The topic of Medicaid continues to preoccupy the minds of our nation’s governors. Yesterday, the National Governors Association presented its recommendations on Medicaid reform to a Congressional panel. There was a lot of consternation surrounding proposed co-payments for Medicaid enrollees. In Minnesota, most Medicaid enrollees already are required to pay co-payments for things like prescription drugs and clinic visits. I also pay a pretty hefty monthly premium for my Medcaid coverage (but that’s because I’m employed). In theory, I’m not opposed to the idea of co-payments. Health care is one of those things in which people should feel invested, even if it’s at a very basic level. A small co-payment for things like ER visits might encourage people to seek treatment sooner, before a crisis develops. I think co-payments could be structured in such a way so as to protect even the poorest beneficiaries, perhaps through a federal cap that limits co-payments to a certain percentage of income.
As I keep saying, Medicaid needs reform to remain sustainable and this is one option of many worth considering. I get frustrated with lawmakers, many of them fellow Democrats, who seem unwitting to look at even modest changes to Medicaid. I’m totally with them on ensuing access to quality care for as many people as possible, but I think that goal doesn’t necessarily clash with making the system a little more participatory as well. Don’t tell anyone, but I think Medicaid could serve as the precursor to some kind of national health insurance. And if we’re serious about making national health insurance a reality, we need to start by addressing the problems and inefficiencies in the current model.

I’m trying to get my strength back after getting my butt kicked by this virus. Not quite back to normal yet, but I’m getting there. In the meantime, I’ve been looking at a lot of movie trailers. The trailer for Murderball, a documentary about wheelchair rugby, looks promising. I’ll gladly shell out eight bucks to watch some badass gimps in souped-up wheelchair go all gladiator on each other.
Yeah, I’ve probably commented on this film before, but it looks really cool. It makes me want to go out and buy a Murderball T-shirt. I like how the trailer seems to emphasize that having a physical disability doesn’t necessarily mean one isn’t physical anymore. Like everyone else, gimps just want to smash shit up sometimes.

Just realized I need to get a new passport. I have a passport that’s about twenty-five years old, but I’ve changed a bit since then. I hope getting a passport photo is easier than getting a Minnesota ID photo. When I needed a picture for my new ID, I had to cram myself into a little booth. And when I was finally situated, the county clerk discovered that her fancy automated camera wouldn’t swivel down far enough to see my face. My nurse had to lift me out of my chair for the camera to see me, which explains my slightly peevish look in the finished product.
If anyone knows of a medical supply company in the UK or France where I could rent a suction machine like this one, drop me a line. The one I have won’t run on 220v electricity, but I’m thinking there has to be a similar European model.

The Minnesota Legislature has been in special session for a couple weeks now, with no sign yet of a budget compromise. If budget bills for things like human services and education aren’t passed by June 30, state government (including my agency) will partially shut down. I’m not terribly worried about getting laid off or anything like that. The Legislature will come to some sort of agreement, most likely just before midnight on July 1. But I can’t quite see what a final agreement will look like. The Republicans will not agree to anything that looks like a tax hike (the Governor’s proposed cigarette…fee…tax….whatever…notwithstanding). The Democrats will not go along with any deep cuts in public health care programs like MinnesotaCare. I’m not sure how you bring together opposing sides that are staring each other down from across a $1 billion chasm. The marginal numerical advantages that each party holds in the House and Senate means that any agreement must be bipartisan, which gives me some hope for a final resolution.
The NY Daily News is extolling the virtues of geeks as boyfriends. :Slipping into my Barry White voice: C’mon, baby, let’s turn down the lights real low and and I’ll whisper hot Klingon love in your ear. qamuSHa‘ , baby. qamuSHa’.

I’ve been amusing myself tonight by checking out some of the videos on the iTunes Music Store, including Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek.” What a lovely song. She does some mixing tricks with the multi-layering of her voice, but it doesn’t come across as saccharine (unlike some other artists who use this technique). Ms. Heap is also the front singer for Frou Frou, whose stuff I quite like as well. I guess this song was also featured on The O.C Now this is when I could get all snooty and say that I never watch that crap, except that I have my sister’s borrowed copy of Season 1 sitting in my pile of DVDs and I’m slowly getting caught up in it. That Summer’s kind of a bitch, isn’t she?
One of my nurses is suggesting I take astragalus as a way of preventing future colds. Astragalus is an herb that apparently has some immune-boosting properties. Anyone have any experience with this stuff? I’m normally skeptical of alternative medicine and of the starry-eyed claims some of its proponents make, but this last infection kicked my ass and I don’t desire to go through that again anytime soon.