Governor Lynch has always been someone that firmly believes in the health of the citizens of New Hampshire. Afterall his wife works at the cholesterol treatment center at Concord Hospital.

The hospital recently reviewed their cafeteria menu, and said good bye to unhealthy choices. For many of the items on the menu you can get the nutrition information. In turn, this helps people make better choices, as well as bring awareness to what they are putting in their mouthes.

If you have money, and just need to supplement your care if the need for long term care should arise, Long Term Care Insurance might be okay.

But, take a good look. Find out the cost of nursing facitilities; that insurance could put you just out of reach of Medicaid and without enough money to pay for your care.

(yes, it has been a long time, later i will take time to read the blogs of others and catch up on the community---but now, i will just jump in like i never left)

Reading the Monitor this morning, I was first interested, then outraged by the article "Study: ER patients often overloaded with info".

As the presidential candidates take the stage to discuss health care and support, to varying degrees socialized medicine, the following article is truly frightening. I urge readers, whether you agree with me or disagree with me to read this piece. Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative, the insured or the uninsured will find this very interesting!

As some of you may already know from some of my other posts, my youngest child is ADHD.  He was diagnosed about 3 years ago, a feat that took me nearly as long to accomplish.  I knew before he even started school, that he was "different".  I had been mother and step mother 5 times over before my little one came along, I knew at least a little about raising children. Having lived with both the Alex before medication and the Alex on medication, I feel I've become quite good at knowing his needs and "quircks".  It doesn't take me long to realize when we've forgotten to take a pill. 

"My son and I came to your practice as cash paying customers. As long as I was paying cash we were good enough for you. It was your office that suggested my son go to your <other> office when you found out he had Healthy Kids insurance. I was foolish enough to believe I'd FINALLY found a dentist who was decent and would treat my son and I with respect. Instead I was immediately treated completely different at the <other> office. I was chastised by the staff on my first visit there for not being 10 minutes early in order to do paperwork (a request was never made to me to be early to the appointment), and I was given terms and conditions that didn't apply to me as a paying customer.

From the moment children are old enough to understand the word "no!" they begin to believe in the idea that parents are mean and controlling. My children are no different. They rarely refrain from letting someone know just how mean I am.

One of the areas in which I am particularly mean is in the illness and injury department. My children know I am not a nurse with a pleasing bed side manner and an outpouring of empathy. I am more likely to look suspiciously at a child whose hand clutches their stomach while moaning "I don't feel good" and ask "now what?" than to coo lovingly over them. I need more physical proof of illness. Show me the soiled clothing and the high temperature on the thermometer, than we'll talk. My 14 year old loves to tell people that if he were to suffer an injury like a broken leg, my response to him would be "shake it off and move on"; not that he's ever broken a bone to find out if this is indeed fact.

Dealing with insurance companies can be troublesome, aggravating and the American public loves to tell the horror stories that come with having an HMO. My S.O. is like so many others with a story to tell. About 10 years ago my S.O. was in a horrific motorcycle accident. He suffered broken bones, first degree burns and a piece of metal pierced one of his feet. Within hours he was transferred from Concord Hospital to the nearest burn unit in Boston. After his hospital stay and while still recovering at home, he found himself at odds with his insurance company. First they denied his claim, telling him he had gone outside the "network" for his treatment. When he explained that he had gone to the closest burn unit, the insurance company held up the claim while they conducted research to confirm my S.O.'s explanation. Next they contacted him to find out if they could file a claim against the motorcycle company. They tried to talk my S.O. into admitting some sort of fault with the motorcycle and going along with them in suing the company. Being a mechanic by trade as well as someone who is disgusted with the sue-happy nature of our culture, my S.O. refused to comply. He explained that the motorcycle was well beyond any warranty time period and parts on a machine, any machine, will eventually wear out and/or corrode. It was an accident, plain and simple. Eventually, the insurance company paid the bill.

However, I must admit that my S.O. does not always use his best judgment when it comes to his health insurance. In the six years I have known him, he has suffered kidney stones on two occasions. Both times he drove himself to the emergency room, only to be referred to a urologist on an urgent basis. Both times he grumbled and complained about the long wait in the emergency room and the bills that came later. He just can't seem to get it through his head that if he had called his primary care doctor first, he may have been referred directly to the urologist, thus avoiding the emergency room visit and cost of using it altogether. Somehow he has the impression that he will receive quicker results by sitting in the waiting room of the ER than by having his primary care doctor send him to the specialist right off. At this point, he has become well established enough with the specialist that he probably could just call them directly himself. Being involved in the medical field, I have tried to explain this to him, but he still believes for some reason he will receive better, quicker care by going through the emergency room.

Health Insurance and the SCHIP programs are political footballs on the 2007-2008 political landscape. This topic is like an erupting volcano, spewing molten lava, dividing two points (of view in this case). This debate is seldom observed in a logical, unemotional, common sense, and non political way. In this blog entry, I will attempt to add another point of view to the debate and avoid (if possible) partisan political rhetoric!

So, I am listening to the news and feeling pretty down about what I am hearing but some analyst assures me "It means it works!".

The analyst was referring to the new study, coming out in a leading journal for dermatologists, that cited a six day average waiting period for botox injections vs an average twenty-six day waiting period for people who have a mole that they think is changing and causes them concern. (a possible sign of malignancy). The botox is pricey and generally paid for out-of-pocket. The mole may net only $50.00, the botox from $400.00 on up. So "it works", people who can afford to pay more can get what they want. Is this new? Oh, the piece ended with a dermatologist saying that anyone concerned by a skin condition should "insist" on being seen in a timely manner. What does this really say about our health care system?  (I hear a scolding voice "Well, if you had only insisted I would have caught this cancer in time...")