Thursday, October 31, 2013

Medicare

Fucked and sold out

 
 
I decided to change my Medicare supplement because the one I had with, Coventry, was misrepresented to me and there was nothing I could do until the plan year change occurred. That was October 5, 2013.
I received as did many of my constituents the usual booklet identifying all the programs offered, costs and benefits for each. What a crock of shit.
When I enrolled 5 years ago I received in the mail 2 BOOKS listing every option available to me and what the separate costs were for each. I admit I had a time wading through the wherefores and why-nots but I eventually settled on a supplement that fit my budget and lifestyle. I decided after a year I would try another because I wasn't that satisfied with the handling of any of my bills, etc.
Last year I received 1 BOOK. It had less information but since someone was offering a 'free' seminar with lunch to learn about a particular supplement, I thought "What the hell" I can always use a 'free' meal.
I was told I would get the same services with a few exceptions as my previous supplement such as instead of a 'paid' membership in Silver Sneakers I would receive a check for the amount and I could join any gym I wanted to.
AFTER I became a member I was told the amount I would receive was in the amount of $250. That barely covered 3 months at the Y. I was pissed. I now had to wait another year before I could change companies AGAIN!
This year, looking forward to having the necessary information in hand I could now, after so many fuck ups, really pick a service that gave me what I wanted. WRONG!
This book listed companies (fewer than before), same telephone number for different plans under the separate companies and no information.
I called the numbers of Humana and Windsor (they were the only ones that I felt I could afford without giving my right arm or leg plus my oldest child). I requested more information, please. ( See, I can be polite) Humana said I had to make an appointment with a representative to show me their plans. WHAT? When did I get senile?
I fired off emails to both President Obama and Senator Mark Pryor. complaining about having to be 'spoon fed' what I was clearly cogent enough to decide without a 'goon' from an insurance company invading my privacy trying to sell me something I could surely decide for myself whether I wanted to buy their program or not.
 I let the representative come over from Humana. Nice guy, but you know what nice guys are, a pain in the ass when they don't know shit.
Long story short, I bought from him another policy that he said I should not tell Humana he had discussed with me since it was my appointment with him that I had made through Humana. See what I mean? Bull fucking shit.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I get from Windsor (the company I went with because I was assured they offered Silver Sneakers in their plan). (You still with me or have you gone to sleep yet?)
The brochure I got in the mail  from Windsor showed a 'cheaper' policy that had no monthly premium included (in other words $0 out of pocket after Medicare which is paid for). I called and got this really nice lady on the line that told me "Oh, yes, Silver Sneakers comes with  the plan but I would receive a BALL, some instructions twice a year on how to use the  fucking (my term) ball." WHAT? Now this is when I REALLY went ballistic. I explained in no uncertain terms that I was on a first name basis with our Attorney General in Arkansas and that I had received information from the State of Arkansas about FRAUD from SHIIP and that my next phone call was going to be to Dustin McDaniel  and I hung up.
I thought for the benefit of staying out of jail I had better call a friend and unload on her which I did. Before I could call Dustin, my phone rang and it was the same 'nice lady' but this time she wouldn't let sugar melt in her mouth. She was terribly sorry about the misunderstanding. Yes, Silver Sneakers did include membership in the Y. Yes, I could change policies but I would need to reapply over the phone to get the cheaper plan.
That sounded like a winner. hahahahaha (laughing hysterically)
I called the number she gave me and this time this lady hadn't been threatened with Dustin so she could really care less whether I was a happy camper or not. I got hung up on.
I redialed, got a different indifferent agent and explained what I wanted. Now just for the record, I don't make a lot of money on Social Security so the state of Arkansas is kind enough to underwrite my prescription medications (of which I don't use any unless my dog scratches me and I get an infection or a tick bites me giving me possibly Lyme's disease).
The policy that I was asking to join does not have prescription coverage. I explained that it didn't matter, the state paid for my prescriptions and all I had to do was show a letter to the pharmacy to that effect. She was very insistent that the state would no longer cover my prescriptions if I didn't have a prescription policy. WHAT THE FUCK? Having gotten nowhere and my voice rising not by notes but by octaves, I decided it would be in my and her best interest if I called the state, clarified exactly what it was I was getting from them and hung up.
I called the state and was informed the lines were so long please leave a message, a short description of the information requested (by now I'm a pillar of self-control) and a number to call back, someone would get back to me as soon as my call came up.
So here I am trying to be a 'normal' person dealing with a bureaucracy gone berserk and not enough money to get so damn drunk I won't give a shit.
Any ideas? I'm open to any suggestions at this point.
 
