Government run health care

[Catty1]

From LOLnews, our former Prime Minister Jean Chretien:

[RICHARD]

I do.

[sasvermont]

I just got off the phone, after a 25 minute wait on hold, with the Fed. Government office that manages the retired employees and their spouses monthly payments. I need to get a breakdown of how much my Mom receives each month. They send that figure out once a year and you never see that number again until the tax forms arrive in the following year!

Well, I was prepared for a long wait but was surprised at how alert and spot on the person was at the other end of the call! I will confess that I said I WAS my Mother rather than her representative. I learned that lesson a long time ago.

The government has tons of web sites you can dig through to get information such as I needed but unless you go to that site several times a year, I can never remember where and what each department is/was. Often times you need an already established PIN number, which of course, I can never find.

Anyway, all in all it took only 4 minutes to get the information I needed. I did have that nasty wait at the beginning....... I had a comfortable chair.

I hope there is a government program offered with this healthcare reform progress and here's hoping we will have good people running it....and THEY HAVE LOTS OF PHONE LINES AND PEOPLE TO ANSWER THE CALLS!

[RICHARD]

http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-...tory?track=rss


Wheeeeeeeeee!!!!!


This isn't the government. There are the people charged to taking care of your med recs!

Enjoy!

[Miranda_Rae]

First off I did not read all the pages, just the first page so if I am saying something taht is off track or not following the conversation I apologize. I just was reading some of hte things said and they REALLY struck home for me and would like to comment on them. And here I go.

If you are on welfare be it a week or a year or 10 years it is because for whatever reason you cannot take care of yourself finanically. Welfare helps that is what it is there for. People on welfare declare themselves unable to support themselves. Is that not correct? What other reason is there to be on welfare? You can't support yourself and you go and apply for help in food stamps and housing etc..

We need to make people more responsible for themselves, educate them so they can work and make a decent living.

One of my best friends is on food stamps and she is one of the hardest workers I know. She has 2 kids and one on the way. She is a cook at a restaurant and the reason shes on food stamps is because in this economy it is VERY hard to support a family on one income. Her fiancee works, but odd jobs because it is very hard to find jobs that keep people year around around here. I believe she wouldn't care about food stamps or assistance, but because she has children she wants them feed and clothed. I personally do not find welfare bad, only when the system is misused (which I have known a few) who purposely choose not to get a job beause they do not feel like working.

How are we supposed to educate people if they do not have the money? And what if people are responsible but they just do not have the money to go to college? Is the government supposed to pay for that also?

When I refer to people mentally unable to support themselves I speak of people who are depressed, bi-polar, vets with PTSD, people with all types of mental disorders are on welfare. Many homeless people also have mental disorders and are not on meds, even when help is available. Having a mental disorder is nothing to be ashamed of, welfare is there to help. People unable to hold jobs, cope with life because of mental illness are on welfare and yes that is what it is there for. People who suffer from depression are in deep pain and deserve help.
I am talking about those that abuse the system not those that deserve our help. I never mentioned people who lost their job. The only slackers I mentioned are those that have numorous kids with different fathers who will not or cannot support themselves. No where in my post did I bash anyone who is hardworking. I am talking about the Jerry Springer/Maury Povich crowd. And don't kid yourself they make up a huge amount of welfare people and take huge amounts of money. In these difficult times anyone of us can lose our home, or job. We are hard working, honest and deserve help.

Alright I am not trying to start a fight but i found this comment very uneducated. I have Borderline Personality disorder which is listed as a mental illness. If left untreated mental illnesses can lead to where you can not work anymore, but i think we should help educate people to get help before it gets to that point. First off, meds does NOT fix everything. When someone has a mental illness it requires therapy and sometimes therapy and meds. I believe that getting people help for their problems rather than putting them on a welfare program for food stamps and housing is more important. Whereas that is important also because people need food and a roof over their head, but they also need the help that could help them with their mental illnesses. People can not change the world but they can start in the small corners of their area.

Secondly the comment about not having people on welfare who have numerous kids with numerous fathers, did it occur that they may also have numerous mental illnesses that cause them to make the poor choices that got them into those situations so therefor they would "qualify" to be on welfare. I am just pointing out some thoughts that I had as I have been through the mental health circus for years and have met many different people in many different situations that have been on welfare and that have not. These were just my thoughts that crossed my mind due to where I have been and waht I have seen.

