In today’s column:
- BIG Community Meeting Tonight
- School District Board Meeting
- Health Corner
***
PSA: Toledo schools closures via Facebook, radio and TV. Download the PDF link on District FB page listing all media outlets including flash alerts.
***
Weather forecast: More rain and rising rivers. Check NOAA’s site for regular updates on changes in water levels. DO NOT DRIVE through water over the roadway; that roadway may have washed out, leaving a truck-sized hole.
***
Toledo School Board meets 7 p.m. tonight, and third Thursdays monthly at Toledo Middle School. Dates may change if on or near a federal holiday. Details and agenda online at Toledo School District website.
***
7 P.M. March 16, 2017 @ Toledo Middle School
vision:TOLEDO 2017
BIG Community Meeting 7.0
• Coolest Small Town in Washington -- according to onlyinyourstate.com
• Cool & Connected -- Goals and Actions for Toledo's Future
• Up to date reports from:
• Discover Lewis County
• Common Ground Toledo
• School Garden Initiative
• Camp Singing Wind
• Home Gardeners Seed Swap
• Agritourism
• Toledo Water Tank
• Toledo Historical Society
• Toledo Community Library
• Toledo School District
• Skills U.S.A.
• Toledo Senior Center
• Annual Events -- Summary of Things to do this year in Toledo
• BATTLE OF THE COWLARTZ
• WINE TOUR
• KIDS FISHING DERBY
• COMMUNITY CLEAN UP DAY
• CHEESE DAYS
• CHEESE CAKE COMPETITION
• WINE & CHEESE TASTING GARDEN
• STEELHEAD FISHING DERBY
• BLUE GRASS FESTIVAL
• THRESHING BEE
• WALK IN THE PARK
• ARTrails
• COWLITZ TRIBE POW WOW
• WINTERFEST
• Announcements from the Public
***
On Health: Insurance vs Health Care
Just Say No! From The Onion: GOP Recommends Americans Set Aside Income From One Of Their Jobs To Pay For Healthcare Under New Bill. And within that satire is the germ of truth. Monday the Congressional Budget Office published this cost estimate on the new-and-improved American Health Care Act, including an increase from the current rate of 3 times the cost for older subscribers to 5-fold. What defines older is not made clear.
MarketWatch.com illustrated Why Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) Can Be A Blessing And A Curse in Saturday’s article, though the current government is backing them. (Nerdwallet posts this article defining HSA’s, along with a reminder medical bills can affect your credit.)
Texas cancer survivor Lynne retired early to full-time RVing, and her emergency back surgery revealed the disparity between health care in the US and across the border. She posted in January 2017:
Not until I finally developed Stage IV symptoms a few months later would an MRI finally be ordered. That sure doesn't seem very "Gold Standard" to me. It's an outrage…
The U.S. healthcare system is seriously flawed in its approach to preventative and comprehensive medicine. Where would I be now if a simple CT or MRI had been done earlier? Especially if US health care pricing were more on-par with the rest of the world (i.e. my Mexican MRI cost just US$300).*
*Emphasis mine.
The Medical Tourism Association reports 2016 numbers at $100 billion, with 29 million people visiting Mexico alone. And the American Journal of Medicine blog notes Under ACA, Medical Bankruptcy Continues, still the #1 cause of bankruptcy.
Number One.
My still-burning memory of a friend lost only a few years back involves her husband’s reply to seeking diagnostic tests as this once-strong woman dropped below the 100-pound mark: “Insurance won’t cover it,” he told me. My knee-jerk response was to explode: “Is THAT what you’re going to put on her headstone?” When I attended her memorial service within the year, I still could not bring myself to speak to him. Soon thereafter he traded in their house for a lovely lakefront place and tried to renew our friendship. I hung up.
Another man I knew lost a thriving ranch in Idaho financing his bride’s treatment, then divorced her a couple years later simply to get her indigent care when it was clear the initial regimen had failed to return her to health. He actually never left her side, and his anguished efforts cost him his own life soon after her demise.
What happened to all the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes collected from our paychecks? My Dad didn’t make 70; he paid out far more in 45 years of payroll deductions than he ever collected. His case isn’t unusual.
The Internet Of Things (TIOT) will surely change how we seek care, as information - and “alternative facts” - scroll across our screens. Those Science, Tech, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs in schools deserve all the support we can muster. Kickstarter campaigns incubate ideas that will benefit humanity globally; engineering and research development lab Otherlab’s DARPA biodegradable paper glider drone can deliver medical supplies to remote areas. The sky is no longer the limit.
My view? What passes for health care in this country is already on life support, the outlook for resuscitation bleak. The solution? Bright young innovators like Daniel Kraft (TED Talks; Medicine’s Future).
Start by taking back your power, like the author of this article linked in TOT 02.02.2017.
***
Photos from TOT archives unless otherwise noted.
Everyday Heroes: Envisioned as a local September 11 observation recognizing lesser-known acts of kindness and heroism. Send your nominations to toledo.columnist@gmail.com.
