And It Keeps Getting Better! NOT!!!

Do I really need to say more? So who still wants government ran healthcare?

Universal Insurance Plans

Of course this sounds like a great idea & plan. You get to buy an insurance plan in one state, while using it in another, all while you live in another. That would be awesome right?

The question: "Why can't private insurance companies fight for my business like any other service?"

Has one person stopped to think about the reason why instead of just asking?

Because each state regulates health care already, by state statues. Hence the reason if you are qualified for practicing medicine in AR you can't just go to FL without taking another medical board & becoming qualified.

And it is not just medical. The same applies to lawyers & teachers! You can pass your boards in one state but not be qualified to practice in every state.

Insurance is what covers these practices services. So....how is it going to work?

Now we are proposing that we get insurance companies to raise their premiums so that we can use it in any state? How is that the reform we need?

Universal Healthcare & Universal Insurance is NOT the Reform we need!

Health Care Reform...that is actually Reform!

A friend sent me another link. Apparently I am slow at finding my own links...LOL! But this time it was definitely something of great interest. If you were not a Whole Foods fan before now, you might very well be now:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204251404574342170072865070.html

Finally spoken with common sense & actual plans that equal solutions instead of some mambo jambo crap that the White House has been trying to shove down our throats & then disguise as something yummy.

I am especially a found supporter of the medical care dollars that you can earn & that also carry over to the next year. Money you can use how you want! Awesome...so you aren't stuck with only mainstream medical options because your insurance won't cover the Chiropractor. Now you can get the money to go see some of the more alternative mainstream medical options. What an amazing idea & great plan! Go Whole Foods!

Government Cheese Anyone?

So I was thinking...which really should not be allowed, but I was doing it....

Back when I was younger, poor as hell, we used to get the government cheese, dry milk, beans, peanut butter, honey, the occasional ham in a tin, etc. Sometimes what you got depended on what the government had on overstock, but we always got cheese! It was the best cheese ever! And we never ran out of peanut butter or honey because they came in these huge cans! HUGE!

That program soon ran dry or was traded in for another much like WIC, making limitations on how long you can receive these handouts. OK. So what if we did that today?

All this talk about the amount of money that we need to help the "poor", then why aren't we doing this again? Also all the talk about needing money to control this or that, etc...helping the "Americans" learn how to eat probably to beat the obesity issues, etc.

Last I checked it is not the governments place to tell me what to eat or how to eat, maybe just make their usually recommendations & regulate things on their end...such as....

Secondly, if they want to fight obesity & diabetes (yes, which is on the books of bills to be passed), then how about changing the FDA regulations & ditching those ingredients that they added that put us in this state (i.e. High Fructose Corn Syrup & Trans Fat) instead of telling me what I can & cannot eat?

Adding to it, let's not stop there! Let's regulate the hormones, from what kind to how much, can be added to the feed we use on our livestock! You know, those pesky little hormones that don't cook or process out of our animal products & are then absorbed by our bodies causing us "growth" in all directions too...just like the animal byproduct we ingested. Remember the 80's anyone?

People were never as big as they are today thanks to these growth hormones...nor did they have the diabetes rate we have today thanks to high fructose corn syrup...or heart problems due to the wonder trans fat to make things sit on a shelf longer without going bad!

Well this all in turn has made me give up the idea of the "government cheese program" (as I so affectionately call it). Because I can guarantee, with the way things are & the way that they are going, we would all be fat, diabetic, cancerous, or even dead from any government cheese handouts!

Universal Health Care In A Nutshell!

Yes, I am totally reposting another's blog, but you can't miss this: We Already Have Government Regulated Health Care

FINALLY! HEALTH CARE FOR ALL YOU DREAMERS! HOW TRICARE (A.K.A. Government Health Care) WORKS OH SO WELL!

This is exactly what I have been trying to say about Tricare & the government provided health care system that is already in effect. Yes, VA (Veterans' Affairs) is the same system as those who are Active Duty & their families.

Just because "active duty" always has the flu shot/mist...it isn't a choice. They are forced to get it no matter their personal choices of their own bodies & they are also at the expense of the "new & experimental" FDA approved drug plan. Think about that & chew on it for a minute. Is that really "good" health care or is that socialism?

