Ulcerative Colitis a pre existing condition according to Trump & the Repugs

For the record, U.S. President FDR was not incapacitated by childhood illness. He contracted polio in adulthood, after he had been married for several years & had children. Initially, he was so affected by polio that he could not defecate; he needed to receive enemas daily to eliminate waste. At that point in his life he was saved by Eleanor, who was willing to do pure drudge work to save his life, even though he had already cheated on her with a secretary! Then he soldiered on to become a truly helpful leader to lower-income people by pushing to establish Social Security. Eleanor travelled to the poorest communities in the U.S., even going to coal mines, to gather eye-witness info. to help FDR formulate more effective socioeconomic policies. Contrast this behavior with what we have going on today at the White House, which is pushing the sale of 1st daughter's handbags in China while planning to rob lower-income American women, especially, of basic medical care by defunding Planned Parenthood, etc., etc. We are confronted with a truly shameful + dangerously callous politics!!!!!!!!!! And as CLO writes, it already is HARD to find competent doctors who accept Medicare; I can imagine what she is going through with gyn issues due to fistulizing Crohn's. / Old Hat (36 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

NiceCupOfTea said...
@nssg - This may be a really dumb question, but isn't there such a thing as a state pension in the US? I'm surprised there are so few ways of contributing to a pension fund - I would have thought more workplaces would have offered them. As for social security, at what age can you claim that?

What you said about changing careers to find a decent insurance plan is why I think the whole business of your workplace providing your health insurance is nuts! The quality of insurance provided seems to vary wildly amongst employers, with no apparent rhyme or reason to it. I can't get over the lack of rules and regulations to ensure that all employers supply a decent healthcare plan: I feel like I'm missing something, but that wouldn't exactly be a first for me.

My knowledge on the subject is sadly a bit limited. Government pension? Not really, only if you worked for the government and had a pension position. I think what you're describing is probably social security. You pay in while you work, and when you get to your mid-60s, you get a portion back. Social security is a program that enables people to get some income in their later years, when they are no longer employed, but not a ton. You won't be rich, or even live well, on social security. People try to save and invest to make up the difference to maintain a decent lifestyle. Owning a home without a mortgage helps too. Some of the members who are that age can probably give better info than I can, I've always just been a worker bee.

I think the workplace providing health insurance is nuts too. Insurance companies standing in the middle is only making things worse, but it's how it's always been. At the moment, it is working for me, but you're right, it's only working because I am lucky enough to work for a company with a decent insurance plan, and my health has been stable since surgery. The insurance plans definitely vary widely, but the plans offered through jobs are "group plans", and generally they are cheaper and offer more than private plans overall. Group plans cannot deny anyone and the costs are the same for people regardless of their condition. So if you're desperately ill and you or your spouse manage to score a job with a good place, you're golden. Some companies pull money from your check to pay for plans, others cover for free. I currently play a couple hundred dollars a month. I still have a deductible (amount you must spend out of pocket for them to start paying), copay (amount you pay when you use your insurance at a doctor's office $10/$20/$30...) and coinsurance (amount you pay up to a maximum each year $2500,$5000... at 80%/20% or 70/30, 90/10...). It's all pretty complicated and not ever in the favor of the subscriber. I definitely got my moneys worth when I had septic shock though! There are some regulations. If you have a company with over a certain # of employees, you're required to cover your employees - with what type of plan, I do now know.

I don't think you're missing anything, it really does suck!!

Old Hat said...
For the record, U.S. President FDR was not incapacitated by childhood illness. He contracted polio in adulthood, after he had been married for several years & had children. Initially, he was so affected by polio that he could not defecate; he needed to receive enemas daily to eliminate waste. At that point in his life he was saved by Eleanor, who was willing to do pure drudge work to save his life, even though he had already cheated on her with a secretary! Then he soldiered on to become a truly helpful leader to lower-income people by pushing to establish Social Security. Eleanor travelled to the poorest communities in the U.S., even going to coal mines, to gather eye-witness info. to help FDR formulate more effective socioeconomic policies.

