Ann Wilkinson: 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009

I Believe in Ferries

The Alaska Department of Transportation is taking comments on its long term plan now through July 31, 2009. Please take a look at the plan and make comments online. The current goal of the DOT is to build more "Roads to Nowhere" so they can reduce the ferry service in Southeast Alaska. The plan for Sitka is to build a 30 mile road over the mountains to a ferry terminal on the other side of the island. Personally, I find this ridiculous. We love our ferries and hate having to drive. Why would we want to drive 30 miles over a mountain to get to the ferry when we can drive 5 miles on a level road at sea level.

To find out more and to make comments, please visit Southeast Alaska Conservation Council's web site (SEACC.org) and follow the link to Speak Up for Ferries. And while your at SEACC.org, check out the Wild Idea pages. I made them as part of my summer internship. Pretty cool, fun work.

My Stand on Healthcare Reform

I wrote this as a letter to the editor of our local paper. And they actually published the whole thing.

It took a while, but I finally saw the light in the national debate for health care reform. A single payer system, similar to Medicare but for all Americans, seems the only way to advance our health care delivery guaranteeing health care to all. Contrary to what the insurance industry wants us to believe, a single payer system is not socialized medicine. It’s more like socialized insurance – which is why it’s the insurance companies who are doing all the screaming that we don’t want reform. Here’s how a single payer system works. Congress would instigate a new payroll tax. I know everybody hates new taxes. But this one actually has some advantages. Employers would pay the bulk of it; current estimates are 12% of total payroll. This would be a savings for most employers who are now paying 16 to 20 per cent of their payroll for group insurance premiums. The employees’ portion, about 2%, would be deducted from paychecks just like any other federal tax. For a few Americans this 2% might be an increase in cost. But when you consider there would be no dependent coverage premiums, co-pays or deductibles, this would be a tremendous savings for most Americans. More money for employers and more money for employees mean a more stimulated economy, unless you’re an insurance company executive.

The federal government would not take over health care. Just like in the Medicare system, patients will have a choice of doctors. Doctors would still be in private practice and hospitals could still be privately owned. It’s just Medicare expanded. One of the biggest differences in a single payer system is that doctors’ offices and hospitals will no longer need large departments to muddle through filing claims to the over 10,000 different group policies of 3,000 different health insurance companies. Instead there will be one billing system for the one single payer, the national healthcare plan.

Of course insurance companies are fighting this because it will be the death of their industry. They don’t want to accept that they have long outlived their usefulness. They have profited from our health problems long enough. In their fight for survival they are intentionally trying to mislead Congress and all Americans. The insurance industry claims that a single payer system will eliminate patients’ choice of doctors. The reality is that now most Americans are covered by a plan their employer picked and the insurance company has a list of preferred providers. Choosing a doctor not on the list is usually cost prohibitive. So currently our insurance companies pick our doctors for us. Patients on Medicare and Medicaid have much more choice.

The insurance industry claims that Americans are afraid the government will run health care decisions, putting the government between a doctor and patient. The reality is that every day medical staffs spend hundreds of man hours on the phone with insurance companies trying to get preauthorization of treatments. Insurance companies always seem to find a way to deny or delay any treatment plans they feel are too costly. When profits versus patients, profits win. Every year Americans die because of insurance company denials of coverage, patients being underinsured or not insured. Doctors should not have to ask an insurance company clerk for permission to treat a patient. This doesn’t happen with the government run Medicare system.

Another myth of the insurance industry is that a single payer system will bankrupt the U. S. government. In reality, the cost of medical care forces thousands of Americans into bankruptcy every year. Health insurance companies administrative costs and profits average over 20%. Medicare has administrative costs of 3%. Would you rather pay $1 to an insurance company and get less than 80 cents worth of health care or pay $1 to the government and get 97 cents worth of health care? By the time we eliminate the bureaucracy and profits of greedy insurance companies, we will save money and save lives.

Now, the insurance companies are under the delusion that Americans don’t want a single payer system because we want to keep our choice of insurance companies. Raise your hand if you are really that in love with your current insurance company. Most of us don’t even have a choice of insurance providers now. It’s the employer that picks the insurance carrier.

It seems the insurance industry is guilty of all the things they say are wrong with a national healthcare plan. Health insurance companies have become the epitome of what they say we fear. It’s time to stop the insane bureaucratic waste and obscene profits of the insurance industry and return control of healthcare back to doctors and their patients. Please call or write Congress and let them know you support a single payer system that brings healthcare to all.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Do you have to spell well to write well?