 

Letter to the Editor

October 30, 2013

 
 
Dear Editor,
Watching my country sink into the quagmire of self-delusion and exceptionalism is (there are so many emotions it's hard to identify the strongest) breaking my heart, causing extreme anguish or just pissing me off. All these people pretending to be 'patriots' while seeing who they can cheat, lie or steal from the most in order to feather their own nest or further their own agenda are deluding themselves,
Michelle Bachmann is a case in point. She has been pushing to remove the minimum wage law as, according to her, "it would solve the unemployment problem by putting EVERYONE to work."
First off, let's just give her the benefit of the doubt and 'believe' her heart's in the right place. Who will benefit from 'free' labor? Oh yeah, the ELITE. Now let's get to the niddy griddy. She is a "WANNABE" elite. Sucking up (in my commoner vernacular) is a fool's game. The ELITE will never accept her into the 1% because she doesn't MAKE ENOUGH.
Then we have our 'fearless' leaders in Congress. All are or are near multi-millionaires in their own right. Still their aspirations are NOT to improve Our (by "our" I mean people that don't have lobbyists beating a path to their door) lot in life but to ensure that they can rub elbows with the ELITE as long as they can breathe that rarefied air. Trips to Scotland with their wives and family or sailing on some multi-million dollar yacht in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean bouncing from Greek island to Monaco free of charge is so hard to give up when it's just the people of America who are going hungry or have no future other than minimum wage jobs with health care that their employers are screaming about being 'too expensive'.
The banks that bamboozled the 'Middle Class' into 'joining' the great American Dream by buying their OWN home lied, cheated and committed fraud in order to get them to sign on the dotted line taking away their dreams, their retirement and their future. What happened to them? NOTHING! Bank of America is fined a whopping $9 million dollars which is chicken feed compared to what they screwed the general public out of. Anyone going to jail? Not at this date. Anybody get their homes back that were cheated by BOA? No one that I've heard of.
Is this the America I grew up in? No. Is this the America I want anybody to grow up in? NO!
I am saddened beyond belief that more people aren't going to the streets and demanding that we be the democracy that we sent our youth to Iraq and Afghanistan to die for.
What a waste of energy. What a waste of humanity. What a waste of money, not just tax dollars but salaries not increased because 'we can't afford the cost of paying more'.
McDonald's management gets to buy a new jet to fly around the country in while their employees ask for food stamps that our Republican Congress people want to deny because we are becoming a 'welfare state' if WIC and SNAP are subsidized under the Farm bill which will give billions to mega farms for growing NOTHING!
Are you mad? I am. Are you disappointed in the people you sent to Congress? I hope so.

Judy Ladd
XXXXXXXXXX

Letter to the Editor

October 23, 2013

 
 
 
It’s interesting to note the demands people are putting on large corporations to start paying a living wage. Just what is that and what is the consequence of NOT paying a living wage.
First of all, it is described as the minimum wage to keep a person out of poverty working a straight 40 hour week. This will vary regionally. It costs more to live in California than say, Arkansas.
What happens when people are forced to work at below the poverty line? ‘Forced’ sounds pretty harsh but anytime someone needs work to put food on the table or a roof over their heads and the only jobs available are below the poverty line in earnings, it is ‘forced’ labor. Paying substantially less than what it takes to keep body and soul alive is dehumanizing and borders on ‘enslavement’.  As they say, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Slavery by any other name is still slavery.
These large corporations are getting a ‘free’ ride in our society because they have convinced their representatives locally and nationally, that it is in society’s best interests if they DON”T pay any taxes. The burden then falls on the worker bees that they aren’t paying a living wage. Public services are cut to help the impoverished (low wage earners) or to supply necessary safety services such as fire support, police support or ambulance support to those who stay behind from choice or lack of ability to leave. No income means no services.
Detroit is a case in point. They cut taxes to the corporations, services declined to almost non-existent and now the city is on the auction block to be sold to the people NOT paying for the services that any city must supply to its residents.
It is said that ‘people’ force the private businesses out of business when stores like Walmart, Lowe’s or Home Depot move into a neighborhood. If they wouldn’t shop there those big box stores would leave. That is very true except for one small fact. If the only store sells the only things they can afford on the minimal wages earned, they will shop where they can maximize their earnings. People need clothing, shelter and food, that is a reality. When wages are so low they cannot afford to buy from no one but their ‘bosses’ they become chattels. Their choices of who to buy from become limited because they cannot afford to buy from a competitor that must sell higher because its labor costs are higher especially if it’s a local business.
It becomes a round robin system where the low wage earner loses and the big box store justifies keeping wages low as their profits soar. Jobs lose in any market when the big box stores move in. California did a study and proved that as the stores moved in with their 200 or so jobs the rest of the area lost considerably more than that as businesses folded due to a lack of support. Where is the justification of giving these monstrosities a ‘free’ ride? The jobs created are low wage jobs. Local companies are forced to shutter their doors because they cannot compete with ‘low prices’.
As cities lose the ability to supply necessary life support to its residents, those that can, leave. Those that can’t, stay and get kicked in the teeth and are told they need too much, demand too much, won’t work hard enough to take care of their needs.
Someone must pay for fire support, police support, and ambulance support. All are paid for with tax dollars. If the people left to pay for these services can’t feed themselves, where is that money going to come from? The corporations already know they don’t have to pay, they get a free ride from the city managers to bring ‘more’ jobs to the area.
Soon or later America will have to wake up and smell the coffee. You’re being swindled.


