Usually I wake up before my radio turns on at seven every morning. This morning it woke me; the announcer said it was 9F out; I went back to sleep and did not get out of bed until after Morning Edition ended at nine. I don’t remember much of what they said either. I think I slept through it all. I don’t know why the outside weather affects me so much. I keep my apartment at 68F during the day and let it drop to 58F at night. I like sleeping in the cold. But when it gets this cold out my body knows it and sends all kinds of nasty messages. I obviously have arthritis in my left hip. Mostly, it only bothers me when I’ve been walking all day. In this weather, it bothers me at night, and I wake up in great pain. How do my bones know it’s 9F outside?

I don’t like to make it warmer in the apartment because I suffer from the lack of humidity, even with three humidifiers going. Sometimes I feel like I spend all winter schlepping water. In fact, I have to stop now: I’m feeling the need for moisturizer on my hands and face.

I lost about 10 pounds while I was trekking around Japan, something of a miracle. Now I’m trying to figure out how to keep it off. I’m certain I lost the weight because of all the walking and climbing I was doing, diet was not a factor. I just don’t have the same opportunities, or interest in doing that kind of walking, here in Pittsburgh. Most of my pursuits are sedentary.

Yesterday, as I waited for my bus to go back to the Chinese art class, I had this very strong feeling I didn’t want to go back to the same old, same old. I don’t know why I thought this trip should have changed things, but I felt it very strongly. I just haven’t figured out what to do about it.

I was supposed to go walking with Mary and Phyllis this morning, but it snowed. I got dressed and went to the health club where I worked out for an hour and a half, 40 minutes more than I ever did in the past. Maybe that will help, but it’s not nearly as interesting as walking around Kyoto.

The next
time you pay a deductible or co-pay, or you have to make a choice
between food and a prescription, or you hear of someone going through a
medical bankruptcy, think about the huge compensation CEOs of insurance
and pharmaceutical companies are getting while you struggle to pay for
your healthcare.

I’m quoting from a new healthcare site put up by Pennsylvanians who want a better healthcare system. Taking their information from the Forbes list they detail how much money some of the CEO’s of healthcare organizations have collected. I am appalled when I think of most CEO pay, after all, they are only human, but this makes me angry and appalled. I don’t understand why anyone is entitled to make money for what I see is a non-service, or worse, an impediment. They are not my doctor, or nurse or anyone else whose services benefit me.

I got a bill from a medical management company for $1.79. Subsequently, I got a notice from Medicare and another notice from my medigap insurer that I would be billed $1.79. I don’t know what it cost to send out these notices. Some years ago I remember the figure was $2.32 for each letter. In any case, those three letters had to cost more than $1.79, but I sent off a check.

At the same time I received a threatening letter saying, in 8 pt. type that I put off reading until the last possible moment, if I did not pay a $70.44 bill within 10 days they would send the bill out for collection. I keep a spread sheet about what I owe and what I’ve already paid for medical care. It showed I had already paid the bill at the end of April using a credit card. So I called the medical office and said I would have to check my credit card statements. They assured me I had not paid the bill and offered me a 20% discount if I would pay it immediately. I did it, figuring I could always argue later.

So how is it that one office is willing to give me $14 off my bill while the other one insists, at great cost, on collecting $1.79?

This class is the biggest challenge I face these days. It’s right up there with learning how to swim when I was 47. Unfortunately this challenge has no easily discernible goal post, not like being able to swim a half mile or a mile. And the challenge isn’t because it is physically demanding; it’s not. The challenge comes in making all four of my appendages move in the proper direction at the same time. When both hands are doing the same thing, and the feet are still, there’s no problem. But my brain doesn’t want to deal with moving everything at once while playing follow the leader. I don’t think this is a function of old age. I was always a klutz and never had a strong determination to do any challenging motions. I did learn ballroom dancing, with some difficulty, when I was younger, but usually only your feet move. So I figure the Tai Chi is exercising both body and brain.

The class is diverse: a few youngsters, some people older than me. It’s interesting watching everyone do what they think they are supposed to be doing. Many people don’t quite make it, but have a characteristic stance that takes over, no matter what. I’m glad I can’t see myself.

I am obviously not busy enough. I’ve been reading some trashy mysteries and watching too much television. The mysteries don’t bother me, and I’m getting bored with them. It’s the drug commercials on television that really frighten me. I think I could easily become a hypochondriac watching those things. I’m sure the drug companies benefit by, not only pushing their stuff for people that need it, but probably convincing healthy people they need this stuff. I’m not much prone to hypochondria, but they certainly keep me worrying.

The time for single-payer, universal healthcare may be coming. Sunday afternoon there was a hearing about it here in Pittsburgh. A number of people testified about their problems with our current system and Rep. John Conyers from Michigan and several of our local pols, including Rep. Mike Doyle,  spoke. Conyers has introduced a bill in committee, HR 676, which would create a national healthcare system for everyone, similar to Medicare. Our Congressman, Mike Doyle has signed on to the bill along with 68 other Democrats. Republicans are evidently universally on the side of the insurance companies. Because this really is a fight that pits patients and health care providers against those insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies and for-profit hospitals. And the profits are amazing: 20 to 30 percent of our healthcare dollars go to the shareholders and executives of those companies who are providing nothing but aggravation for the rest of us.

Equally interesting, Jim Ferlo, one of our Pennsylvania state representatives has introduced a bill, PA SB 1085, creating a universal healthcare, single-payer system for the state of Pennsylvania, which unlike the one passed in Massachusetts, removes insurance companies from the healthcare system.

I’m very excited about these initiatives. Even though I am on Medicare, and theoretically, have nothing to worry about, I think our healthcare system is awful. I have few dealings with doctors, but each encounter, usually for preventative services, leaves me angry and unhappy. I don’t think a single-payer system is necessarily a cure-all, but it would free up doctors and nurses to practice medicine instead of worrying about insurance red tape.

www.healthcare-now.org has information on their website along with a petition you can send to your representative.

Our current healthcare system is not only bad for our health it is deleterious to the health of our entire economy.

• Business cannot plan ahead because they don’t know how much their healthcare costs will rise from one year to the next.
• Unemployment rates increase because employers want each worker to work longer hours, even where they have to pay time and a half, so they won’t have to pay benefits to additional people. Or they keep people on a contractor or part-time basis.
• People are forced to remain in unwanted jobs in order to maintain their health insurance.
• Entrepreneurs are unable to start new business because they can’t get health insurance.
• Trained medical personnel find it easier and more profitable to become insurance plan administrators than to continue providing needed services.

On June 7, 06-07-06, from noon to one o’clock, there will be rallies around the country. Here in Pittsburgh meet at Highmark, 120 Fifth Ave. It’s time to stand up and be counted.