Archive for the ‘Healthcare’ Category

Why Abortion Must Remain Legal


20 Aug

I am Pro-Choice. I would love to see an entire world where abortion is legal, safe and rare. But before we can get to the rare part, we absolutely must focus on the legal and safe parts.

This week in the Dominican Republic, a 16 year old girl died of cancer because doctors at first refused to give her treatment on the off chance it would terminate her pregnancy. Their Constitution says the right to life is inviolable from conception until death. But apparently, the right to life is only inviolable for fetuses, and not for the women carrying them.

Your Money Friday: Who Pays for a Disbabled Child?


03 Aug

This is a tricky situation, one that is more complicated than any of us can really understand from news articles. This week on Your Money, we have been discussing how much a private organization (in this case, the Girl Scouts) should be required to pay to accommodate a disabled child and how much of that accommodation should be the responsibility of the parents of the disabled child.

If the parents are not wealthy, should their child not be allowed to participate in non-publically funded activities? Should families with healthy children be forced to help pay for disabled children to participate?

Affordable Care Act- the 80/20 Rule


03 Jul

You may hate parts of the Affordable Care Act. You may think the individual mandate is unconstitutional, despite the Supreme Court. (Lots of people think this about income taxes.) But there are parts of the ACA that everyone can like.

One part of the act you should like- the 80/20 rule. This rule says your insurance company must spend at least 80% of your premium on healthcare costs. Only 20% can go toward administration. The company must make visible exactly what those percentages are and issue you a rebate if they don’t spend enough of your premium on medical costs.

Affordable Care Act Upheld


29 Jun

Yesterday’s ruling by the Supreme Court upholding most of the Affordable Care Act was a momentous one. Legal precedent wise, the number of opinions, and which Justice signed on to what, is a much murkier bag. For precedent purposes, it is going to take some time to parse exactly what this ruling means. It may or may not be a win for Democrats. It may or may not be a loss for Republicans.

But for those people who, as a friend put it yesterday, just want the option of being able to pay for insurance, it is a major win.

Today is THE DAY (Court Watching Day 3)


28 Jun

Today is THE BIG DAY in Court watching. It’s the day the Supreme Court will announce it’s ruling on the healthcare bill. I see reports everywhere that lots of people want it struck down as unconstitutional. I want to ask those people if they think a pre-existing condition should be a barrier to insurance. Or if college students (who are unlikely to be able to get health insurance through a job) should be forced off their parents’ insurance? People like those provisions. They don’t like the individual mandate. Today we find out if all, none, or some of it goes.

Your Money Friday: Weight in the Workplace


25 May

So while we’re still talking about work clothes over on YM this week, the thread I’m highlighting only pretends to be about wardrobe- Does this Interview Suit Make Me Look Fat? It started talking about companies policies about not hiring fat people because of the insurance cost. It has morphed a bit to be talking about weight in general, and howUS society perceives weight.

The conversation has remained quite respectful (which is nice), but for someone who has struggled with their weight, it is also very frustrating to hear people tell me how “simple” it is to lose weight.

Blog Feature: The Millionaire Nurse Blog


03 Mar

My beloved Aunt is a nurse. I have worked with some wonderful nurses. Yes, nurses occupy a soft spot in my heart. I think they do a difficult job and often do not get the rewards they deserve. And that’s part of why The Millionaire Nurse Blog is one of my favorites. Dr. Dean has committed himself to sharing information about nurses and for nurses. It’s a nurse blog that cares about personal finances for all.

Besides his regular Best in Nurse Blogs feature, I love his personal finance lessons found anywhere- like in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Why We Need Sex Ed (or Are Conservative Men Really that Stupid?)


01 Mar

There is an apparent belief among conservative men that female birth control (ie the pill) works the same way as a condom. (See here and here.)  Guys, I know you want your wives to be virgins, but I’m also pretty certain you want the women you sleep with before/outside of marriage to not get pregnant. So, let me explain how the pill works, in language you can understand- it’s like Cialis for daily use.

One pill, every day. Cost and quantity do not scale with sexual activity. Taking the pill does not make a woman a slut or a prostitute.

No More Braces


15 Feb

My post is late today because I wanted to announce- the braces are off! That’s right after 14 months, they have come off. And while 14 months seemed like a very long time to me, it was, in fact, 10 months less than was originally predicted.

My guess is that orthodontists are used to teenagers who do not always follow directions very well. Adults, however, have chosen to have the braces and are even paying for them. We are much more motivated and actually follow instructions, meaning it takes less time.

Anyway, braces are off and I can chew gum.

Vets Helping Heroes


31 Jan

I love highlighting organizations like this one. I have written in other places about Pets2Vets, which helps provide companion animals to veterans. The animals come from shelters, so the soldiers aren’t just getting a pet, they’re saving a life.

Vets Helping Heroes works to help provide veterans with service dogs, which comes with a much higher expense. Currently, our federal government does not provide any assistance to veterans who would benefit from a service animal. Vets Helping Heroes is lobbying to change that, but in the meantime, they are raising funds to provide as many service animals as they can.

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