lists

LISTS
im a list maker
i didnt just start since i had to retire
and
since i was diagnosed with the mild cognitive impairment
better known as mci

im a list maker from way back
just ask my wife my kids and my nurses
im sure they hated those lists

so far im not too bad about forgetting things
but ive noticed im more likely to miss things in the last
3 years than in years past

i think part of the problem besides the mci is i
get busy doing something and get distracted and
just forget to do it

ok sometimes i do it on purpose
because i dont want to do it
and
sometimes its a project that if i do it
it seems like when thats done i wont have as much to do
like finishing painting the trim on our doors
have the paint even primed it already
awhile ago
its just one of those things i cant seem to do
it just doesnt make the daily list sometimes

then
theres the put off list
get tax stuff together for the tax guy
move the furniture for my wife she
dig up those prickly cactus
clean out our totally trashed and junked barn storage area
etc etc etc

also ive gotten a lot busier since i retired
so i dont have as much free time as i did
when i first retired

im not regretting that as i feel like im doing good
doing habitat houses running meals on wheels and
promoting alzheimers awareness by talking about
alzheimers all the time giving talks on it and serving
on the walk to end alzheimers committees and
a state wide alzheimers committee

so my list is made every day
today eg
go to house one at habitat
plant 7 shrubs
finish rock ground cover around the mailbox
finish edging the new beds with rock obtained from
a local church and from another work site
fix gutter
edge the sidewalks and curbs
pick up my large logs from the tree we cut down to use
at my house for edging around my new anthill garden
where ill plant my tomatoes

go to house 2 to finish the rock corner where the water
drains off the property to slow down the runoff
plant the pride of barbados shrub in the bed in the back

go to house 3 to water the  large transplanted crepe myrtle from
water brought in with my portable rainwater tank
since theres no water connection yet
pick up rocks for house 1

go home after lunch
nap
help prepare supper
eat
nap
go to bed

ah the joys of retirement

so thats how i do my list each day

my wife she sent me this list of 35 things to do in austin texas
before you die
ive done nine of them
one that i havent done i want to is the broken spoke
the dance hall place that many of the old country western guys
and gals have played at
especially willie
its now got sandwiched between apartment buildings
an austin landmark for sure
another is ive never swam in barton springs but ive been there
guess that counts right
one my wife she has done that i dont ever plan on doing
is waiting in line for franklins bbq
she had a grand time waiting in line with all those folks
from everywhere for 3 hours
i agree the bbq was worth it though

the good thing is that i knew what all 35 of them were

so yes im a list person
always have been
always will be
of course as time goes on those lists become more important
dont they

the orrganicgreen doctor

this doesnt make cents

THIS DOESNT MAKE CENTS

texas is number one again
no although most texans wish it was for sports
but its not
its what i think is number one for the wrong thing

back about 10 years ago when the dot com crash occurred
i had a lot of patients who were professional folks
many engineers for those dot com companies
got laid off
just walked in to work one day and was told sorry
were closed youre gone
zippo benefits to you
luckily some of the bigger companies like ibm and dell
gave some benefits to folks as they let were let go
so
for the first time in their lives these families were found
without health insurance coverage for themselves and the kids
and
this was pre obamacare where you had to worry about
preexisting conditions
people like me would have been uninsurable

then the federal government stepped in with a plan
that filled the gap between medicaid and private insurance
for kids not for adults

it was called the chips program
childrens health insurance program

these folks were able to get their kids covered on the chips program
pay a small copay for office visits
luckily for those in our system they were treated like an hmo or ppo patient

their kids got well child checks sick care and if they needed
hospitalization or pediatric speciality care
they saw the same folks and went to the same childrens hospital that
the private insurance folks did

i had many a parent cry in my  office although some were embarrassed
to be on the chips programs they were nonetheless happy their kids
were able to get healthcare when it was needed

now fast forward 10+ years to the present time

in the affordable care act under obamacare
the federal government has agreed to give to the states the money
to provide an expansion of medicaid to those who are caught
between the present medicaid programs and the new obamacare
policies you can buy and for many get subsidies to help with
the premiums