Sorry, I thought Polio was a childhood disease. I grew up never having to know much about Polio because it was thankfully eradicated in the US. Stupid anti-vaxors. FDR accomplished a lot after being handicapped from Polio.

Keith, take a tour of FDR's house in Hyde Park since you live upstate. It's really interesting to hear from the guides how he managed his later life despite paralysis of his legs from polio. (Which could be very devastating in adults as well as in children/teens!) Visitors can see a simple wooden kitchen chair that he adapted to get around in his house; he had its legs cut off & wheels added that fit into the halls, etc. That man definitely had Determination! He couldn't even stand on his own, but the public generally did not realize that. His family & staff kept his physical limitations private. That's why, post-polio, he was always photographed in a seated position, or occasionally with people on either side who supported his weight briefly for a standing photo. *** Of course, the house is worth a visit for other aspects of his life, too, and Eleanor's retreat at Valkyl nearby can be viewed afterward, where there also are very informative guides. *** An amusing story I heard from a main house guide was that FDR & Eleanor served King George VI & Queen Mother Elizabeth commercial hot dogs during their visit in 1939 because they wanted to try some food with mass appeal in the USA. / Old Hat (36 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

I got a rather smart parrot who'd do waaay better than the clowns we've had as president. He's strong on foreign policy and wants the scary sound outdoors taken care of, he's very protectionist on our domestic policy and will bite my wife should she try to kiss me, he is pro scritches, and supports farmers with policies that would drammatically increase domestic production and availability of sunflower and millet seeds. A parrot to believe in!

Seriously, we in USA should all keep our eyes on Congress and their votes on health care/insurance issues. Legislative elections are coming up in 2018 so we need to get a majority of patient-helpful representatives elected instead of inhumane, misogynistic "leaders" like Paul Ryan & Mitch McConnell who think that corporate profits matter more than anything under the sun! / Old Hat (36 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

Old Hat said...
Seriously, we in USA should all keep our eyes on Congress and their votes on health care/insurance issues. Legislative elections are coming up in 2018 so we need to get a majority of patient-helpful representatives elected instead of inhumane, misogynistic "leaders" like Paul Ryan & Mitch McConnell who think that corporate profits matter more than anything under the sun! /)

I'm sure voters will. It's exactly what happened in 2010, although the other way. And then again in 2014. "Leaders" like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid took it on the chin. Just as many people disliked those two as dislike Ryan and McConnell. The country is very divided, pretty evenly, on the roll of the federal government.

Trump and the GOP want to cut healthcare and scientific research but increase military spending by $54 billion, I personally think that it's immoral to be more willing to fight wars than to provide healthcare to the population. We spend more on our military than the next 7 nations combined, how can you rationalize that?

There is very little economic return on military spending, you acquire military items in the hopes of not using them (if you have a sane leader). Health care has a multiplying effect on the economy, which is mostly used and is constantly changing and evolving. Military is usually destruction and healthcare is saving and trying improve people's lives.

I urge those politicians trying to take away healthcare to sit in a room with the chronically ill and explain why we don't need health insurance or how those expensive high-risk insurance pools will help us...

kill the corporations, not the people. they are killing us.
But thank you for the love.

The grass isn't always greener on the other side....

23 million people will lose their healthcare and people with preexisting conditions will take the brunt of this new bill. Per yesterday's' CBO report:

"and people who are less healthy (including those with preexisting or newly acquired medical conditions) would ultimately be unable to purchase comprehensive nongroup health insurance at premiums comparable to those under current law, if they could purchase it at all....As a result, the nongroup markets in those states would become unstable for people with higher-than-average expected health care costs."

And my congressman doesn't have the common decency to hold a town hall to explain this to his constituents. It's real easy for him to vote to take away healthcare from 23 million people and make me a preexisting condition but it's too difficult for him to hold a Town Hall to explain his vote.