[adequedia]

Geez guys, everyone knows its wrong for the government to become involved in peoples health care decisions. Unless it involves an act of Congress pandering to the religious right by preventing the feeding tube from being removed from a patient in a persistant vegetative state.

[RICHARD]

Geez guys, everyone knows its wrong for the government to become involved in peoples health care decisions. Unless it involves an act of Congress pandering to the religious right by preventing the feeding tube from being removed from a patient in a persistant vegetative state.

Amen.

[RICHARD]

YAY!!!!!!!

I just heard that you do not need a mammogram if you are under 40!

Does this mean that they have cured cancer in young women?


I don't believe in stats that companies/news orgs put out so.......
Take half the population of the U.S.(women)-Say half of the that is under 40?

Now, that's about 80 million? How many are going to take the advice of the government and pass up the chance to keep them alive if they do have a yearly mammogram?


So what's next on the menu?

NO paps?, no prostate checks? No preventative checkups?

Remember this topic in a few years.

[Edwina's Secretary]

YAY!!!!!!!

I just heard that you do not need a mammogram if you are under 40!

You are incorrect. That is not the announcement that came out this week.

[RICHARD]

TFYS.


WASHINGTON - Women should continue getting regular mammograms starting at age 40, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday, moving to douse confusion caused by a task-force recommendation two days earlier.

Sebelius issued her statement following a government panel's recommendation on Monday, that said most women don't need mammograms in their 40s and should get one every two years starting at 50.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34019898/ns/health-cancer/

[Edwina's Secretary]

TFYS - I have no idea what that means but I am sure it is unpleasant.

There was nothing about women under 40 not needing mammograms.

Currently mammograms are not recommended for women under 40 unless there is an exceptional medical reason.

The issue is women between 40 and 50 as you subsequently correctly quoted.

Twisiting the truth to make something hysterical is not constructive. Your original statement was incorrect.

[Karen]

Probably some newscaster shortening the story to a 'sound bite' - they seem to like to do that, like we have a shorter attention span than a gnat.

Richard, you're not female, so I wouldn't expect you to know this. But women under age 40 are only suggested to get mammograms if they have certain high risk factors. Of course any woman of any age can get one, if their doctor recommends it. But until now, one thing about turning 40 was that it now meant you were supposed to schedule an annual mammogram, even if you have no history of cancer in the family or other risk factors. Turning 40 was seen as reason enough. Breast cancer can hit any person, male or female, and there are even cases in young girls now. Men do get breast cancer, and it is a double burden for them, because everyone thinks it's a "woman" thing, so they are sometimes afraid to even tell people.

The study in the news suggested that women 40 and over do not need an ANNUAL mammogram, as was previously suggested. However, I will still ask my doctor, I normally schedule mine after I have had my annual physical, which is next week. I wouldn't mind skipping a year, IF she says so. The US Health and Human Services department, though is speaking out against that panel, and still recommending annual exams. Like I said, I'm gonna ask my doc next week. Mammograms are NOT fun, but if she says I should, I will.

[RICHARD]

Probably some newscaster shortening the story to a 'sound bite' - they seem to like to do that, like we have a shorter attention span than a gnat.

Richard, you're not female, so I wouldn't expect you to know this.

I do have an honorary degree in Womanology from La Escuela de Golpes Duros and have dressed as a woman on Special Occasions.

I can cook, clean, scrub and sort darks and whites before washing.

I just can not iron.

------------

I could never begin to understand everything that women go thru.



I hate to shop?

[Karen]

I do have an honorary degree in Womanology from La Escuela de Golpes Duros and have dressed as a woman on Special Occasions.

I can cook, clean, scrub and sort darks and whites before washing.

I just can not iron.

Trust me, you may the degree, but there are some things about being a woman you'd probably rather not know. Paul can cook, clean, scrub and is more meticulous about laundry even than I, and he's all male. In fact, my brothers were both taught to sew and cook, just as much as my sister and I were. Ma and Pa both cooked when given the chance, so there was no sense in segregating the next generation of cooks!

[Edwina's Secretary]

A few more facts? The government panel, of doctors and medical researchers, studied radiation exposure, false positives, over aggressive treament, etc compared to cancers detected in making their recommendations.

Oh yes, the panel was appointed by......President G. W. Bush.

Now, can anyone tell me what TFYS means?