Most of you know I enjoy writing and am in a women's writing group called The Write Women of Sitka. We have a wonderful time sharing writing every week. But some of us, okay, one of us, okay I'll admit, it's me, can't spell worth a darn. I often ask myself, do I really have to know how to spell well in order to write well. The answer of course is no. Two of my fellow Write Women, Kathy and Mo are quick to tell me that spell check is a great camouflage for people who don't spell well. It's more important to have an exquisite vocabulary. I think they're right. So I'm working on mine.

Remember as a kid our fathers would try to get us to all learn a new word every week. And in college we were suppose to learn a new word every day. Yea, right. But if I had only done that then, I would now know all the words I ever needed. I could have moved on to Spanish words or maybe French. But I was busy watching Gilligan's Island and Flipper on the black and white RCA TV.

So now I'm trying to play catchup with my vocabulary - I've flat given up on the spelling. I'm following Liz's example and keeping a dictionary close by, even when reading for fun. And I'm trying my hand at some crossword puzzles (which is torture for me). I've even started doing some vocabulary studies on-line. There's a vocabulary software site (www.vocaboly.com) that has several tests. I've taken 2 today and got 100% on one and 90% on the other. Of course they were the easy ones. But by the end of the week, I'll be ready to challenge any one of you - as long as you don't count off for spelling.

Healthy Travels with Supplements and Nuts

We've all experienced it - some of us lately - getting on the plane with 147 people, 142 of them coughing and sneezing into the recirculated air of the plane. By the time we've left Alaska airspace, the whole plane is just one big flying infirmary. I know there are things we can do to help ward off the ugly travel bugs. I just read a good article with some awesome suggestions on a health blog at http://www.healthyfellow.com. He has an article on supplements he takes when he is traveling.

There are three supplements he suggest when traveling. One has echineacea in it. Yes, the same thing we all take when we get a cold. But who knew it was good for travel? Another supplement has garlic. Yes garlic. Just imagine that 3 hour flight with a crowded plane and everybody smelling like garlic. Or is that lasagna being served in first class? Well, I can put up with garlic for a healthier trip. You can read the whole article on the blog for July 15, 2009.

And for the nut lovers in our group - yes, you know who you are - check out the entry for July 10 exalting the nutrition of the nut. Yes, 2009 is destined to be the "year of the nut" according to the healthyfellow. And doesn't that suit some of us just fine.

E-postcards support education

Friends at Alaska Postcards are helping the students of the SEER School raise money this summer. The students are using some of those new mini laptop computers and sending e-postcards out for the tourist at the cruise ship dock. It's the postcard gone digital.

I think it's a great system. The students are doing all the work, there's little to no overhead, the tourist get to see some of our greatest kids working hard for their school, and the students are learning a lot about computers and commerce. We are finding out that tourist who happen to be teachers are very generous. The summer is still young and the SEER School has already raised money for their scholarship fund. Great job to everyone involved. I hope this works out for next summer too.

Alaska Day Writing Contest

Do you know an Alaska Story?

The Write Women of Sitka (of which I am a proud charter member) is co-sponsoring an Alaska Day writing contest with the Alaska Day Committee. So if you know a good Alaska story that's less than 1200 words, start writing those words (well, maybe you should type them). We are accepting entries from all grades and ages. So if you live in Sitka and you are anywhere between kindergarden and the Pioneer Home, we would love to hear your story.

Some winners will be invited to read their stories at one of the famous Sitka Alaska Day venues. And there are real cash prizes provided by the Alaska Day Committee. Entries must be postmarked by September 25, 2009 and mailed to Alaska Day Writing Contest, P O Box 6147, Sitka, AK 99835. Fliers with complete details and entry forms are available at the library. And I know if you live in Sitka and you write, you know the library. So go down there and check it out and start writing.

New Direction for my blog

From this blog's perspective, everything changes today. (Don't be afraid, my little blog, change is a good thing). In the past I've used this as a private space to test out my weird class assignments, mostly photographs and lay out and design work. So if you look down at old postings, don't be surprised at what you see. Some of it is not really ready for prime time viewing - and may never be ready. But it's a record of some of my unusual assignments for some of my really unusual courses. Out of respect for my vegan friends, I'm deleting the pictures of boiling eggs, but that's another story. Now I'm starting anew - new projects, new ideas and new purpose for this blog.

I'm going to be using this to showcase ideas for my new business venture - an office services company that will do web design, desk top publishing and e-publishing among lots of other things.

Today I'm looking into email campaigns and email surveys for a local non-profit. This is a whole new area of business support for me. It's kinda exciting to be one of the first doing this in my small little island community.

As I research for my new venture, I run into all sorts of fun and interesting things on the web. So I hope to use this as a forum for sharing some of those things with my friends.