Search Results for: blog sick people spend the most on health care

When Veterinary Euthanasia is O.K.

In an old episode of “The Office,” Dwight puts his girlfriend Angela’s beloved cat in the freezer. He does so because the cat is ancient and has so many medical issues that it’s barely alive. Dwight lives on a farm, and as he tells a devastated Angela, “sometimes farm people have to do what city folk are too weak to.” Obviously Dwight’s actions on the show are horrible (and played for comedic effect), but they raise an interesting question: Dwight genuinely thought he was doing what was best for the cat and he did it in what he considered a … Continue reading →

Thoughts on Health Insurance While I am Sick

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I am among the thousands of Americans that has absolutely no health insurance coverage. It feels like a twisted, malicious, cosmic joke that I happen to be searching for affordable health insurance while I am fighting a bad cold. Here are my thoughts about this situation, as I cough my way through the night. I have heard insurance companies complain that too many people wait to buy health insurance until after they are already sick. This troubles insurers who are now, legally, unable to reject the applications for a health insurance plan that are submitted by people who have serious, … Continue reading →

What Makes a Mother?

(Am I a “real” mom?) “It feels like you’re really officially, really truly a mother when you have two kids.” Really? I’m pretty sure actress Jessica Alba regrets having uttered those words during an interview with PEOPLE magazine. Then again, maybe she stands behind each and every syllable. Alba’s comment went viral months ago, yet whenever I conduct an online search for information about transitioning from a one-child household to a two-child home, the Hollywood mom’s infamous quote still pops up. Seems as though parents of singletons don’t much care for the movie star’s opinion on what it takes to … Continue reading →

Insurance Podcast Roundup – Week of January 16, 2012

The Insurance Podcast Roundup is updated every week with brand new episodes of podcasts that focus on insurance related topics. This week, there are podcasts involving Express Scripts, demolished buildings, homeowners insurance rates, and spending on health insurance. NPR has an episode of “All Things Considered” that was released on January 9, 2012. This episode is called “Why Millions of Prescriptions Will No Longer Be Filled at Walgreens”. This episode focuses on why negotiations broke down between Walgreens and Express Scripts, and how this has affected people who were used to filling out their prescriptions at Walgreens (and having their … Continue reading →

Insurance Blog Week in Review – January 8-14, 2012

In a typical week, the Insurance blog at Families.com will have fourteen different articles appear on it. It can be easy to miss something that you really should read about. Every week, I do an Insurance Blog Week in Review, to help you “ketchup” about everything that has hit the blog in the past seven days. ACLU Fights Michigan Domestic Partner Health Insurance Ban Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed a law that bans public entities from providing health insurance coverage to the same-sex domestic partners of employees. The ACLU feels that this law serves no purpose except to discriminate against … Continue reading →

Sick People Spend the Most on Health Care

There have been some conflicting studies in the news recently that talk about health care spending. It turns out that a small group of people, who are the least healthy, are the ones who spent the largest portion of the money that was spent on health care. These results seem to match up well with what common sense would tell you. Recently, the federal government released a report that said that the United States spent $2.6 trillion on health care in 2010. The report said that this number translated out to be around $8,400 spent per person on health care. … Continue reading →

Insurer Plans to Drop Coverage for Elderly Couple

An elderly couple who live in Oklahoma received a letter from their insurance company that stated that the insurer would be dropping their coverage. The husband has pancreatic cancer. However, it isn’t their health insurance company who is dropping them. We have all heard stories in the news about people who have health insurance, and then get sick with a serious illness. Often, what happens next is that their health insurance company finds a way to drop them, or to increase their premiums to the point where the person can no longer afford to pay them. Health insurers are no … Continue reading →

Chronically Sick Americans Likely to Have Medical Debt

A poll done by the Commonwealth Fund finds that Americans who have a chronic illness, or other serious health problems, are likely to have medical debt. It also found gaps in how health care is coordinated in the United States, and gaps in the access Americans had to health care. The Commonwealth Fund has a report that came from data found in a survey that was done by Harris Interactive, (and contractors that were within foreign countries). Some of it was done in the form of a poll. The poll included 18,000 adults in the United States, and in ten … Continue reading →

GOP Debate Reveals Disturbing Views of Health Insurance

On Monday, September 12, 2011, CNN hosted what is being called a “Tea Party debate”. A specific question that was asked regarding health insurance unexpectedly revealed a truly disturbing viewpoint from the crowd, as well as the politicians. It seems they prefer to let the uninsured die, rather than to have society pay for the health care needs of the sick and uninsured. Wolf Blitzer was the host of this debate between GOP politicians who are contending for the nomination that would allow them to compete against President Obama in the 2012 election. One of the most important topics that … Continue reading →

Teaching Kids About Cancer

I’m not one of the lucky ones. Or maybe I am. I was forced to teach my daughter about cancer well before she could even spell the word… but with knowledge comes power. In 2004, I gave birth to my first child; a healthy baby girl with a mound of electrocuted jet-black hair. She was the first grandchild on my side of the family and instantly became the end-all, be-all of my parents’ existence. My mom especially doted on her first grandchild, spending every waking moment rocking, singing, hugging, kissing and cuddling the newest member of our family. My daughter … Continue reading →