Health Insurance Is Really Making Me Sick

This is just one of the many stories on the state of the health care industry in the United States. From yesterday on MSNBC.

How is it that men in suits that sit at desks make decisions about who gets coverage, how much it costs and who is at risk.

According to the report, the health insurance industry is about to launch a campaign to make itself look good. Kind of like when Phillip Morris ran advertisements about how you could quit smoking...it's all such a farse. They don't really care. They want you to buy their cigarettes and most smart people know it.

"Campaign for an American Solution" (I recommend scrolling to the MD comments after the article) will launch a listening tour in Columbus, OH that records that small percent of Americans who are satisfied with their insurance coverage.

Richard Kirsch, president for Health Care for America Now, a non-profit joining forces with a ton of other groups - see here - to combat the health insurance industry. Kirsch told MSNBC, "the health insurance industry is free to reject who they want and charges unfairly based on risk. If you’re older you get charged more. If you’re a woman you get charged more.”

Loved this very true statement from another activist:

Brian Rothenberg, the Executive Director of Progress Ohio, railed against the lack of progress in health care reform despite the fact that “it’s been 16 years since the health care debate first came on the national scene.” He said that many people are “one bad boss, one difficult decision at work away from being unemployed and having no health insurance.”

I've Been in Texas Too Long

Austin - A New-Found Appreciation

Once I was able to solidify that I would be staying in Austin for school, it's almost like moving here for the first time all over again.

Some of my personal favorite spots to check out if you live here, or if you just come for a visit - Part 1:

Stay Cool with the city's spring-fed watering holes and lakes:

Barton Springs - A crisp 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Kind of reminds you of the movie Cocoon.
Deep Eddy - Oldest swimming pool in the state of Texas. A crisp 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Better for doing real laps because the pool is in the shape of a square and has an area for lap swimming.
Pace Bend Park on Lake Travis - this year, the water is so-so. But, come on a good summer with lots of rain, and this is what you can find at Pace Bend:













Grab a cool drink:

Crown and Anchor - A UT hangout year-round. You won't find a lot of youngsters at this bar. It caters more to graduate students and professionals. Dogs welcome, "Arf!"
Shoal Creek Saloon - Owned and operated by Louisiana folk, this long-standing Austin pub serves up cold beers, wine, liquor and cajun cooking. Saints fans, look no further. Scream "Who 'dat" like you mean it!
Uncle Billy's Beer and BBQ - Austin's home-brew destination. Drink Billy's beer and eat fairly decent bbq while sitting under the oak trees of Barton Springs Road. For those new to town, you won't have the pleasure of sitting outside at Billy's next to the traditional RV park (where even Matthew McConaughey kept his Airstream trailer.) The owner of another local spot - Austin Java (also located on Barton Springs) bought the park, forced the residents out and is now in the process of building even, more, yes, more, condos for Austin.
The Longbranch Inn - Old favorite. Just started serving liquor 3 years ago. Before that, patrons bought their own bottles of liqour at the store next to the bar and were served setups. The bar itself is an ornate, carved wooden structure taken from the original bar at the Driskill Hotel.

Hot sips:

Emerald City Press Coffee - New and so cool. Drive up to the open front for coffee, treats and the paper.
Quack's - Also known as the 43rd Street Bakery, Quack's has been around longer than I could research. But, because Austin is a young city, that might mean it's been around since 1979, or something. It caters to the graduate and undergraduate set for studying and lounging, but you'll see Hyde Parkers of all walks at Quack's. It's definitely a scene of the intellectual, hip looking and eclectic. "Keep Austin Weird!"
Jo's - Now serving coffee, food and beer at the original South Congress location and now in the new 2nd Street district. Coffee is great, and the food (mostly at the 2nd Street location) is amazing!

Healthy sips:

Daily Juice - With all these chain smoothie places, it's so refreshing to find a local joint that serves up truly fresh and tasty smoothies, elixirs and juices. Drinking a Daily Juice concoction will make you feel healthy, hippie and holistic. I recommend the Subliminator with Almond Butter.
Wheatsville Grocery - one of the original food co-ops in the U.S., grab a smoothie at Wheatsville back at the Deli.

Part 2 of my Austin series will include:

• Hear some live music
• Eat well
• Dress well
• Do something for your body
• Do something for your home
• Where the dogs are
  

New England Journal of Medicine on Non-Traditional Medical Students

Thought provoking article on non-trads and their importance to the future of medicine in the NEJM

Here's a Scary Thought: Doctor's Are Only Human

When I think of doctors, three types of bed-side manner come to mind.

1) Nice
2) Cold
3) Indifferent

Of course, there are subsets of these personalities, but these three comprise the make-up of most of our experiences with doctors.

