Why People Hate Insurance Companies

Hello My Dear Friends. We all know that life without health insurance can be difficult and costly. But dealing with insurance companies can actually be hazardous to your health. Here's a case on point. The captor gets a monthly prescription for her cholesterol. With her prescription plan she was getting a 90 day supply from her local Walgreens for about $16. Then, she was informed by the devil, I mean her health care provider, that they would no longer pay for a 90 supply unless she went to their provider CVS. She informed the devil that there was no CVS in the City of Syracuse and had her doctor write the prescription for 30 days. This cost $4.33 a month. Two months later a letter arrived from the devil saying they would no longer pay for the prescription at all unless she went to CVS as this was the least expensive option. The captor once again explained that there was NO CVS Pharmacy in Syracuse. She was told to order on line. Fine! Caremark, the prescription side of her health plan, said that she was required to use their provider, CVS, for any long term prescription and, if there was no local pharmacy, the on-line pharmacy would ship the prescription with no shipping charge. Fine! So, the on-line account was set up. The 90 day prescription was rewritten. Total out of pocket cost...$61 every 3 months! Call me crazy but I fail to see the cost savings here. So the captor calls the devil AGAIN to explain that their "cost saving solution" was INSANE and here's the conversation that ensued:
Devil: "According to your policy, all long term prescriptions must be provided through CVS Caremark. If you choose to continue to fill your prescription at Walgreens that prescription will not be covered. Therefore your out of pocket cost would increase accordingly".
Captor: "But I'm currently only paying $4.33 a month. With your plan I'll be paying over $20 a month. How is that a cost savings"?
Devil: "Your current copay is low because your prescription plan is paying the remainder of the cost. Your payment will be much higher without the prescription plan payment, making your overall out of pocket cost through CVS a savings to you".
Captor: Am I being punked?
Devil" "I don't believe so mam".
Captor: So, what you're telling me is that your refusal to pay for my prescription, as you have been doing for months now, is actually saving me money even though it's costing me more?
Devil: "No mam, I'm trying to explain to you that you have the option to continue filling your prescription as you always have but you will no longer realize the same savings as you have in the past".
Captor: Because you're no longer going to pay for it.
Devil: "Correct. So the savings comes now from your on line prescription".
Captor: You have to know that makes no sense. Do you hear what you're saying? It's nonsense.
Devil: "No mam. It's your policy".
Captor: You have yourself a really swell day.
Devil: "Is there anything else I can help you with today"?
Captor: No, you've done quite enough...
That, my friends, is why people hate insurance companies!
Po

Now That's a Civics Lesson!

Hello my Dear Friends. First, on this Memorial Day, let me say God Bless the brave men and women who gave their lives to protect us and our freedom. Their service to this great nation should not and will not be forgotten. Now, let me tell you a little story about freedom, or the lack there of, in the Cicero-North Syracuse School District. That school district's 2013-2014 budget was rejected by voters. Probably because the proposed tax increase was too high but that's another discussion. This story is about a C-NS senior who exercised his First Amendment Rights and was taught an interesting lesson for it. C-NS senior Patrick Brown tweeted suggestions on where the school district could cut it's budget. He used the hashtag #ShitCNSshouldcut. OK, he used a curse word, bad boy. He was suspended from school for 3 days. Not for the curse word, for using a cellphone in class and, are you ready..."For inciting a social media riot that disrupted the learning environment". A what? Yes. A Social Media Riot! Apparently so many people used that hashtag that it began trending on Twitter! Some people call that "going viral" but in the Cicero-North Syracuse school district it's apparently called a RIOT.  Well, if he incited a riot, then he should be denied 3 days of education in his senior year, right? I mean A Riot! People could have been injured! I assume a social media riot is akin to typing "fire" on a crowded netflix site. It doesn't end there. Another student, senior Jamie Roberts, Tweeted that a certain teacher to be fired using the same riotous hashtag. She was suspended for 5 days and told she would not be allowed to attend her senior prom! Apparent in C-NS, calling for a teacher to be fired is considered a THREAT! That's why her punishment was so severe. By that logic, my now saying that Cicero-North Syracuse School Superintendent Kim Dyce Faucette should be fired for allowing the First Amendment Rights of her students to be violated, would be construed as a threat. Well, there it is sister, come and get me! I hope I don't start another virtual riot! For those in charge of the C-NS school district, "virtual" is an adjective meaning existing in essence but not actual fact. If those words are too big for you, it means "not real". Also, calling for someone to be fired is not a threat. It's an opinion. Remember when people, even young people, used to have a right to those? So, these two students, who have never been in trouble before, will suffer their punishment. They will be denied a few days of their education during their senior year and Jamie will be denied the memory of her Senior Prom. I guess it's all worth it so we can all learn a very important Civics Lesson. You're freedom of speech, apparently, is limited. Lesson Learned! Nice job C-NS. You're students are now prepared for the world.
Po

That is So Prius!

