Challenges

I grew up with my dad always telling me that as long as Ted Kennedy was around, everything was safe,” she said as she waited in line at the library to sign a condolence book.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/28/us/politics/28mourn.html?hp



With the death of Senator E. Kennedy, I, like some others, recall growing up. No, not just since I became politically aware. I mean childhood. A time when I was innocent and happy. Happy partly because I felt cared-for. I didn't have to think about health care, my parents did. I didn't have to think about feeding people, my parents did. I didn't have to think about the jobless rate, my parents did. I didn't have to think much about education, my parents did. All I had to think about was doing the chores they required of me and doing the work of children, play. I hope you are getting the point here.

Perhaps many of us, at this time, are in a quandary. We are like many teens. We want the protection of someone else to take our causes on their shoulders yet we want our independence. I call it the “push-me-pull-you” state. Perhaps we feel we are inadequate to take on the tasks at hand. For a short time we are back in Maslow's Safety Needs level, but we struggle to get back to the Self Actualization level. Or if you prefer the Growth Level of Alderfer.

Whatever the reasons, I am torn between looking backwards to the happy days of childhood and looking at the present of the hill here. The apple trees we planted that now produce fruit for the picking, the many flower gardens planted, and the natural areas are the here and now. Then my thoughts fly outward to the rest of the world and contemplate the future for those of the next generations. Sometimes knowing, as I do think of the future, much of that future will be the same past, it cannot be avoided. Future generations will have to go through their stages, or levels also. But, can those of us, my generation, now leave those of the next generations at the least the first 3 levels? The first 3 levels are physiological, safety, and belonging. Maybe not to the individual scale of life but maybe for the larger scale. Maybe we can leave the opportunity to achieve at least those first 3 levels on Maslow's scale.

So good-byes to the Senator and stories to tell for a few days then on to being the ones that keep trying.

The Challenges Are There

Wishing for past childhood blissful ignorance,
Wishing to stay in pleasant present ignorance,
Just leave me alone.

Offer me no challenges.

Knowing I cannot stay,
Knowing there is more,
You will not leave me alone.

The challenges are there.

Some I caused,
Some you caused,
Does it matter?
I will not leave you alone.

The challenges are there.

Ted Kennedy: Family Senator, Patriarch, Dead at 77 - ABC News

A final lesson that's never been more relevant: "Generations of aides recall Kennedy telling them the biggest mistake of his career was turning down a deal that President Richard M. Nixon offered for universal health care. It seemed not generous enough at the time. Having missed the opportunity then, Kennedy spent the rest of his career hoping for an elusive second chance,"

Ted Kennedy: Family Senator, Patriarch, Dead at 77 - ABC News

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I add this as a post script to the July 13th blog post Health Care Plans again.

On Senator Edward Kennedy and Other Things

Sad moment for us liberals sure needed him for pushing the health care. now what will we get stuck with.

The above quotation is from a family member upon reading about Sen. Kennedy's death. Maybe he should have said; sad moment for all who are below the poverty level, without health care, those of us who, for many reasons need a champion.

Sen. Kennedy was human. No doubt about that. But politically, he was a champion for those in need.
During the coverage of the Senator yesterday someone said the Senator quoted from the new testament. “But of everyone to whom much as been given, much will be required;...”( Luke 12: 48) to explain his political causes.

I am sure we will be thoroughly exploring the life of this man, the terrible and the wonderful for the next few days. To some of us the Senator's death is the end of an era. I was just taking note of politics and government when his elder brother was elected President. I cannot say whether it was the speeches of the man or my age that was responsible for the change in my attitude. And I will say Senator Kennedy was not the best example of a champion, in his personal life, until we both got older. I believe when he decided to stay in the Senate he may have been much disappointed in himself for not being able to live up to the perceived heights of his older brothers nor what he knew to be the requirements of his father. But with time and with settling down he became the champion needed.

There will be many who will keep reminding us of the Senator's failures and his awful behaviors, but that is to be expected. The far right blogs will attack on many levels. I used to say we need both extremes for balance and Senator Kennedy was one side of the political teeter-totter while Senator John Warner was perhaps the other. (I didn't agree with Senator Warner's policies but I enjoyed watching him give speeches on the floor of the Senate.)

Senator Warner, retired, was an old style legislator. These two Senators knew how to give great floor speeches, perhaps in different styles, but both knew how without attacking the opposition on a personal level. Both knew how to work behind the scenes. Both knew how to compromise and wait. My concern now is that we are left with a Senate that at least in public is at odds with itself and the most of the Senators are using the same argumentative, nasty, style that some of us do when “discussing” important issues.

The fulcrum of the teeter-totter Senate now appears to be moved. Many so-called centrists are moving to the so-called center just to say they are above the fray, making them somehow superior.

My hope is that as a few more Senators get comfortable with themselves and their constituents, they will become the great legislators we don't now have. And, the center will really be the center. The balance will return at least to the Senate. We need the right and we need the left to take turns and therefore, keep us balanced but we need great orators and legislators who do their jobs because they really believe in what they are doing.