Email your news, reviews and events to: toledo.columnist@gmail.com
PSA: Toledo schools closures via Facebook, radio and TV. Download the PDF link on District FB page listing all media outlets including flash alerts.
***
Weather forecast: More rain and rising rivers. Check NOAA’s site for regular updates on changes in water levels. DO NOT DRIVE through water over the roadway; that roadway may have washed out, leaving a truck-sized hole.
***
Toledo School Board meets 7 p.m. tonight, and third Thursdays monthly at Toledo Middle School. Dates may change if on or near a federal holiday. Details and agenda online at Toledo School District website.
***
7 P.M. March 16, 2017 @ Toledo Middle School
vision:TOLEDO 2017
BIG Community Meeting 7.0
• Coolest Small Town in Washington -- according to onlyinyourstate.com
• Cool & Connected -- Goals and Actions for Toledo's Future
• Up to date reports from:
• Discover Lewis County
• Common Ground Toledo
• School Garden Initiative
• Camp Singing Wind
• Home Gardeners Seed Swap
• Agritourism
• Toledo Water Tank
• Toledo Historical Society
• Toledo Community Library
• Toledo School District
• Skills U.S.A.
• Toledo Senior Center
• Annual Events -- Summary of Things to do this year in Toledo
• BATTLE OF THE COWLARTZ
• WINE TOUR
• KIDS FISHING DERBY
• COMMUNITY CLEAN UP DAY
• CHEESE DAYS
• CHEESE CAKE COMPETITION
• WINE & CHEESE TASTING GARDEN
• STEELHEAD FISHING DERBY
• BLUE GRASS FESTIVAL
• THRESHING BEE
• WALK IN THE PARK
• ARTrails
• COWLITZ TRIBE POW WOW
• WINTERFEST
• Announcements from the Public
***
On Health: Insurance vs Health Care
Just Say No! From The Onion: GOP Recommends Americans Set Aside Income From One Of Their Jobs To Pay For Healthcare Under New Bill. And within that satire is the germ of truth. Monday the Congressional Budget Office published this cost estimate on the new-and-improved American Health Care Act, including an increase from the current rate of 3 times the cost for older subscribers to 5-fold. What defines older is not made clear.
MarketWatch.com illustrated Why Health Savings Accounts (HSA’s) Can Be A Blessing And A Curse in Saturday’s article, though the current government is backing them. (Nerdwallet posts this article defining HSA’s, along with a reminder medical bills can affect your credit.)
Texas cancer survivor Lynne retired early to full-time RVing, and her emergency back surgery revealed the disparity between health care in the US and across the border. She posted in January 2017:
Not until I finally developed Stage IV symptoms a few months later would an MRI finally be ordered. That sure doesn't seem very "Gold Standard" to me. It's an outrage…
The U.S. healthcare system is seriously flawed in its approach to preventative and comprehensive medicine. Where would I be now if a simple CT or MRI had been done earlier? Especially if US health care pricing were more on-par with the rest of the world (i.e. my Mexican MRI cost just US$300).*
*Emphasis mine.
The Medical Tourism Association reports 2016 numbers at $100 billion, with 29 million people visiting Mexico alone. And the American Journal of Medicine blog notes Under ACA, Medical Bankruptcy Continues, still the #1 cause of bankruptcy.
Number One.
My still-burning memory of a friend lost only a few years back involves her husband’s reply to seeking diagnostic tests as this once-strong woman dropped below the 100-pound mark: “Insurance won’t cover it,” he told me. My knee-jerk response was to explode: “Is THAT what you’re going to put on her headstone?” When I attended her memorial service within the year, I still could not bring myself to speak to him. Soon thereafter he traded in their house for a lovely lakefront place and tried to renew our friendship. I hung up.
Another man I knew lost a thriving ranch in Idaho financing his bride’s treatment, then divorced her a couple years later simply to get her indigent care when it was clear the initial regimen had failed to return her to health. He actually never left her side, and his anguished efforts cost him his own life soon after her demise.
What happened to all the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) taxes collected from our paychecks? My Dad didn’t make 70; he paid out far more in 45 years of payroll deductions than he ever collected. His case isn’t unusual.
The Internet Of Things (TIOT) will surely change how we seek care, as information - and “alternative facts” - scroll across our screens. Those Science, Tech, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs in schools deserve all the support we can muster. Kickstarter campaigns incubate ideas that will benefit humanity globally; engineering and research development lab Otherlab’s DARPA biodegradable paper glider drone can deliver medical supplies to remote areas. The sky is no longer the limit.
My view? What passes for health care in this country is already on life support, the outlook for resuscitation bleak. The solution? Bright young innovators like Daniel Kraft (TED Talks; Medicine’s Future).
Start by taking back your power, like the author of this article linked in TOT 02.02.2017.
***
Photos from TOT archives unless otherwise noted.
Everyday Heroes: Envisioned as a local September 11 observation recognizing lesser-known acts of kindness and heroism. Send your nominations to toledo.columnist@gmail.com.
Email your news, reviews and events to: toledo.columnist@gmail.com
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