It's about time...

Finally. The Democrats mustered up something resembling a spine, so House Democrats approved the Senate health care reform bill tonight, by a close vote. The President might sign the bill as early as Tuesday.

With all the huffing and puffing of its opponents, you might not know that some of the bill's key provisions don't even go into effect until 2014. However, favorable measures that go into effect in 2010 include:

Not being able to be kicked out of a health insurance policy if you become sick. (A heinous insurance practice known as recission.)
Parents can keep their children on their insurance policy until these children are 26. (Grad students must be pleased.)

As today's New York Times article points out, everyone could benefit from the legislation, as it tightens regulations on health insurance companies, which have, quite frankly, basically been allowed to run roughshod over the public, until now.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL, who'da thunk?) again had it right when he said that voting for health care reform was about saving lives.

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I bet some of those legislators are feeling both relieved, and a bit exhausted. (After all, a vote on a Sunday night?) Would not be a bit surprised if many of them felt as though they had been...

A good time was had by all...

Last week a good time was had by all at a cousin's wedding. (Even getting there was proof that not all of southern Maryland has been gobbled up by developers, probably the one good thing about the economic downturn. The scene above is across from the reception hall, which was surrounded by farms.)

Anyhoo, with the family harmony and all, the only sour note was the food, as the caterer, like too many others, try to appease the "no sodium" crowd. It's a fraud, I tell you, tempting looking parsley potatoes with no salt, then needing to pour salt upon them to attempt to remedy this foul--doesn't quite work. Strangely enough, there's no "no sugar" edict, as folks might riot if there were no wedding cake. This can't be about cutting costs, either, as there were (tall glass) salt and pepper shakers on each table. Concern about health at a wedding (which is only one meal) always seems suspicious to me...

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I finally got the seasonal flu shot from a local MinuteClinic at a 24-hour CVS, which was quick and convenient enough. As good as such a clinic is for small concerns, like flu shots, their existence cannot be summoned as a good way to provide health care access for everyone, because of the inherent shortcomings of stand-alone clinics. People who want to deflect attention away from health care reform and onto such places as the way to cut health care costs, to paraphrase John McEnroe, cannot be serious.

For instance, I was asked by the nurse practitioner if I were allergic to eggs or chicken, which I am not. I then asked whether people who are allergic to iodine (seafood allergy) can take the shot without problems, and she said that it would be no problem. So far, so good.

However, if you haven't consistently had access to health care, you might not know that you've developed an allergy because you'd have to be tested (mo' money!) if allergy is suspected. And how is allergy confirmed without being previously seen by a medical professional about possible symptoms? What about continuity in health care, is that too much to ask? Continuity is impossible if affordable health care is not available to all Americans.

Sadly, Rep. Alan Grayson's recent quip about the Republican health care "plan," is on point--namely, don't get sick; if you get sick, die off quick. (The ungrammatical ending is mine.)