Personal stories

For me, health care reform is really a moral issue. I don't understand how we can limit people's access to doctors! I have so many friends who have not gone to the doctor when sick, or postponed going to the doctor, because they didn't have health insurance and did not have good enough health insurance. I have had times in my life without good/any health insurance and even today I always balance how much something might cost with what I (not a medical doctor) judge to be the severity of my sickness. So today, here are some personal stories demonstrating the need for health care reform.

Stories of the uninsured.
A nurse's view on health reform
What one family has to do to keep their daughter insured.

Isn't our health care system the best?

No! Here is some info on that:
Five myths about health care in the rest of the world.
Comparing Britain's health care system to the US.

Why reform health care at all?

Today I want to give you some links on why we should reform health care at all?
Short, simple cartoon explaining problems with our current health care system.
Harvard study finds that 62% of personal bankruptcies were due to medical costs, and 78% of those people were insured.
And, finally, health care explained on 4 napkins.

What, exactly, is in the health care bill?

I am going out of town for a long weekend, but I am still very concerned about health care reform, so while I am gone I am going to queue up some posts to give you some more info. It can be confusing, but just a little time reading can clear up a lot of myths and misconceptions.

Also, I made phone calls in support of health care on Saturday, and if anyone else wants to get involved in volunteering you can do so here.

For today I give you: (1) the actual bill with fact sheets prepared by the Committee on Energy and Commerce.
(2)Health insurance reform myth vs. facts
(3)FactCheck.org debunks some lying ads

nom nom nom

R and I don't really celebrate our wedding anniversary, because although we partake in the institution and are into each other, we are not into legal marriage per se. I feel like I always totally shock people when I say this, but there you go. Legal marriage -- I could take it or leave it.

BUT my parents and R's parents celebrate our anniversary and send us gifts, which is awesome. Thanks to their very generous gifts we were able to go out to this restaurant last night and enjoy 5 amazing and tasty courses of vegetarian food. And a bottle of wine. We called it a celebration of our mutual awesomeness.

I don't think I've ever gotten the tasting menu at a restaurant before because they often contain meat. It was super to have dishes just appear before me, each one super tasty in its own way. I have been vegetarian for over 14 years now and I don't at all feel limited by it on a daily basis. I don't feel like it is any kind of sacrifice. It is nice, however, to periodically go to a restaurant where there is a whole menu of stuff for me to order or where I can just let the waiter bring me anything and I know I will be able to eat it.

Health Care!

People, I have been very concerned about the health care system here in the US for a long time. As a graduate student, my funding did not include health insurance. I have been paying a TON for this for a long time. Right now I am on R's insurance. He is lucky enough that his funding pays for his, but not for mine. When I start my new full time job in September my employer will give me insurance and we will all of a sudden be saving about $2000 on health insurance. Seeing this stark difference close up really makes me appreciate how lucky people are who have employers who insure them. And how bad it is for people who work slightly less than full time, or not close to full time, or who are laid off, or who have employers with bad insurance plans. Really, for my entire adult life I have always considered the possible cost of care when deciding whether or not to go to the doctor. This is not right. People should go to the doctor when they are sick -- not wait around trying to figure out if they feel really bad enough or not to make it worth it.

So I finally got off my butt today and read about the actual health care bill. Since there is so much going on with people misrepresenting what the bill actually does, I recommend everyone start there as well. Then, please write your elected representatives and tell them you support the bill. You can find those people and very convenient web forms here and here.

It won't take you very long, and it is really time we fixed health care in the US. Really, it is appalling.

Lost weekend

I'm back from teaching the smart kids! And apparently I brought the weather of the SE with me. I am really really not into hot and humid weather. Really. I think if I had my way it would very rarely get above 75. That might even be pushing it.

R was away at a conference this weekend, and we realized it was the first time I was alone in the apartment so I had big plans of eating broccoli, maybe having popcorn for dinner one night, and watching movies R would not like. These plans were all mostly defeated by my technological troubles.

First, I got an iPhone on Friday. This is awesome and was a present to myself for getting my first full-time academic job. Also it was on sale. I waited sooooo long for the UPS to bring it, then I had to set it up and charge it and then I was finally ready to make my first call and the person on the other end could not hear me. That is right. The mic was broken. It was still awesome without the talking ability and I a, lucky enough to live in a Big City with an Apple Store so I took the broken phone there on Saturday. They fiddled with it for a bit, and then said they would just have to give me a new one. So I got a fresh new one. Yay! Happiness!

BUT then I came home to plug my new phone into itunes and put all my podcasts on it when what do I get but a Blue Screen of Death. Many, in fact. The next day and a half are many phone calls to Dell, attempts at re-installing Vista, and finally the promise of a new motherboard. Luckily I somehow got a long warranty so it is all free. But now I have no computer (I'm typing this on R's) and am waiting to hear from the tech who is going to bring me my new parts.

I also meant to write a ton this weekend, but with no computer that did not happen. It is all backed up because I am responsible that way, but there are some programs I will need to get access to again. Anyway, that was my weekend which did not at all end up as planned.