Hello My Dear Friends. We're all in favor of "saving the environment" but, as I'm sure you know, some people are a little more, shall we say "zealous" about it than others. We give those people cute little nicknames like "Tree Hugger" or "Enviro-Nazi". But I have discovered another group of people who fall somewhere in the middle. I've decided to call these individuals "Prius People". These are the people who can't wait to tell you how they're reducing their "carbon footprint" and living the "Green Life" but, really have no clue. I find these people unbearably annoying! Thus, the "Prius" tag. Anyone who bothered to do the tiniest bit of research knows that the Prius is the worst car for the environment since the Hummer. Yet, Prius owners, many of them quite snooty, don't seem to realize this. They often display bumper stickers they say things like "Go Green" or "My Other Car is a Bicycle" and, of course, most of them sport "Obama 2012" as well, but that's for another blog. My point here is that these "Prius People" who display that special kind of hubris that can only come through ignorance, need to be addressed. This is why I am proposing that we turn the word "Prius" into a homonym! Yes! The first definition will of course be, as it always was, "an over priced car for aging hippies". The second definition I propose will be "a disparaging term used to mock aging hippies and others who attempt to waive their lack of knowledge about the environment in your face". So, the next time you see someone get into a "green" car with a disposable Starbucks cup in their hand, say "Oh, that is so Prius"! When you see a "Go Green" message on someone sporting a plastic water bottle, "Look at you getting all Prius". You follow me? We need to take these people down a notch. They need to know that what they're feeling is not superiority but abject stupidity, and it's our job to tell them! So, hemp shirt with leather shoes; Prius!  Herb garden with gas powered lawn mower; Prius! Compact flourescent bulbs with window air conditioners; Prius! Plastic grocery bags filled with organic food; Prius! Let's get on this people. It's time to call a Prius, well, a Prius.
Po

Ignorance is Bliss

Hello My Dear Friends. Never in my lifetime have I ever been so amazed at the goings on in this Country. Talk about the inmates running the asylum! The position of the White House, on everything, is to obfuscate, redirect and deny. Let's review. On September 11, 2012 and into the early morning hours of September 12th, heavily armed terrorists attacked an American Diplomatic Mission in Benghazi, Libya and a CIA compound. 4 Americans, including the US Ambassador, were killed. 10 others people were injured. First the President said that he and then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton given up to the minute reports on the events as they unfolded. He also said he immediately declared the siege a terrorist attack. We all know now that none of that was true. A full week after the attack the President and his spokespeople were still blaming the deaths on a random attack sparked by a YouTube Video. Now the President says this whole thing" is being blown out of proportion" and he wasn't actually kept apprised of the situation as it unfolded. Mrs. Clinton says "was it because of a protest or guys out for a walk who decided they'd kill some Americans-What difference, at this point, does it matter now"? What difference, indeed. Both the President and Mrs. Clinton say they were not aware of requests for increased security at that Embassy. Really? I won't even get into the ridiculously altered, or should I say fictionalized, "talking points". Lois Lerner, director of the IRS's Exempt Organization Division, acknowledged that IRS investigators targeted conservative groups with "Tea Party" or "Patriot" in their titles for added scrutiny. They collected or attempted to collect political and donor information. The President says he knew nothing about it. Even though Lerner apologized for the wrongdoing, the Administration still says "if" these things happened. IF? Seriously? We now know that the Department of Justice collected phone records from the Associated Press and their employees. This includes their personal phones. Attorney General Eric Holder says he knew nothing about it even though we all know it could never have happened without his signature. The President says he knows nothing about it. Let's not forget, although the press did, the ATF's Operation Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal that has since been swept under the carpet. Once again, the Attorney General and the President knew nothing about it. So, my question to you is, If the Secretary of State isn't overseeing the State Department, the Attorney General ins't overseeing the Department of Justice, no one is overseeing the IRS and the President isn't overseeing his Staff, Who the hell is running the show?
Po

Excuse Me?