What Is Mandatory?

Amazingly...there is a new amendment to the "universal health care" bill in which they are pushing to make abortions a mandatory part of the coverage. Yes folks! That means your tax dollars are not only helping horses from procreating, but now even people who apparently can't keep themselves out of trouble.

What irks me most about this "amendment" is not only that is if for abortions, but that we can make this mandatory in the "universal health care" coverage but not genetic testing for cancers, especially breast cancers! ARE YOU CRAPPING ME FOLKS?!

As a strong Pro-Life only way to go advocate, this sounds absurd. However, even if I were not a Pro-Lifer this would still make so damn sense to anyone with a brain, a little logic still rattling around up there, & some common sense. Seriously what drugs are these senile old farts in DC on? I want some!!!

Don't sit there & tell me about the poor souls who were raped by their father, uncle, brother, etc & are under age or too young, or the lady who was held at gun point in a car jacking. If these were the only people getting abortions then there wouldn't be such a need & outcry for them.

You know as well as I do that the "need" for a mandatory abortion clause in the coverage is being driven by those who just want another option for their "birth control". These individuals of sexual crimes who are opting for abortions make up less than 5% of the abortion rates & most of them being under the age of 25!

We all know what causes babies by now...don't we? It is all the rage, made in plain site this day & age. Making the wrong decision shouldn't be solved at the cost of tax payers.

At the rate we are going...who is going to keep paying their taxes?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/19/health-insurance-debate-looms-budget-director-refuses-rule-federally-funded/

There are so many other wonderful causes that our tax dollars could be going to & benefiting than abortions & "universal health care" such as the public programs in place now that are so short handed & short funded...say....firemen, policemen, teachers, public schools, border control, .... should I go on?

I am still wondering how if the government is already failing at so many other "public services" how it thinks it can enlighten us all with a "universal health care" program. Anyone?

Good For Us…Good For Them

HOLY CRAP! Seriously? If you are that hard up for health care there is a program you can get on in which the all mighty, powerful, incompentent government will take care of ALL your woes. It is called the United States Military! And the best part about it is that you can pick & choose which program you want: Army, Navy, Marine, Air Force, or Coast Guard.

Spun off another wonderful little snippet of a post: Good For Us…Good For Them, I am really sick of this entire debate & topic in general. The fact that it is being discussed as something "NEW" makes no damn sense when there is already a government health care program in place & it blows. Now, someone please, explain to me, how taking one shitty idea that barely makes an impact & spreading it out even thinner over a bigger surface (the entire US) will make this system "better"?

Even state care, Medicade, gets better care than those on the government plan! Why because it is smaller, by state, than say an entire nation! Also, because the states can help supplement some of the costs, the doctors are paid better therefore treating patients with a little better care than those on the government plan.

However, if "nothing but broken equipment, forced "experimental" plan, drugs, & ideologies, & no personal identity at all but just another 'number' to a system of overworked, beat down, clones we call doctors sounds like the plan for you then JOIN THE FREAKIN' SERVICE! If not..then vote NOT A CHANCE IN HELL on the whole concept & tell your public officials you said so!" - my own quote!

*Not discrediting the US Military service-members & their families who have to literally sacrifice more than should be asked of them time & time again. They deserve a free healthcare system...& one that is not broke...for their blood, sweat, & tears.

Here's a Healthcare Reform For You

After the worst dental cleaning & exam in history (made my gums bleed more than I have ever experienced & then only "polished" them, no fluoride treatment or rinse), taking a second bath in my own spit & water (because their dental equipment was broke & I had to handle my own suction tool to help), & having the dentist give me a lecture on using his hard earned tax dollars to get dental care (because we spouses, you know, don't deserve care for the sacrifices we make & never carry dental insurance, even though I do)...I have a new idea about health care reform.

*Yes, the above is all true! Would swear it in a court of law! And that is what a government ran health care facility gets you too!!

With all this jabbering about an "immediate need" for universal health care to help those "47 million" Americans (out of the 306, 974, 395 million Americans total) without health care & the already outstanding & astonishing debt we have created since January 1st, 2009, I was thinking...

