mountain goats in Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park

Somers, MT

Avalanche Lake - Glacier National Park

Oliver and Beaners

Somers, MT

The state of Ohio invites guns in bars, except, of course, those that are drinking. Also, while you're going for a stroll in a state park, don't mind the drilling for natural gas.

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/06/ohio_house_passes_guns_in_bars.html

http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2011/06/ohio_senate_approves_bill_to_a.html

we're a bit late

go BOBCATS!

I crawled in here myself

Back in June I had a medical procedure performed. I was having some gastrointestinal issues and my doctor recommended having an EGD (esophagogastroduodenoscopy) - essentially they put a scope down my stomach to determine what the underlying issues were. To make a long story short they found some lesions in my stomach (pre-cursors to ulcers). They put me on some medication and my symptoms have subsided for the most part. I was generally happy with this part of my experience

My experience with my health insurance is a completely different story. First and foremost, I was told by my doctor they could only perform the procedure at a facility located an hour from where I live (about 40 miles). The facility where my doctor visits take place and where they perform these procedures was out of network. The doctor, of course, was in network but the facility was not. Thus, to have the procedure covered by my insurance we had to go to the other facility.

About a month after the procedure I started to receive statements from my insurance company indicating which bills they paid, and what they did and did not cover. Everything was covered (except for co-pays and such): the doctor, the pathologist, the facility, but not the anesthesiologist. According to the insurance company he was out of network. What? How could that be? I thought that I had traveled out of my way an hour to go to a facility that was in network? That's where my thinking was wrong; the facility was in network but the anesthesiologist was out of network. How could I have made such a poor assumption? When I inquired my doctor's office about what seemed to be their error, their nonchalant response was: "that's unfortunate your insurance isn't covering the anesthesiologist, but it's your responsibility to cover any cost that your insurance doesn't." Evidently, just prior to sedation, I'm supposed to ask the anesthesiologist whether he's in network or not.

Once I received the bill ($490) from the anesthesiologist I submitted a claim to the insurance hoping that their denial was a mistake. It was not. Again I received a letter stating that they could not cover the bill per the out of network status. Next I took my complaint to my human resource representative hoping that they may have some pull. They said that they would see what they could do. At the same time I sent a letter to the anesthesiologist asking for a discount on the services provided. To their credit they gave me a discount of $245. Unfortunately the HR rep could not get the claim pushed through and after a third attempt the claim was again denied.

So here I am stuck with a $245 bill that I've fought 5 months and don't want to pay. We live in the country with the "best health care in the world", so I must have done something wrong. But no I didn't. I paid my health insurance premiums, and went to a provider who was in network. But in a health care system that is so convoluted and confusing that doctors can't even figure out I am screwed because one facet of the procedure was out of network. I must pay the bill or risk having it go against my credit. Eventually I'll pay the bill but not without complaint.

For the first time in 150 years of the British Open, the coverage will be broadcast entirely on cable TV. This comes at a time when people are trying to cut back on expenditures. Traditionally, the first two rounds of the tournament are broadcast on cable TV, then for the final two rounds coverage gets put on the regular networks, usually CBS, NBC or ABC. For the British Open, coverage during the week is usually on ESPN and then switch to ABC for the weekend. ESPN has decided not to continue with tradition and lock people like myself out of the coverage. Because I am a graduate student and my family, with a stay at home mom, survives entirely on my salary, we just have basic cable, which does not include ESPN. Presumably they make more money restricting coverage solely to their cable network. Ok, of course they make more money. But don't they miss out on getting greater ratings, with more viewers, by showing it on ABC as well? This is especially true considering the tournament this year is being played at the home of golf, St. Andrews golf club. This gives the impression that the cable networks are all about money. And how they can make more of it. Over the years coverage on regular TV networks has become more and more limited. We see this with the NBA playoffs - all games are broadcast on TNT or some other network until the finals. Most people have cable with dozens of channels, but a portion of the fan base miss out. But it's not about the fans it's about money. Should we expect anything else from a corporation? Perhaps not, but then again our court systems have continued to rule that corporations have the same rights as individuals.

Many corporations paid little income tax last year to Uncle Sam. In fact, some such as Exxon Mobil paid $14.7 billion in taxes, but none of it to the Federal Government. Because of losses, some, such as GE and Bank of America, get a tax credit. The low tax rates are because of operations overseas. Exxon, for example, creates subsidiaries in Bermuda or the Cayman Islands to hide a lot of their revenue.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/04/01/ge-exxon-walmart-business-washington-corporate-taxes_slide.html

We give the banks over $700 billion ($700,000,000,000) with little or no strings attached with a zero percent (0%) interest rate. They don't lend it out. If they do they charge a 9.5% interest rate on a used car and then they jack up interest rates on credit cards before the new laws come into effect in February.

That's what I heard today. That's right, my baby's heartbeat. Between 130 and 140 BPM. Mama is 15 weeks and 3 days.