Hello My Dear Friends. I hope you're sitting down because I have some shocking news. Are you ready? A lengthy investigation has revealed corruption in New York politics! I know, right! I, for one, am stunned! Corrupt politicians in New York? It's amazing but true. Fear not my dear friends because Governor Cuomo and many of his Democratic sidekicks have a solution. They believe that having you and I pay for political campaigns would put an end to the corruption. LOL! Yes, they are serious. There are many, many reasons why this proposition is even more ridiculous than it sounds but let's focus on the most obvious. 32 elected officials have been indicted for corruption in the last 7 years. Elected Officials. Not Candidates For Office. Elected Officials. This would lead one to believe that their shameless behavior happens after the campaign. So, you and me paying for said campaign would have no bearing on their latter wrong doing. It is power that corrupts. Power and greed. Those lovely qualities tend to rear their heads after one achieves office. Most of these recent corruption cases stem from soliciting bribes and "misappropriating" funds. So, these sleazy individuals obviously weren't satisfied with any payoffs that came before they took office. Apparently all of that PAC money only buys you the opportunity to offer bribes at a later date. So, while we are cutting funding to schools and the disabled, isn't it a little ridiculous to be discussing spending $200 million taxpayer dollars on campaigns? Raise your own damn money. People who are morally bankrupt enough to accept bribes are going to do what they do regardless of who puts them into office. So Governor, and the rest of you who want to "clean up Albany", try this. Any elected officials convicted of corruption gets a mandatory 10 year prison sentence, forfeits their pension and all future benefits, is banned from holding public office for life and is fined the equivalent of all money earned while in office.  Want to bet that has more of an effect than public campaign finance? If you want to stop corruption, make the punishment hurt. Really hurt! That, and only that, will stem the tide of corruption. You know I'm right.
Po

You What, Now?

Hello My Dear Friends. Miss me? Of course you did. I do apologize for my lengthy absence. You must have been lost without me. But, enough about you. As I write this, we are just learning details on this crazy story out of Cleveland where three girls, now women, have been held captive for 10 years! Remember when you actually knew your neighbors? I have to say, when the officer in charge starts off a press conference by saying "alls I know right now...", I have serious concerns about the investigation moving forward. But, that's for another day. Today I'd like to talk about jet fuel. That's right, I said jet fuel. Not just your average, everyday jet fuel. Oh, no. This is "green" renewable jet fuel. You see, in this era of "sequestration" where we have been warned of impending fiscal disaster, massive job loss and an under funded, under staffed military, our Government has inked a deal with Gevo, a US biofuel producer, to purchase up to 12,500 gallons of it's renewable green fuel. Geno makes Isobutanol from corn which can then be mixed with gasoline or converted into hydrocarbon fuels or chemicals. Why, you ask, do we need to know this? There are two reasons, really. First, because our Government agreed to purchase this fuel at $59 a gallon. The current cost of jet fuel is $3.73 a gallon. That's an increase of $55.27 a gallon or $690,875 for 12,500 gallons. Doesn't really sound like they're taking those budget cuts too seriously, does it? Second, the company chosen to supply this wonder fuel is Gevo. The same Gevo that had to shut down it's Minnesota plant last September due to contamination, halting it's production of Isobutanol. It's stock has been downgraded and it's financial future is bleak. Sound familiar? Solyndra, (declared bankruptcy after receiving $535 million taxpayer dollars); Abound Solar (bankrupt after receiving $70 million taxpayer dollars); Nevada Geothermal Power, (teetering on bankruptcy after $98.5 million taxpayer dollars); Fisker Automotive (circling the bowl with $529 million in taxpayer dollars). Does anyone else see a pattern here? This latest Government folly is a slap in the face to each and every American taxpayer. The really frightening thing is, compared to some other recent revelations, this green fuel investment almost seems tame. The GAO (Government Accountability Office) conducted an audit and determined that 50%, yes HALF, of overall Government credit card purchases were "improper, fraudulent or embezzled". Some of the purchases included Xboxes, iPads, internet dating services, lingerie, jewelry and Hawaiian vacations. There was a $13,500 dinner (singular) charged by the postal service at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse which included 200 appetizers and over $3000 in alcohol! Did you know that there is a $2.6 million dollar Government program that teaches Chinese Prostitutes to drink responsibly while on the job? It's true. So, when you hear your elected officials telling you that children will go hungry, homeland security will fail and millions of jobs will be lost if taxes are not increased, you can take solace in the fact that at least their hookers will be sober!
Po