Why? Why do we feel so entitled to health care? Are we no longer responsible for our own health? We, as Americans, have bought into the idea that it is not our sole responsibility to take our health into our own hands, but to let the Lord & the Doctors make sure that we are healthy. Here we are, adults, unable to take the steps we need to ensure our own health in a society with the best health care on earth. This is amazing to me. We can't even make our own health a priority in our life, riddled with an affluent amount of excuses as to why it isn't our own fault that we are ill.

So under this assumed ideology, that I am certain the president & his goons are also using to push this "immediate need", that it is the doctors are responsible for our health. Right? Follow me?

What if our health care reform wasn't a free for all, or a change in "insurers" and insurance companies, but in the way we pay. The Chinese used to have this policy across the board: You only pay your doctor if your a healthy & fit?!

No seriously? What if you only paid your monthly fee if you were healthy, fit, trim, etc.?

OH WAIT! That's right! 1 - you can't cure stupid & 2- there are a number of health issues out there that are genetic, not the common cold.

So while Massachusetts is waiting currently 56 days to be seen by a doctor, the rest of the States averages 12 days. You pick! Which one is better?

Why Whole Food Supplements?

Some of you may have heard of "whole food supplements" but most of you are sitting here reading thing & scratching your heads. "WTFreak?"

For years I have had to skip over the intake of vitamins because all they did was make me have this awful pain in my spine like they got stuck, or even worse, I would puke them right back up after 30 minutes to an hour.

Oh I tried all the different methods & varieties too. Outside of Vitamin C or other individual supplements, there was no way I was getting anything down this hatch.

Then one day my Chiropractor asked me if I had ever tried Standard Process supplements. I said no, until I saw the bottles & then was like, "OH yeah! One of my other chiropractors had be on some of these kinds of supplements after my torn iliotibial band injury." Then I never thought anymore of it.

I was having a sudden crash in my health. It was one thing that was leading to another & before long it was like one day I woke up old! "What Happened?" I have always been pretty healthy in my adult life...what was going on?!!! Yes, of course stress. But my body wasn't handling stress anymore. It was crashing...fast.

So the practitioner sent me home with a survey to fill out & then it was ran through a system & surveyed my ailments & concerns. The program was laid out & off I was with a multiple bottle load of various supplements, in which some I had never heard of, such as Catalyn. It looked like a lot of "pills" & I don't take "pills". And I had to takes 6 a day of some of them!!!!

This wasn't really the most amusing program of health to get from a holistic doctor like a chiropractor. I thought I had made a wrong decision somewhere, but I then again, I was willing to trust him more than a real MD any day, who doesn't solve problems but only masks them by suppressing your systems until you body does it's own healing. So...

1 year on this program & pregnant even, I can't sing enough praises of these Whole Food Supplements! I have not only found myself & my life again, but I have seen reverse changes in my body when I am taking these regularly. And the nice thing is that since I've been pregnant I can pick & choose which supplements I really need. Like I have no added iron to my diet simply because I didn't need it & it was making me sick. A simple one tablet prenatal vitamin off the shelf would never allow me this freedom.

The other many great things about whole food supplements is that they are not only separated out by dietary need, but they are also minimally processed & made with no additives. NOPE! They are made completely from food, no chemicals. And the food that is used with Standard Process is all organic! It is raised just for the making of these supplements. They even throw in bone marrow! A rich source of all kinds of vitamins & minerals that our bodies need that we don't get in our diets due to our "civilized" ways.

Because they are whole foods, made from real food, only of food, your body can digest these supplements with no irritation, upset stomach, etc. You know exactly what you are ingesting! Food! How can that be bad?

Why haven't these caught on across the mainstream market? Please! Do I really need to hold your hand & spell it out for you? It would kill many pharmaceutical companies & doctors. Plus, though holistic means of health are on a rise, these type of practitioners aren't really the mainstream just yet. So since they are only available through Chiropractors & various other holistic practitioners & stores, they costs a little more than that one tablet option at Wal-Mart or Walgreens.

