are not currently looking for some who is so obviously over qualified”.
Upon realizing that many were applying for fewer positions and that I was no longer in the employment target market I tried elsewhere and really lowered my sights. Read the rest of this entry »
198. Mr. Obama’s Faulty Logic
The All Seeing Eye
The other day I was watching President Obama in a press conference where he stated that he and his administration has created or saved over 150,000 jobs. I said to myself, Damn that man cannot add or subtract. The next day Chrysler announced they were cutting between 8,500 to 11,ooo jobs in the next few days as well as letting go 13,ooo workers over the next three years. Mr. Obama has a problem with math as you will see…
That is just great since in his first 100 days in office his administration had lost over 2.7 million jobs and had a steady increase of foreclosed homes and increases in homelessness so far under his watch.
From The Bureau of Labor Statistics:
In March (2009), the number of unemployed persons increased by 694,000 to 13.2 million, and the unemployment rate rose to 8.5 percent. Over the past 12 months, the number of unemployed persons has grown by about 5.3 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 3.4 percentage points. Half of the increase in both the number of unemployed and the unemployment rate occurred in the last 4 months.
197. Time To Take A Stand
Dear Friends:
As I live and work trying to recoup my life and livelihood I see others sinking into the mire of what happened to me a little while back. Having lost my income and livelihood due to recession and changes in the market I believe gives me a little bit of perspective into other aspects of what is going on in this nation. Read the rest of this entry »
196. State of Affairs
A few readers have mentioned that I have not written for a while. I have been trying to rebuild my own survival plan or bailout plan.
I admit the last six months ,including the holidays, have been very trying times. With the addition of all the new unemployed, there is a severe impact on the availability of jobs with the newly downsized now competing for a dwindling amount of positions in the retail and restaurant sectors. With the tremendous amount of newly unemployed, more than a few things happened making life more difficult.
First, with the number of people and families now having less income, many employers in the retail and restaurant industries reduced their work forces or the hours for their employees. This led to fewer job openings as well as the increased competition for positions, an overall lowering of wages since there was more competition for positions / jobs available. With the reduction of income many retailers and restaurant chains filed for bankruptcy protection since they survive on the extra income that families and others spend. Read the rest of this entry »
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