Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts related to coverage, prescription medications, benefits and providers under health insurance plans.
The Sacramento Bee has reported that the University of California, Davis has entered into a partnership with Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), which is partially owned by the Chinese government, to provide operating space at its medical campus in Sacramento. It was reported that UCDavis had spent $8 million get the space ready for BGI. California should not be supporting a commercial venture partially owned by a foreign government.
I don’t know the president. But I do have a child. When the president said that Trayvon Martin could have been his son, I identified with that as I have a teenage son. When the president cited the cruelty administered to Syrian children with the sarin gas attack, I identified with his visceral feelings.
While western medicine has made tremendous progress in reducing infant and mother mortality, we have also cultivated stereotypes and assumptions about the delivery of a baby that can be a disservice to the mother. Physicians and hospitals have perpetuated a myth that women can’t deliver a baby on their own and it is only safe to give birth at a hospital. Participants in this medical fantasy have also lobbied governments for laws giving them a near monopoly on for the reimbursement of maternity services limiting financial access to midwives and doulas.
I’ve dealt with my fair share of physical pain over the years and am not given to visiting a physician unless it involves blood. However, when I started to bend over and fall to my knees with abdominal pain, I figured my body was telling me something. The doctor ordered a routine stool test to check for cancer which came back negative. It was at that point that I knew I had to change my diet or continue to cramp up and fall to the floor in an impromptu prayer ritual.
Hosted Facebook video content consistently has a higher total reach than the blogs I share from my website, the photo albums I create and share on the Facebook page or external links for on-line articles. A video link to my YouTube account or a TV news clip does no better than a regular external link to a text based story. Facebook prefers videos you upload to your page and they get to host. They will then make sure that video pops up in more than the usual number of feeds.
The Tea Party and GOP hate the Affordable Care Act. The thought of the government exerting so much authority to give average Americans a shot at affordable health care just drives them nuts. They are equally passionate in their hatred of domestic surveillance by the National Security Agency revealed by Edward Snowden. Even though a plan to defund the NSA has been defeated once, not the 40 + failures to repeal the ACA, the GOP is still trying to kill Obamacare that is constitutional.
The glitch that leaves single parents paying for health insurance earlier and at a higher rate than a two parent household has to do with the way the federal poverty level is calculated coupled with the way Covered California is calculating premium assistance.
The National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) have signed on to lend their support of a website that seeks to sabotage the Affordable Care Act. The website, The Affordable Coverage Project, is calling for the repeal of the health insurance taxes that made Obamacare originally revenue neutral and finances the tax credits that will make health insurance affordable for millions of Americans.
What makes my video unique beyond my pictures from around California? Probably not much other than I try to keep it simple. There are no flashy animations or cool music. The text is simple and in large fonts. In short, if you suffer from insomnia, California Health Insurance Market Place video might be the cure.
With only one manufacturer of the Shingles Vaccine, Zostavax from Merck, there are no generic prices on the market. The retail price for Zostavax at the local pharmacies I surveyed is fairly consistent across the board. Lower prices can be found under different Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans, but even with insurance, there can be a spread of $115 to $170 difference in the cost.