i think of this medicaid expansion as being like the chip program
that provided such a safety net for those hurt by the dot com
collapse
the bridge between medicaid and private insurance

there are 21 states plus the district of columbia who are accepting
medicaid expansion
4 states are considering it
then
25 who had decided not to expand medicaid

now this is where texas becomes number one
and
it in my opinion is a big embarrassment to being number one
this oil rich state should be embarrassed

we already rank close to the top in not providing care
to women and childrens

the unisured rate in texas is 24%
if the affordable care act was fully implemented in texas
that would drop the rate to 12%
click here for for information and statistics

the feds would give the state of texas $9,217,000,000
over the next 8 years to provide that coverage
what i call chips for adults and kids
that safety gap
thats 9 billion dollars
the cost to texas for this money
$92,000,000 maybe less

nope they said we aint gonna do it
so
those folks will not get needed healthcare
they will develop or advance their chronic diseases
they will over utilize the emergency room systems in the states
kids and women wont get preventative care
and
there will be a lot of unpaid for care

who pays for this
hospitals doctors and insurance companies and YOU
these groups charge more for their services to compensate
some for the lost monies
we pay more for our health insurance as a result
here in texas expect your premiums to go up

then those folks will eventually be a political force in this state
wonder which party they will vote for
this will all be a big issue in future elections here

one state arkansas got a waiver to use this money to buy
private insurance
the program apparently is going well
ive seen interviews with folks who are glad they have
health insurance now
but that state is thinking about pulling the plug on those folks

for those of you who oppose this
be sure and dont get fired or get laid off
or
you will be in that not covered category

we pay now or we all pay later

the organicgreen doctor

where were they

WHERE WERE THEY
the number one disease americans worry about dying from is
alzheimers disease
the 6th leading cause of death and the only top ten one with no treatment is
alzheimers disease
the number one disease that is increasing in numbers each year is
alzhiemers disease
the disease that may break our healthcare system is
alzheimers disease

so alzheimers disease is probably one of the biggest health issue facing
our healthcare system today

so its important
so congress must be interested in doing something about it

seth rogen as i posted on last thursdays blog gave a presentation
using humor to make his point
he made me cry as he did others

the congressmen that were there probably teared up some also
all 2 of them

say what
i thought there were more members of that committee that heard
seth rogen that day
equally almost between democrats and republicans

as i watched the video and the news praising seth rogen
there were a lot of people in the audience some laughing
and later some wiping their tears
then
the shots to the congressmen looked ok
then
later i saw the shots of the empty seats on the senate panel
16 of them were empty

most of those you see sitting up there are staffers behind those
empty senators seats

can you imagine talking to a panel about the most serious health
issue facing our healthcare today
and
seeing all those empty chairs

seth rogen did an excellent job
the hearing got a lot of press
we all watched him testify

he called out those senators the next day
one sent a congratulatory tweet thanking seth for testifying

heck he wasnt even there
seth tweeted him back telling him that

here are the names of the senators assigned to that panel
who either didnt show or got up and left

REPUBLICANS

Senator Thad Cochran (MS)
Senator Richard Shelby (AL)
Senator Lamar Alexander (TN)
Senator Lindsey Graham (SC)
Senator Mark Kirk (IL)
Senator Mike Johanns (NE)
Senator John Boozman (AR)

DEMOCRATS

Senator Patty Murray (WA)
Senator Mary Landrieu (LA)
Senator Dick Durbin (IL)
Senator Jack Reed (RI)
Senator Mark Pryor (AR)
Senator Barbara Mikulski (MD)
Senator Jon Tester (MT)
Senator Jeanne Shaheen (NH)
Senator Jeff Merkley (OR)

my mother my younger brother died from alzheimers disease and
when my father died he probably had alzheimers disease
they lived and died in arkansas
if youll look you can see that both state senators are on that
SHAME list of losers
i know many of you have already notified your arkansas senators
of your displeasure

if you see your senators on this SHAME list who didnt care to show up
for this important hearing
contact them to show your displeasure

they need to apologize to seth rogen
and
to those of us who have family members friends and neighbors
with this awful disease
 or
who have lost them from this disease

SHAME SHAME on these senators

now we know why congress doesnt get things done

the organicgreen doctor