You thought I was gonna talk about the Jesus and Mary Chain song here, didn't you? It is one of my favorites by them.
I was thinking about the race for President.
The next President will profoundly affect healthcare for the next 4 years and beyond. Our Federal Government spends like 60% of all healthcare money -- that's powerful.
And its shameful that the Fed isn't doing more to affect healthcare. Our Federal Government should be negotiating with drug companies to lower drug costs with that 60% collective buying power. To protect our Federal Government's resources that are paying for new healthcare facilities, our Federal Government should negotiate with Healthcare companies any time one wants to build new facilities. Our Federal Government should create an FDA pathways to approve generic biological drugs and help remove barriers to new therapies. The Federal Government should allow for the importation of foreign drugs too -- like Europe's generic interferon-B drug.
Federal Government agencies can promote research, even say what research can't be done. Research can find cures, save lifes, save money. We need more research and our Government can promote it.
And the next President will affect who has health insurance, whether it is affordable and who does not.
Senator McCain's health insurance plan will increase my family's taxes by making us pay taxes on the cost of our benefits. My employer will lose the tax deduction for providing employee health insurance. My insurance costs $14,000 per year (a $2,000+ new tax) and McCain's tax credit of $5000 to buy our family's insurance is a joke. No insurance company will sell me any health insurance. If I could somehow get a plan, it will be a government subsidized plan filled with other sick people so the rates will be crazy expensive.
I hope everyone votes. Please vote.
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label running. Show all posts
Monday, October 20, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
2 miles
I did something today, that I've not done since I was probably 17 years old. Abbey and I ran 2 miles together. She was nice enough to run with me (she runs more regularly and usually farther than 2 miles). Back when I was 17, I was running cross country in high school. I wasn't a very good runner, but I liked getting into good shape for basketball season (I wasn't a great basketball player either, but being 6th or 7th guy off the bench meant I usually scored a few points each game).
The temperature outside today was in the mid 70s. At about the 3/4 mile point, I was aware that the flesh of my right leg, the lower femor area was growing numb. A mile later, both knee areas were numb and my forearms, especially my right forearm was very numb. Abbey helped walk me to our home. Climbing the stairs, my head was spinning.
Fortunately, Abbey turned the shower water on at a room temperature for me. Conditions normalized after about 10 minutes of not-too-warm water runner over me. I ran two miles!
Abbey is always doing things to assist me. Recently, she picked up my meds for me. When I got home, she handed me the box of Interferon-B, noting that the box color changed. She wasn't sure the box contained the same meds I usually got from the pharmacist. I told her, they must have changed the price. I've noticed when the box colors change, the price is usually increased. When I looked at the receipt, yup, the price was increased from $2240 per month to $2369 per month. Same meds, different color box colors, no more effective, just more expensive. I wonder how many other people using biological drugs witnessed the color of their med box change this month? This is at least the second time the box color has changed since the start of the year.
If only Abbey had the power to cause congress to pass a law that created an FDA approval route for generic biological drugs -- the patent on Interferon-B is expired -- she'd do it if she was a member of congress. My parents saw Barack Obama in Green Bay today -- I'm confident that Barack Obama would create an FDA approval route for generic biological drugs.
The temperature outside today was in the mid 70s. At about the 3/4 mile point, I was aware that the flesh of my right leg, the lower femor area was growing numb. A mile later, both knee areas were numb and my forearms, especially my right forearm was very numb. Abbey helped walk me to our home. Climbing the stairs, my head was spinning.
Fortunately, Abbey turned the shower water on at a room temperature for me. Conditions normalized after about 10 minutes of not-too-warm water runner over me. I ran two miles!
Abbey is always doing things to assist me. Recently, she picked up my meds for me. When I got home, she handed me the box of Interferon-B, noting that the box color changed. She wasn't sure the box contained the same meds I usually got from the pharmacist. I told her, they must have changed the price. I've noticed when the box colors change, the price is usually increased. When I looked at the receipt, yup, the price was increased from $2240 per month to $2369 per month. Same meds, different color box colors, no more effective, just more expensive. I wonder how many other people using biological drugs witnessed the color of their med box change this month? This is at least the second time the box color has changed since the start of the year.
If only Abbey had the power to cause congress to pass a law that created an FDA approval route for generic biological drugs -- the patent on Interferon-B is expired -- she'd do it if she was a member of congress. My parents saw Barack Obama in Green Bay today -- I'm confident that Barack Obama would create an FDA approval route for generic biological drugs.
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