Response to Tom Cotton

October 29, 2013

 
Dear Mr. Cotton,
You are right, we do not see eye to eye on hunger or poverty,
"...
The Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act (H.R. 3102),
....
This bill would encourage work and personal responsibility by applying work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents. It would also eliminate a wasteful policy that pays bonuses to state governments that enroll more people in food stamps, motivating states to waive income and asset tests in order to get more federal dollars.
 
..."
If people had jobs that paid a living wage which you opposed by the way, people would not need food stamps or any other assistance. Telling people that they must work is the dumbest thing I've heard you propose since you first ran for office.  Most of those applying for assistance HAVE FULL TIME JOBS or are WORKING 2 or more jobs.
Get real, Mr. Cotton, this is reality for many Americans. Going hungry should NOT be a part of that equation.
Sincerely,
Judy Ladd
xxxxxxxxxxx

Dear Judy:
 
Thank you for contacting me about issues of importance to you--of particular interest are your concerns with the food-stamp program (also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) funding.    It's good to hear from you, as always. 
  
Like you, I am saddened that so many Americans—47 million—now rely on food stamps.   In our struggling economy, hunger is a very real problem for too many Americans.    I believe that certain safety net programs for struggling citizens are an important service that the government provides.    Though perhaps more important are the similar efforts of private groups: charities, religious organizations, and community food banks.    As the Old Testament reminds us, the poor will always be among us and we should endeavor to help them freely. 
I believe that we must consider the federal programs that provide this help, such as food stamps, with a fiscally prudent approach.    As we are seeing with the deprivations in some European countries, the federal government simply cannot keep spending money that it doesn't have, or financial markets may lose faith in our ability to manage our debt, precipitating an even greater economic crisis than we've seen in recent years.    Such a fiscal crisis could imperil  all  of our social programs, threatening assistance for millions of people most in need. 
The Nutrition Reform and Work Opportunity Act (H.R. 3102), introduced by Representative Frank Lucas (R-OK), passed in the House last week, addresses necessary reforms to the food-stamp program, saving billions of dollars while ensuring the truly needy receive aid. This bill would encourage work and personal responsibility by applying work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents. It would also eliminate a wasteful policy that pays bonuses to state governments that enroll more people in food stamps, motivating states to waive income and asset tests in order to get more federal dollars. 
I understand that we may not see eye-to-eye on this issue, but I trust you'll understand my principled disagreement. I look forward to working together on other matters of shared principle in the future. Please be assured that I will support efforts to reform the program along these lines to eradicate fraud and promote opportunity for all, while helping the truly needy. 
I'm truly honored to serve as your representative—please know that your interests and affairs have my unceasing attention.    Always feel free to call my office at (202) 225-3772 or visit  www.cotton.house.gov  . 

Sincerely,

Tom Cotton
Member of Congress

 


Letter to the Editor

October 13, 2013

 
 
