Healthcare: Part Deaux

I've failed at keeping this guy updated but have come up with what I think is a decent compromise. I'm going to try and post once every 2-3 days with shorter blurbs, which is a more reasonable goal that I can actually keep up with (rather than longer ones that I like to write but take me forever and lead to posts like once a month). So, here goes.

I wrote in my first post about the historic passing of healthcare legislation by the Senate in December of 2009. Well, just the other day, the House also had a historic vote in which it also passed this bill. While I again applaude the efforts of congress there are still major things missing from this bill. The most important is, once again, the lack of a public option, which will hurt when the insurance companies once again attempt to nickel and dime people out of good benefits and the government has to leverage. Further, I think it's ridiculous that Bart Stupak of Michigan single handedly screwed the people of the United States out of abortion coverage, a MEDICAL PROCEDURE that should be treated no differently than any other.

While Rep. Stupak came close, he does not take the major prize of this post of 'Jackass of the Post'. This instead goes to Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Congrations Mr. Steele. Here is a recap of exactly (and I mean verbatim) what he said on FoxNews to Geraldo Rivera after the House passed the Healthcare Bill:

"Today, America witnessed the first vote for the end of representative government. Congressional Democrats said no to the will of the American people and voted yes to President Obama’s $2.5 trillion government run health care system... Americans across the country made their voices heard and flatly rejected this legislation loaded with special deals and tax increases, but Democrats did not listen and instead chose to force this bill through because they believe they know what’s best for the American people. The simple truth is this bill will allow taxpayer dollars to pay for elective abortions, as confirmed by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, and that the Executive Order negotiated by Rep. Bart Stupak does nothing to trump the language in the bill. It is, at best, a ruse. Further, the bill will cause 9 million people to lose the insurance they have now; it will increase the deficit by over a hundred billion dollars when all the components (including the physician fee schedule change) are included; it will increase taxes by $569 Billion; it will cut Medicare by $524 Billion; it will increase premiums by 10 percent for people without employer-based insurance; and, it will create a new marriage penalty with new income and investment taxes. And after all the spending has been done and the bill is fully implemented, 23 million people will still be uninsured in 2019. The American people are sick of the blatant arrogance of President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and the Senate Majority Leader Reid... It is time to fire Nancy Pelosi and send a message to President Obama that it’s time to stop their partisan liberal agenda of government takeovers and start working for Americans to create jobs and grow our economy."

Seriously, what was be smoking before he got on the air. First off, 'end of representative government' and 'Americans across the country made their voices heard and flatly rejected this legislation'. Really Michael? You mean, all those people that voted for Obama in the presidential election, you know... the one where he specifically campaign on healthcare reform, made their voices heard and rejected this legislation? Pretty sure that they supported such a change if they voted for him anyone (if they didnt want it, they could have voted for McCain). Also, did you not read any of the bill? Let's just say you didn't. Do you not watch the news? I guess not. You seriously believe that this bill will 'pay for elective abortions' after all the flack that Bart Stupak is enduring for basically ensuring that women can't have this procedure done? I'm left speechless. Finally, he states that it is 'time to stop their partisan liberal agenda of government takeovers'. Seroiusly? Did Obama not preach for the last year about how we have to work together to solve this, Democrats and Republicans? Did he not even hold a summit at the White House? I'm starting to think that Michael Steele is actually Michael from the TV show LOST since it would appear that he has been stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere for some time.

All in all, I with that this bill had done more and is a good first step. I'm hoping there will be more to not only enhance the benefits of the people, but also the benefits, compensation, and protection for the physicians whom they are charging with the task of caring for all these new people.

It's Been A While...

So, I'm back to writing where nobody is reading. It took a while to get back thanks to that medical school thing that I'm doing on the side. But, I'm here, and I have good news.

I have discovered a new syndrome. I discovered it because I came down with it about a week ago. It's called Steinberg syndrome obviously (since all doctors, or in my case future doctors, feel the need to slap their names on a collection of symptoms). It's main symptoms are fatigue, a stiff neck, behavior changes, abdominal discomfort, and constipation. It hits a very select population usually between the ages of 21-30 and affects both males and females equally. My syndrome also goes by another name, medicalstudentitis.

Ok, so if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm being fascious. I've basically described what every medical student experiences due to late nights studying (fatigue, behavioral changes), constantly being hunched over a book (stiff neck), and drinking too much coffee (abdominal discomfort and constipation). This is pretty much my life most days, but especially this past week as a result of a midterm, quiz, and 140 skill physical examination that I had to do in front of an attending from Stroger Cook County Hospital. Lets just say I've had more relaxing weeks in my life.

Also, on a side note, I've always heard the stories and such about Cook County Hospital. You hear about the crazy people that are there, the rare diseases you see, the rare presentations of somewhat common diseases, etc. You also hear about how they are understaffed and require doctors to wheel their patients to X-Ray or the lab because they don't have others to do the pushing. But, what I was not made aware of was how difficult it was to just get a simple ID badge made. I have tried now on 4 different occasions to get and ID made. One time the machine was broken, another time they ran out of blank ID card. To top it all off, Stroger has a strict policy that they only make 35 new IDs per day. That's it. So if you show up at 10:00 a.m. (they open at 8) and they've already made 35 for the day, you have to come back another time. Ridiculous. Clearly, I have to keep on going to eventually get one but wouldn't you think there would be some other, more efficient way for them to do this. This is just another clear example of how nobody cares about Stroger when they should since its the only public hospital in the city.

Microbiology: The New Source for Disney Names

So, I clearly haven't been rocking this blog as much as I had hoped. I guess that's sort of what happens as a med student. Anyway, Happy New Year to anyone actually reading this. Figured I'd post something (even if its short), just to make sure that I know this thing still exists.

So, there I am in Microbiology, when my professor teaches us about a parasite called Naegleria fowleri. In stumbling though the pronunciation, I decided that I was going to call it Naegleria fowleria as it just rolls off the tongue better with the final 'a' in fowleri (even though it shouldnt be there). Then, as I thought about it more, I decided that it sort of sounds like some sort of weird name that Disney would concoct for an animated movie or kids TV show. Therefore, I think that for any Disney producers reading this blog, Hannah Montana should have a new international friend named Naegleria Fowleria for her show. They could go on adventures together (On a side note, this parasite invades your brain via your sinuses and usually kills people within 7-10 days... I know that's pretty serious but it super rare and I need to have a sense of humor about this stuff). So, if you don't want to go globe hopping with Hannah Montana's new friend, don't swim in open, warm, fresh water places that aren't treated with chemicals (like swimming holes in Georgia)