November 8, 2013

As of today, my ACA discussion at DKos had 164 comments. It deserves that much here:

Are the ACA's "Subsidies" really subsidies? Or are they loans?


It is my understanding that many people who are not currently insured will be visiting the California exchange, and if their income is low enough, and they are not offered insurance through work, they will get insurance through MediCal.

I spent today cleaning out the closet. Among other items I came across was a brochure sent to this household some years ago (circa 2008-2009) when we qualified for MediCal.

Here is what it says in the brochure, sent by Health and Human Services:

"When a Medi-Cal beneficiary is 55 years of age or older at the time of death, the State will collect from his/her estate the cost of Medi-Cal services received including insurance premiums paid an d payments made to managed care on or after the 55th "birthday."

The brochure goes on to detail exclusions, such as if your spouse has survived your death, they won't go after the estate until the spouse has also died. And they exclude a household where a child survives a parent AND IS UNDER THE AGE of 21.

So is this still in place? And REMEMBER, in your state, (assuming you live outside California, MediCaid is the program that the poorer among us will be using . MediCaid is not only a program that serves those older persons seeking long term nursing care - it is the program that addresses the health insurance needs of poorer people.

For instance, in1995, 14 million people in the USA were dealing with health care matters through the auspices of MediCaid. And many of these people were single parents with children. MediCaid pays for doctor visits, and hospital ER visits, and hospital stays if needed. And of course, long care help inside a nursing care home.

Remember: the ACA is mandated - and once you sign up, if poor enough, you are shuffled onto MediCAid or MediCal. YOu probably get some type of notice in the mail after the sign up. (That's how our notice came.)

Again, this is not something I found out about by watching Fox news, or the RW Denouncers. It is right there inside the brochure issued by California Dept of Health and Human services.

November 7, 2013

With clinical trials now mainly overseas, will more Americans die?

Full article:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2011/01/deadly-medicine-201101

Deadly Medicine -- TAKE TWO ASPIRIN
More and more clinical trials for new drugs are being outsourced overseas
and conducted by companies for hire. Is oversight even possible?

Prescription drugs kill some 200,000 Americans every year. Will that number go up, now that most clinical trials are conducted overseas —
on sick Russians, homeless Poles, and slum-dwelling Chinese—in places where
regulation is virtually nonexistent, the F.D.A. doesn’t and cannot reach, and “mistakes” can end up in pauper’s graves?

The authors investigate the globalization of the pharmaceutical industry,
and the U.S. Government’s failure to rein in a lethal profit machine.

By Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele



In 2009, according to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, 19,551 people
died in the United States as a direct result of the prescription drugs they took.
That’s just the reported number. It’s decidedly low, because it is estimated that
only about 10 percent of such deaths are reported. Conservatively, then, the
annual American death toll from prescription drugs considered “safe” can be put
at around 200,000.

That is three times the number of people who die every year
from diabetes, four times the number who die from kidney disease. Overall, deaths from F.D.A.-approved prescription drugs dwarf the number of people who die from street drugs such as cocaine and heroin. They dwarf the number who die every year in automobile accidents. So far, these deaths have triggered no medical crusades, no tough new regulations. After a dozen or so deaths linked to runaway Toyotas, Japanese executives were summoned to appear before lawmakers in Washington and were subjected to an onslaught of humiliating publicity. When the pharmaceutical industry meets with lawmakers, it is mainly to provide campaign contributions.

And with more and more of its activities moving overseas, the industry’s behavior
will become more impenetrable, and more dangerous, than ever.
For full article, see link at top of text.

####
With some big thanks to "Brookline" from another onsite venue

November 7, 2013

Does anyone here know a lot about MediCal health insurance for

People in California?

It is my understanding that many people who are not currently insured will visit the California exchange, and if their income is low enough, and they are not offered insurance through work, they will get insurance through MediCal.

I spent today cleaning out the closet. Among other items I came across was a brochure sent to this household some years ago (circa 2008-2009) when we qualified for MediCal.

Here is what it says in the brochure, sent by Health and Human Services:

"When a Medi-Cal beneficiary is 55 years of age or older at the time of death, the State will collect from his/her estate the cost of Medi-Cal services received including insurance premiums paid an d payments made to managed care on or after the 55th "birthday."

The brochure goes on to detail exclusions, such as if your spouse has survived your death, they won't go after the estate until the spouse has also died. And they exclude a household where a child survives a parent AND IS UNDER THE AGE of 21.

