On today's anniversary of Medicare, it's worth revisiting a 2003 piece on LBJ by Larry DeWitt...

Senator Obama wants us to know that John McCain is planning to make $882 Billion in Medicare cuts!. That’s really amazing!!!

This is a complete and total vent.

See, a friend of mine down in California has been fighting for well over two years with her insurance carrier (GPA, AMM, and Regence BlueShield of California) to treat pressure and swelling in the cranium, as well as a large ovarian cyst. She was a programmer making good money, but is now on disability due to her conditions and is scrambling to support herself and her daughter.

The go around has been this:

Doctor prescribes and recommends a particular type of treatment, does referral to neurologist.

She makes appointment with neurologist.

"...now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country..."

I've typed that a million times - like many of you, probably - while practicing typing skills, under my mom's tutelage. I've always liked that it ended with "country", and not the original wording of the phrase, which is "party."  

Anybody else saw Michael Moore on CNN? I could have sworn at the 2:40 mark he was talking about Clark but then Wolf Blitzer chipped in "Al Gore". What do you think?

Link to Video

J.

Welcome to 55 and Better

The "55 and Better" series focuses on the issues that effect everyone sooner or later. With that in mind, it is important that we join together in tackling the problems and looking for the solutions as we plan for the future. All of us have inherited a system including Medicare and Social Security from those who have fought the "good fight," now it remains up to us to continue the promise so that the years after 55 will be even better.

BIG PHARMA SCAM: Medicare Prescription Part D

(Survival inside a doughnut-hole )

It's rather difficult to discuss Medicare Prescription Part D since seemingly there are no government or agency officials willing or able to provide a clear explanation as to exactly how the scam is supposed to benefit seniors.

"Cutting drug costs for seniors" is not an explanation is it? It’s a campaign slogan.

How does it work? Is there an official explanation? Why not?