Whole Food Supplements are only for those who are extremely serious about taking control of their own health & be responsible for their own health. It is not meant for those who need a "fix". If you are like me, & just can't go to the "doctor" for anything, then you might find these supplements life altering in a way that will supersede anything you have every tried.

Go to Standard Process & enter your zip code to find someone near you that sells these whole food supplements. If you are military, there are practitioners back in the states that will send them to you. That is how we work the system!

Maternity Care in Yokosuka, Japan

I had my first official OB appointment today with the doctor. I was a bit hesitant at first because I have heard a number of stories from those who aren't as pro-active as me & those who are. Some have been good while others have been horrible.

I wanted to clear up any hesitations that you might also be having about delivering your baby in Yokosuka, Japan. Maybe I just had a really great OB today, but I find some ease in my future care. I have had every questioned answered & then some. Let me try to break some of your hesitations or myths you have heard:

I Get NO Say In My Care: FALSE! Actually, I was told today that NOTHING is mandatory. You have the right to refuse any care or procedure. However, the OB also has the right to walk away from your care & hand your case to another physician if they feel that they are risking themselves professional or morally. That's fair, right? I thought so! So I now back into the scale to avoid having to see what my weight is as a compromise between what I want & what they need. And you are allowed to question any & everything. Just be sure when you question that you keep your ears, mind, & heart open to what they are telling you. You might miss something that is "logical" & "medically necessary".
There is NO Intermittent Monitoring Available: FALSE! There is & it is available. It just depends on you, baby & where you are in the process when you check in. If you check in & there is no distress to either you or baby, you are actually encouraged to walk about & only get intermittent monitoring. Internal Monitoring is only performed when there is a medical necessity but it is not routine.

I Will Be Forced to Get An Episiotony: FALSE! No doctors here perform them as routine labor & delivery care. The ONLY time that an episiotomy is performed is if it is medically necessary to get a baby in distress out quickly in order to save the child's life. This practice supports many current (as in the last century) studies supporting that a "tear" is easier on the body & will heal faster than a "cut" through the entire muscle. Also, vacuums & forceps are not used either. There is only a few doctors who use one or the other, but some may have been trained but have never had to use either.

I Will Be Forced to Deliver On My Back: FALSE! The beds here are designed to adjust to allow you to deliver in any number of positions from all fours, to a sitting position. This is great news to support those who have done their reading & has arrived at the same conclusion in regards to the laws of gravity. They also have birthing balls, birthing poles/rods, mirrors, etc.

I Cannot Have A Written Birth Plan: FALSE! Actually, they again encourage you to write out your birth plan since you will be attended to whichever OB is on call when you enter that delivery room. All that they ask is that you first write it up weeks before your due date & go over it with your OB to make sure that what you are asking is allowed by the hospital or can be performed by all OB's. This helps prevent from any misunderstandings or misconceptions during your delivery by all parties involved.
They Will "Sneak" in Pitocin No Matter What: FALSE! Pitocin is tricky, but they will first consult you with the option & why it is being recommended for use. And as I mentioned before, you still reserve the right to say, "No!".

I Cannot Have A Water Birth: TRUE! There is no facility supplies here to have a water birth. Absolutely no tubs available. So this is true. However, there are showers, they just aren't in the labor & delivery room. Plus, once your water has broke, they don't want you in the water due to possible infection. Some OB's in the States may not have this concern, however, here the water is a little questionable at times.
If I Refuse Pain Medication I Then Have NO Other Options: FALSE! There are many options available besides the spinal block or epidural. They even offer hot/cold back therapies, breathing, meditation, narcotics, some nerve numbing shot, etc. You are allowed your own music even, but you have to supply the music & if it is an iPod, the ability to play that iPod as well.

There Are No Pictures or Videos: FALSE/TRUE! You are allowed to take photos & video. However, it is against hospital policy to video record any procedure & a vaginal birth is still considered a "procedure". Some OB's might allow you to video part of the birth from the mother's point of view but not from the doctor's point of view. You will also need to make sure all equipment is cord free in case their is an emergency that arises. They don't want to be worried about equipment in the midst of worrying about lives. In a corner you can plug something in to charge but you can't be using the cord to keep power to the equipment when you are using it.