"America, we have a problem."
Apollo 13 said these words "Houston, we have a problem" when their mission went horribly awry. Today, we in America, have gone horribly awry. Our leaders have traded political ambition and personal gain for everything America stands for. They have no concern for the damage or pain they are inflicting on the general public so long as their agenda is achieved.
These same people have voted down an increase in the minimum wage or to increase the taxes lowered by Ronald Reagan when he was president even though we were sent to fight in 2 countries unfunded and underequipped.
Women's right to decent healthcare has been curtailed and the issue of abortion is used to control and deceive a patriarchal group of white males fearful of losing their power to a woman.
Greed and avarice define the rules governing those in Washington as they negotiate the tricky waters of corporate oligarchy and fear of prosecution for treason. Prosecution for treason is almost a laughable matter if it wasn't so painful to watch what is happening to our country as it is bartered and sold to the highest bidder, foreign or domestic.
Our president has prosecuted more whistle blowers than at any time in our history while banks and individuals go free for lying to Congress, money laundering, dealing in drugs, selling illegal military arms to foreign countries and enslaving whole populations.
Our private lives are being surveilled by NSA because Google and Facebook have computer service centers in foreign countries which transmit IMs and internet emails from American citizens. This gives the NSA the 'right' to monitor all public and private transmissions since it goes through a foreign country. The fact the IMs and emails never go to anyone outside of the US is unimportant.
The Prime Minister of Canada has tried to coerce President Obama to approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline through our heartland to the Gulf coast. I thought we were a sovereign nation. I seem to remember that from history books back when I was a child. Congress and President Obama seem to conveniently forget that when they negotiate away our resources and our privacy.
None of these issues are being addressed because we have a group of right wing, corporate owned, self-serving egomaniacs that would probably be best described as psychopaths, holding our country hostage.
People have tried to protest the direction our country is going and they get maced, fire hosed, tear gassed and arrested. The First Amendment is nothing in the current police state in which we live. The Second Amendment is waved like a red flag in front of a bull to keep people from recognizing the destruction of our country by a few fascist oligarchs. We shoot each other and so we have become our own worst enemy. What better way to manage a population than to turn it upon itself? Anybody that has ever seen or heard of dog fighting and the way they are pitted against each other should recognize our current society. "Stand your ground" laws dare anyone to question another's right to defend themselves from real or imagined threats. 
The Supreme Court has turned its back on the people and has turned the government over to the highest bidder. Citizens United opened the floodgates to money influencing Congress and buying anything else their selfish, little, worthless hearts desire.
In the meantime, Congress sits and argues pointlessly for days over something that every civilized country in the world gives their people; affordable health care. Ted Cruz was born in Canada and I bet his parents paid very little for his delivery. He will destroy America to keep us from having decent health care here. Is this hypocrisy or just a manipulation of a segment of society that believes America is for sale and its people don't deserve anything more than to be enslaved and manipulated for the benefit of the 1%?
We need to address the problems facing us, especially global warming and rising sea levels. We don't need to waste our resources running up more debt arguing over "who's daddy's bigger", mine or yours, like school children.

Judy Ladd

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Letter to the editor October 2, 2013

 
The Republican Congress decided that their agenda trumped the needs of all Americans. Voices from the far right are poopooing shutting down the government as no big deal. No one will be hurt too much especially since its just non-essential agencies that are being closed or furloughed.
I talked to tourists on the streets here visiting OUR national park. Their response was one of disbelief while making arrangements to cut their visit short. All the shops on Central have and will continue to be negatively impacted by the closing of our park. To Congressmen Cotton, Boehner et al- no problem.
Medical research, especially in the area of experimental cancer treatment where the patients are all at stage 4, have been shut down. I don't know about how you make something like bread, but how do you put something to 'cook' and then make it stop until you decide to continue baking?
These people will die but according to the Republicans, no big deal.
First Step will close or reduce services for children at risk because under the sequestration bill their funds were already cut drastically. WIC has been defunded. No big deal, the churches will pick up the slack and help all the children get to classes or find food like infant formula.
The Republicans say President Obama won't negotiate. My memory is obviously better than theirs because I remember him negotiating away everything and they still weren't happy back when he first came into office and the debt ceiling came up. Our government was funded day to day and our international credit rating went down for the first time in our history. Everything has to be their way or the highway. Who died and made them GOD? ACA is the law of the land as is Social Security and Medicare but does that stop these greedy miscreants from wanting to stop or remove these public services that are the safety nets that keep people from being homeless and sick? No. That money should go to the top 1% who work so hard managing their hedge funds and offshore accounts. Their money will 'trickle down' eventually so let them manage our safety net services.
The EPA and the FDA have both been shut down. That means the meat you eat will no longer be inspected before being delivered to the supermarkets. Salmonella or e.coli will become the next 'no big deal'.
If the government shut down they just orchestrated is any indication of what the Republicans REALLY think of the general public we better just lay down and die after we give them, FOR FREE, all our hard earned labor. We are less to them than the garbage they discard from their dinner tables. In fact, I don't think they want anyone to even get their scraps.
Someone made a comment on Channel 7 last night that this shut down would be good for the general public because it would show them they don't need all these government agencies. I wonder about people who think like this because if they vote they must use the size of the ad to decide who will get their approval at the polls. They certainly have no idea what it is the government does day to day.

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