Tuesday, July 20, 2010
A Letter from Kathleen Sebelius
Many of us know women whose lives have been saved by breast cancer screening. Yet, one in five women over 50 hasn't received a mammogram in the last two years. Nothing is more important to us than the health of our children, but nearly one out of eight children hasn't seen a doctor in the last year.
For too long, our health care system has focused on treating the sick, and not on keeping people healthy. Preventive health care like cancer screenings, cholesterol tests and even flu shots saves lives and reduces health care costs, but too many Americans face a tough choice between paying for preventive care and putting food on the table for their families.
The Affordable Care Act is helping to change that by making it easier to access basic preventive care.
Last week, I joined the First Lady and Dr. Jill Biden -- two of our country's top health leaders -- to announce that starting in the fall, all new health insurance plans will be required to cover recommended preventive services with no deductible, copay or coinsurance.
The First Lady and Dr. Biden wanted to help raise awareness about this provision of the new law, so they made this video [above]. Please take a look and share it with your friends and family.
Nearly half of all Americans suffer from chronic disease, and seven out of 10 deaths in our country are due to chronic illness. Many of these illnesses can be prevented. By spending our resources on stopping chronic illness before it starts, we can keep more people healthy and reduce health care costs.
Starting in September, preventive services like blood pressure tests, many cancer screenings, well-baby and well-child visits will be free for millions of Americans. By giving people the tools they need to lead healthier lives, we’ll be putting our country’s health resources where they can have the most impact.
To learn more about Affordable Health Care Act's new rules on preventive care click here:
www.HealthCare.gov/preventiveservices/
Access to preventive care is just one of the ways the Affordable Care Act is making America healthier. To find out more about the benefits of the Affordable Care Act, visit HealthCare.gov.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary of Health and Human Services
What victory in Iraq looks like...
I'm so sick and tired of this guy's brute violations of my personal values and beliefs that I find it impossible to summon up sympathy for him. But I'm not going to jeer, either. That would put me in the same horrid morass as those despicable people who took demonic joy in Teddy Kennedy's final illness and death...
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16 comments:
The thing is, I have a hard time believing that this is anything more than Beck playing martyr again. He's pulled stunts like this before and they weren't true; they're the Glenn Beck version of the televangelists and the religious right newsletter industries who send out the SOS that they're going under and need money NOW. Beck isn't asking for money, he's just basking in the glow of his audience's undivided and doting attention.
Seriously! Do you really believe a guy who tells you he's losing his sight to a degenerative nerve disease when he regularly spreads Vick's Vaporub under his eyes to make them turn red and water on camera so that he looks to be crying? I sure don't!
Oh, and regarding the Secretary's letter and the video from the First and Second Ladies... Why are people who speak such good will and common sense vilified as evil harpies out to deprive us of our liberties? You really have to wonder how severely these teabaggers and other rightists were beaten by their parents when they were kids to have such a sour outlook on life and such a poor opinion of their fellow humans!
Re Beck, someone had to say it!
I've often wondered what people get out of being angry and mean-spirited. It has never struck me as making for a happy life. I understand that some of us are conservative and perfectly satisfied, but the people I've known like that don't have a mean bone in their bodies. I'd be miserable if I lived in fear and felt as if I constantly had to be on the attack against my neighbors.
Note also that these Michelle Obama and Dr. Biden spent their careers in the medical field on the caregiving side.
My father's side of the family has a long sad history of premature macular degeneration (never heard it termed dystropy). There are two variations of the disease: wet and dry.
To quote from the AMD site:
"There are two types of AMD: wet (neovascular) and dry (atrophic). It's possible to experience the wet type in one eye and the dry type in the other; in addition, the dry type can progress to wet in approximately 10-15% of cases.
The dry/atrophic type affects approximately 85-90% of individuals with AMD. Its cause is unknown, it tends to progress more slowly than the wet type, and there is not — as of yet — an approved treatment or cure. In dry AMD, small white or yellowish deposits, called drusen, form on the retina, beneath the macula, causing it to deteriorate or degenerate over time.
The wet/neovascular type affects approximately 10-15% of individuals with AMD, but accounts for approximately 90% of all cases of severe vision loss from the disease. In wet AMD, abnormal blood vessels under the retina begin to grow toward the macula. Because these new blood vessels are abnormal, they tend to break, bleed, and leak fluid, damaging the macula and causing it to lift up and pull away from its base. This can result in a rapid and severe loss of central vision. Although its cause is unknown, several new treatments are now available for wet AMD."
I already have a few drusen, and I see a retinologist about every 2 years, but live with the knowledge I might lose my eyesight eventually.
My grandmother was 48 when she was dx'd as legally blind, my father at age 60, and my uncle at age 64.
I know very little about my grandmother's father - my great grandfather, but suspect this is where the gene comes from.
I feel empathy for Mr. Beck if he truly has this disease but can't help but also fall back on a favorite mantra: karma is a bitch.
CP: Thanks for the information. You're not the first person to remark on the karma of this.
Hey stranger! I'm still randomly around. Love to read what you have to say, as always.
Hi, Scrump! Great to hear from you. I left recommendation on Scrumpy in the City for a Chicago outing.
Woo. Honor killings now for MEN! Welcome to women's world.
As for Beck, you may extend him what would perhaps be considered my share of compassion. I have none. Especially as he'll have the best health insurance and care whether or not he does go blind, achieved via lies and hate, while denying what he gets by lies and hate to anyone else.
For instance, the ailing musicians of New Orleans (or any musicians, for that matter, and most artists of any sort).
Video -- Dr. John, etc.:
http://www.savetheclinic.org/
article:
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/new-orleans-medical-clinic-battles-to-keep-citys-artists-healthy/19538989
Love, C.
Well, I don't want to sound mean or anything ; ) ; ) ; ) I just can't help but react to Beck's announcement in the same way I did to Rush's apparent heart attack a few months back. And I make no apologies to that dirtbag.
He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind. (Proverbs 11:29)
You don't sound mean, tnlib. His attacks on you and me are relentless, slimy lies. If we don't care about what happens to him, it's his own doing.
Thanks for posting the video. I'm going to share it on FB. As for Beck, I read where Michelle Bachmann threw a fundraiser for him.
They're a perfect pair.
When I listen to Beck's show, my usual argument is simply, what you are saying isn't true. You are ahistorical.
He vacillates between being teary and being super redneck, at the drop of hat.
I doubt if he'd care if you or I were in his position. Limbaugh for sure wouldn't care.
Beck lie? Next you'll say Breibart lies.
I like the Iraq article quite a bit.
Interesting about the Shiites. being more rural. It fits with the analysis of Mexico at my blog.
Foxessa: Iraq is now an equal opportunity society. The war was worth it after all. I stand corrected.
Jayne: Shudder.
Ren: Beck is a huckster, no question. I sincerely believe that if he, Limbaugh, Coulter, Hannity, et al decided that they could make more money by becoming liberal, they'd make such a sudden left that we'd all get whiplash.
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