What are big companies not telling you now? | csmonitor.com

What are big companies not telling you now? | csmonitor.com

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A Good Article on Why the Status Quo Must Go.

Dying for affordable healthcare — the uninsured speak

In a week of claim and counter-claim about the merits of healthcare provision in the US and UK, Ed Pilkington travelled to Quindaro, Kansas, to see how the poorest survive

Here is another reason the status quo must go. Guardian

Health Care, The Status Quo Needs to Go.

Here is a personal story for you about health insurance coverage.
This is not one of those terrible stories but this is one of the more common ones that goes on everyday for people who have health insurance.

I must give you a little medical background first. My husband had an allergic reaction about 30 years ago. He is a frugal man and a person who tries to avoid hospitals at all costs. But after turning blue and other good things like that, he finally allowed someone to drive him to an emergency room-no ambulances for him either. Anyway he got there just in time. They gave him one of the “your heart is stopping shots”, you know, straight into the heart. Then he spent quite a while in ICU. So that is the early part of the tale. We never found out what caused it. He got the carry-these-pills-with-you-at-all times, take-one-and-call-an-ambulance-if-it-happens-again sermons as he was leaving. He did keep the pills with him for quite a while.

One evening recently he woke up with itching and burning, spreading fast, huge blisters forming etc. The pills would be no good after 30 years even if we did still have them. So, we go to emergency. You know this only happens when the Dr.'s office is closed. He got treated in short order. This time we were quicker the heavy doses of medicines worked and he didn't have to stay. Given another set of don't-take-a chance instructions again, we left. Things are fine thus far and we feel getting there more quickly this time saved a lot of fun for him and money too. We also are pretty sure this was a true emergency so that argument shouldn't come up.

So now last week we got the usual notices from the insurance company, Cigna, that they had received the bills and guess what-not paying one red cent. We have high deductible, $5000 family, but family does not include our son because he is 24 even though he is back in school full time, so family in our case is 2. We have high-patient-pays-about-everything-all-the-time deductible, but-we-will-negotiate- for-you insurance. Kind aren't they. The more they can negotiate for me the lower the chances I will ever see the $2500 deductible. Duh.

So I just sent the med center over $800 and the Dr's part will be over $300 when that bill comes. (I do not begrudge our med clinic, a good one, nor the ER Dr. one cent.)

We are retired and not quite old enough for Medicare. We are not wealthy. But we feel we are in fair financial shape. Yes, we saved and we invested for 30 some odd years. But $1100 to $1200 is a tad more than pocket change to us. Guess what. Once we reach the $2500 per person deductible they will start to pay 80% maybe. We always figure we will just pay most of any medical bills, so what do you do? We are not terribly unhealthy so just figure we will pay it and lump it.

In a short time we will be Medicare people. Guess what else. My husband worked for a company that had retiree insurance, one big reason he stayed with them when he didn't want to do so and when they were trying to figure out how to get him out. He hung in there because we knew we needed the insurance. They called it then, “the golden handcuffs”. Now when I say retiree insurance I don't mean it is all paid for; we pay some, and the company pays some. We were informed, several years ago, that when we hit Medicare we will no longer have much coverage, just call it basically gone, from the company insurance. We will no longer have the opportunity to get the drug coverage, we will no longer have dental insurance. The company does not pay for dental they get us a good deal and we pay that ourselves. And on it goes. The options we have had through the last 5 years have slowly disappeared anyway.

We have been a thorn in the side for quite awhile anyway. We live in small, rural area, with a great county med clinic and a good doctor but we cost the insurance company more because we can't be forced into an HMO-too far away.

Now I want you to know my family and I are lucky, well maybe not just luck, but some is luck. We are lucky that our health is fair-to-middlin; we are lucky we have any insurance still. We know these things. We are better off than most of the people we know.

What started me thinking about all this? The Med. Clinic just called because they realized we had a large bill and wanted to know if we needed help or wanted to set up a payment plan. I thanked the lady and said no. I told her we didn't figure on much ever from insurance we just keep hanging on to the insurance for the big catastrophes. Well, the catastrophes that the insurance company won't drop us over. I told the nice lady that called that these things are partly why the insurance company can figure I will do what I can, in my little way, to get “HEALTH INSURANCE REFORM”.

Now that I told you this little story go to a PBS station find the Bill Moyer's Journal, kind of a rerun but needed, on why we need “health care reform”. It will definitely remind you of why as President Obama says, maintaining the status quo is not an option.

link to PBS is; here.

Washington Week in Review was just excellent this week also here is the link to that show. www.pbs.org/weta/washintonweek/ here

Get the facts about the stability and security you get from health insurance reform | Health Insurance Reform Reality Check

Get the facts about the stability and security you get from health insurance reform | Health Insurance Reform Reality Check

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