I hope that this helps anyone like me who was really leery & hesitant of delivering their child in Japan. This is our first & I was very set on a home birth with a midwife. However, this is not an option here in Japan due to many issues including how the Japanese respond to 911 (119) calls for Americans.

The Healthcare Debate

So here is my problem with the entire debate: NO ONE has asked those who actually fall under the "government" health care that is use now.

I get the true Federal Government Health care Plan. IT SUCKS! As a military spouse (not active duty) I get what the government already has in action for taking care of my health care needs. Active Duty service members get completely different care, including pushing me out of the way so that they can be seen. It is called Tricare, for those of you who don't know.

For those of you who do know & have romantic ideologies that we get this wonderful care for free, you are sadly mistaken. Nothing is ever free & nothing comes "free" without risks. My family unit not only has to make many sacrifices like moving all the time, often times to places you don't want to be, to being separated over & over again missing every important event & holiday in our lives.

How this system works (though I hear that the Air Force is the exception to this rule) is that you don't get to see the same physician twice (unless they are a the only specialist). You may be assigned the Primary Care Physician (PCP) that you choose but then when you call to make an appointment when you need one, & he/she may be booked for months! So you end up seeing who is available, which may also be the one doctor you clash with.

Secondly, when you call to make that appointment for "sick call" because the flu snuck up on you, the untrained, regular Joe on the other end of the phone gets to make the decision if your condition is serious enough to get an appointment same day or if you need to call again tomorrow, & the next day,..until there is a free appointment.

You need to see a specialist, like the orthopedic, right? Your PCP gave you the OK to go see the one in the clinic. You call to make an appointment but none are available until 2 months from now. What? Why? Because your base/post also is a training facility & the active duty get the first appointments. Then conveniently when those appointments are finally free in 2 months, the orthopedic is taking his 2 weeks vacation! You then have to wait 2.5 months in pain, with no solution or answers, gradually getting worse day by day. What job let's you take 2.5 months off until you can get an appointment?

Forget trying to find an "alternative" route to your health care unless you want to pay completely out of pocket by seeing the physicians in town like Chiropractors. Only active duty get any coverage for this practice but only after they have a referral from their PCP & usually only if the on base/post facility has one contracted with them.

Dental? Not free. We still have to use United Concordia at a low rate. But they don't cover anything. You want anything outside basic care, you pay for that out of pocket too.

vision? Right! They will give you an eye & contact exam, but they don't cover those trendy new glasses or any contacts. You still pay for those completely out of pocket.

And let's not forget the numerous times that "they" loose your records! Though many are starting to switch over to electronic records system (which I support) but your older records aren't in the system & will get lost...at least 3 times in a year.

I don't get to choose my care or my physician. I don't get to be seen when I "need" to be seen but only when there is availability. I don't get completely "free" care, but have to pay a lot out of pocket still to get the better care, especially since I have glasses & contacts. I also don't get "personalized" care. Since I never seen the same doctor twice, I never get to build a rapport with the physician, which means each appointment I have to start all over from scratch! It gets old repeating yourself & your medical history.

I have to say the Laboratory of most all facilities have been awesome. You get orders in the system for whatever lab work you need. You go see them. They take the labs. You leave & they send the results back through the system. However, I have had labs lost for months before. 2 months to be exact!

By being pushed through a "system" often times things are over looked & misdiagnosed. I can't count the number of times I have been brushed off for long periods of time, suffering, before they finally take it seriously...usually because I am yelling at that point! I had a girlfriend who was misdiagnosed her entire pregnancy as having the flu for months when in reality it was preclamcia which resulted in an emergency delivery because she was on the verge of a stroke when they finally decided it wasn't the flu. I have another friend who had been trying to get care for 2 months but nothing was available for her & her "symptoms" didn't seem severe enough for same day appointment to find out that she had Stage III cancer!

If you think for a second that completely free & full coverage government health care is a solution, please, come take my care for a year & see how you feel then? When you need an emergency surgery & show up 30 minutes before your appointment time but don't get taken into surgery until 8 hours later, let me know how you feel?