COBRA Subsidies End. So What Now For Unemployed?

18 May

Daily Kos: Icebergs loom: COBRA subsidies end, high risk pools begin

Over the coming two months, Americans will begin to really feel the effects of our bold new 21st century healthcare system.

The first event (not connected to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) is that the first round of COBRA subsidies will begin to expire.

The largest single group of people set to collectively roll-off of the COBRA subsidy could be the group that loses their subsidies in June. Anyone qualifying for the subsidy between September 2008 and March 2009 — a six month period when unemployment increased from 6.2% to 8.4%(2) — will have reached the end of their 15 subsidized months of COBRA in June 2010.

What will happen to these people? Many will join the ranks of the uninsured.

In the rest of the industrialized world, if you lose your job, you don’t lose you right to healthcare.

My only comment: Eve is right. Go read it.

When Politicians Set Curriculum Standards …

15 May

Everyone loses when politicians set the curriculm standards, especially when those politicians are far right wing ideologues from deep East Texas. And when I say everyone, I don’t just mean everyone in Texas. Continue reading →

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Time for a Barbara update

14 May

It’s been a few days, and a couple of people have asked, so I guess I need to update. Continue reading →

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I thought the Tea Party were racists …

13 May

Then I read this article about neo-Nazi parents in the U.S.

Nazi nightmare: The U.S. parents who teach their children to idolise Hitler | Mail Online.
Smiling proudly as she wraps her arms around her two children, Cynthia Keene’s family paint a happy picture.

But as they roll up their sleeves to reveal dozens of swastika tattoos it’s clear there is nothing average about their lifestyle.

Because the Keenes are just one of a growing number of Nazi families who have joined the racist group, the NSM (National Socialist Movement).

The group in question is sadly misnamed. There is nothing at all socialist about Nazi beliefs. The NSM is actually neo-Fascist in nature. Continue reading →

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The ‘Religious Right’ has a new crazy lady

12 May

Another example is a new anti-Muslim screed making the rounds on the Internet, criticizing what it calls efforts to “islamicize our schools.”

The author of the piece is Pamela Geller, a blogger and commentator popular in the far-right media (including the cable news networks). Think Ann Coulter, but with even less restraint or shame. Seriously.
TFN Insider

Wow. I’ve read the piece in question, and it is beyond insane. Continue reading →

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Bubble echocardiogram result

11 May

BTW: The bubble echocardiogram? No problem found. I forgot to pass that on.

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Remember when I suggested you send a video to TPC?

11 May

Well, they posted the final result while I was busy with the ICU. Anyway, if you go here (YouTube) or here (TPC site) or here (@ZenShadow‘s blog) you can see that result. If you watch long enough, you might see a familiar face or two.

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Skipped IMU, Straight to Floor

11 May

So Barbara skipped the IMU, and went straight to the floor. She’s still on telemetry, and is now on contact restrictions. She’s developed a superficial infection in the old ostomy site. Continue reading →

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Leaving ICU …

10 May

As soon as a room becomes available in the IMU, Barbara will move out of the ICU. They are still trying to achieve a therapeutic level of heparin. Once they do that, they will switch her to oral coumadin. Once they determine the right dose of that, it’s back to Vosswood.

These are all positive developments. So why am I feeling so leary? Maybe I am just tired.

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Barbara – Still in ICU

8 May

This morning, they performed a test I had actually never heard of, called a Bubble Echocardiogram. Continue reading →

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