So is this still in place?

Again, this is not something I found out about by watching Fox news, or the RW Denouncers. It is right there inside the brochure issued by California Dept of Health and Human services.

On edit: here is a diary over at DailyKos that mentions some similar concerns: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/10/17/1248425/-Medicaid-Estate-Recovery-ACA-Unintended-Consequences

November 7, 2013

The permission is given to frack Chelsea and West Village, NYC

I kid you not. And right on time, defenders of the right to drill and pump natural gas from any and everywhere are saying there's no proof that anything could go wrong.

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20131021/chelsea/controversial-natural-gas-pipeline-gets-federal-approval-start-pumping

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission granted permission Thursday for the pipeline, built by Texas-based Spectra Energy, to be put into service on Nov. 1, according to a letter from commission director Lauren O'Donnell.

The companies behind the pipeline have "adequately stabilized areas disturbed by construction" and "restoration is proceeding satisfactorily," O'Donnell wrote.

However, residents have raised safety concerns about the pipeline, which will pump about 800 million cubic feet of Marcellus Shale natural gas into the city each day. The pipeline stretches from New Jersey under the Hudson River and enters Manhattan at 10th Avenue and Gansevoort Street, stretching up to 15th Street.

"It's so disappointing," Bill Borock, president of the Council of Chelsea Block Associations. "The gas companies say don't worry, but we don't have any assurances when big weather and flooding happens."

November 6, 2013

Astronomy experts and buffs - what is going on with Venus??

Monday night I joined the spouse in his evening hike to the beach. Coming back, he pointed out a bright object in the sky, and asked what I thought it was.

It was a few moments before the sun actually set, so there was nothing in the sky yet except a few whisps of clouds. And yes, over in the SW portion of the sky, there was an extremely bright object.

Since the only sky thing-ey I know of that is out like that so early in the night would be Venus, I stated it might be Venus. But it was so bright, I stood stock still for a good three or four minutes to make sure it wasn't a plane.

M. assured me it wasn't a plane, as the object had been in the exact same spot the evening before.

A jet came into the picture, flying at maybe 20K to 25K feet. And the jet flew directly above this object. (At least that is how it appeared to our naked eyes.)

Now we are both seeing reports on the internets that the object is considered an UFO. People are saying it its too bright to be Venus. And indeed, I'm in my early 60's and I have never seen Venus so bright.

Could it be the space station? Or what?

November 5, 2013

E-Voting Trouble During Today's Elections in Virginia, New York, and Elsewhere

Source: Brad Friedman's Election Website

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10352

E-Voting Trouble During Today's Elections in Virginia, New York, and Elsewhere

"Tweeters" spell out difficulties for Dem candidates getting their rightful vote count.

From Brad's article:
The Tweet from Col. Morris Davis @ColMorrisDavis

Voting prob: Screen had McAuliffe w/aspirin size bubble then Cuccinelli. 3x touched M, checked C. 4th touched very top of bubble & got M.


In New York, for example, the Post is reporting that "Many of the city's 'optical-scan' voting machines were reported broken - or simply would not boot up - on Tuesday morning, forcing voters to toss paper ballots into overflowing baskets, according to frustrated Twitter posts." The Gothamist confirms that report with Tweets from all over the city complaining of scanners malfunctioning. "At PS 32 in Carroll Gardens this morning, Awl co-founder Choire Sicha reported a wait time of 20-30 minutes because of malfunctioning scanning machines," they report.

Many of New York state's systems are also manufactured by Sequoia/Dominion, though the city itself uses systems made by ES&S, the nation's largest e-voting company, and one with its own long and storied history of failure and inaccurate counting. (See a brief history of ES&S failures here.)

Read more: http://www.bradblog.com/?p=10352

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November 5, 2013

It's a Fox news story, but still --

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/10/10/us-intelligence-assets-reportedly-played-role-in-capture-dea-agent-in-mexico/

Some thirty years ago, under President Ron Reagan, a DEA agent in Mexico was tortured and then killed in front of our Intel Agents.

Same sad shit still goes on today.

November 4, 2013

The New March on Washington:

Bankers re-write the rules, and allow for even weaker regulations.

Does anyone here have an honest Congress man or woman they know of?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152018354335948&set=a.10150118664235948.317168.599325947&type=1&ref=nf