Everyone loves the nice, warm, jovial doctor. Who wouldn't? Pleasant people rock. In any profession, the pleasant employee can get a lot accomplished by placating colleagues across various groups. And, when the pleasant employee has a bad day, which is just life, for the most part, it is completely acceptable. "Ah...Joe must be having a bad day," you might say, and then leave it at that.

Are doctors really any different? They are humans after all.

I'm starting to believe the answer is no. At least based on what I hear from my friends who tell me their stories of visits, or even calls to their doctors. "They were so indifferent when I told them I hadn't slept all night because of my headache," a friend once told me. And then he continued on to say, "doctors are so bad sometimes....but you won't be like that."

I've always felt super comfortable around doctors. Heck, one was my grandfather, so I saw from a very young age his human side. He got angry, he got sick, he laughed, he got cranky. In fact, he even slept from time-to-time, and in a real, human bed. I never saw him bleed, but I am 99 percent certain he was a human. I don't think a robot could tan like that.

There are some bad doctors out there, but most of them are just, well...human. They have bad days too. They get upset stomachs and headaches, and funny-enough, they even get grossed out sometimes by what you come into their offices to show them growing in your ear.

Then there are the exceptionally nice doctors, and to me, those are the doctors truly destined for the profession. I witnessed, recently, a doctor who had one of the best bed-side manners this side of a cupcake factory. The patients just melted in her presence and really worked hard on improving their lives for their next visit. She confessed to me later that she loves her job, but really never liked the sciences.

Then you have the science genius, who got all As in high school and college and didn't have the first clue on what to do with such a genius brain, so took the next best logical step, and went to med school. Twenty years later, Dr. Smarty Pants can become the emotionless doctor or the downright unpleasant doctor. Remember, he/she too started out life human, watched Different Strokes and played Connect Four just like you and me. So, like many humans, Dr. Smarty Pants can get depressed about the choices he/she made about becoming a doctor, or maybe it's the spouse they married or the town they live in. Just like other humans, life can wear them down.

Now, imagine being that human with the responsibility of other peoples lives in your hands, a broken health care system and a stomach ache from the pizza you ate the night before. Maybe it would be better if you weren't human.

It's the Little Things....

I have an addiction. It's pretty pathetic that it's gotten so out of hand lately, but admitting to it is always the first step.

I am obsessed with Hulu.com. It's like everything I ever dreamed the Internet could be. I can watch movies, TV shows, funny excerpts of my favorite comedies, all on a robust player that doesn't stop to buffer and plays short commercials without me having to use my fingers to hit, "Click to Continue." I can keep my arms snug and warm in bed and not move a muscle while hulu just plays away.

And, then, just when I think it couldn't get any better, I discovered the following is now available through Hulu...Buck Rogers

Somebody pinch me! Of course, you can also find reruns of St. Elsewhere.

What a country!

Chilaxin'

It's funny to think that just three weeks ago, my life was all up in knots. Oregon vs. UT, how am I going to make this work, will I be able to stay at my job if I stay??? Now, it all seems like a fond memory. It even gives me the warm fuzzies to think back on this entire spring.

The last three weeks have been some of the most enjoyable I've had in many years. First, there was the weekend in Oldenburg, TX - outside of Burton (not that it helps to know that) - where 24 hours passed like an entire week. I learned how to shoot a 12-gauge shotgun; fished; saw the symphony and watched the cows eat grass.

Then, all last week, I spent in Charleston, SC with my entire immediate family. It was a very special reunion - as we don't get to do that very often. My nephew and nieces are now old enough to be more engaging and talk to me and be silly. My parents were having so much fun with all the activity in their house. We had a fireworks display that was most likely illegal and definitely dangerous.

And, for the first time in several years, I attended a family reunion without feeling left out. I am the last one in my family to get married or have kids, and that has always bothered me until now.

Which brings me to the ultimate point of my post. Post 30 years of age, I have really slowed down on my expectations of life and learned to focus on what is reality and what makes me happy outside of anything society or people who care about me might think.

All throughout my 20s, I was eager. Eager to date, eager to get serious, eager to get engaged, eager to make good money, eager to get a better job. I was never quite satisfied, and I never really considered if the relationships I were in, or the jobs I had, really made me happy. I was too concerned with checking off the boxes. It's no surprise to me that I dated men who were not the best for me, but I stuck it out anyway. Why wouldn't you, when your biggest goal is to get married and have kids. You would do anything to reach your biggest goal, wouldn't you?

Well, it took until now to have this realization: If you're not right with yourself first, there is no way you can be right for someone else. And, because I was so eager to get so much done by the time I turned 30, I forgot to reflect on whether I enjoyed the journey.

Now, as a 30-something-year-old, I am no longer in a hurry. Just at the age everyone says you'll have an early-life crisis or feel the pressures to get hitched and have kids, I have finally decided that I enjoy chillin'. Just easin' down the road of life, and loving every step of the way.