Introducing OFA's Health Care Action Center 2010

Here's the link to a number of ways to participate. I tweeted my senator and representative. Let's keep pushing to get SOMETHING TRULY HELPFUL done ...

Organizing for America BarackObama.com Health Care Action Center

JuneBug

The Death of the Desktop in 2010? New Trends for ITers in Mobile, Cloud, and Thin-Client Computing

I've been leaning toward web and graphics these past few years as I think about enhancing my computer skills. These articles identify some emerging trends for IT job searchers in 2010 not the least of which are Electronic Medical Records and Social Computing:

Hot Technology Careers in 2010 - Mobile and Cloud from IT Job Cafe
Thin Clients are Roaring Back by Don Wilmott (this makes a lot of sense)

Junebug

Insurance Companies Back Health Care Reform?

Locals Rally for Health Care Reform

I attended a local Health Care Rally (sponsored by Move On, Yes We Can Tippecanoe from Organizing for America, and the Lafayette Peace Coalition) outside our courthouse yesterday. BRRRR! I thought it went really well - passers-by seemed supportive and receptive. And boy are my arms sore from holding a sign high above my head for half an hour to be more visible to folks driving by .... (I'm the gal in black in the picture below and I really need to get more exercise) ...

Ages of participants ranged from 13 years old to 94 years old - and the local tv reporters were there and featured us on the evening news! (By the way, the 13 year old is an avid activist as well as a home schooler and I admire his mom for making this event part of his education.) I also admired his astute sense of humor. At times we chanted slogans (to help keep warm as much as anything - hee), so after a few rounds of, "We want healthcare," he suddenly switched to, "I feel stupid!" I had to laugh - an unlikely collection of demonstrators, we all looked a bit uncomfortable out there in the freezing elements - but we were all willing to push past our comfort zones to support health care reform. Unfortunately Evan Bayh wasn't willing to push past his. His response was disappointing, out of touch, and ... clueless? Well, at least as Channel 18 reported it.

And thanks to the lovely lady from Lafayette Office Supply who, wearing no coat over a silky blouse with sheer sleeves, gingerly made her way across the street to invite us all in to warm up with coffee, tea, and hot chocolate! Just wrapping my frozen fingers around the steaming styrofoam cup warmed me up all over! Except for the frozen toes. ;)

I did learn something interesting while talking to one of my colleagues at the rally. He had read an article in an insurance industry trade journal. Apparently insurance companies are fast losing their customers.  The first wave of baby boomers are reaching the age of medicare eligibility. On top of that, massive unemployment and job loss has made health care insurance unaffordable for many. Also employers are dropping coverage because they cannot afford to provide it. So apparently the insurance companies are looking to health care reform and the government to guarantee them $30 million or billion in revenue or whatever! As a result, we may see more Republicans supporting health care ...

Just a heads up - and keep warm out there!

June Bug

What Next for Health Care Reform? A Progressive Caucus Poll

The Progressive Congress seems to have a very sane approach - they are asking for suggestions and ideas to feed back to Congress about what to do next about Health Care Reform. Here's a link to people's responses so far:

http://feedback.progressivecongress.org/forums/38781-what-s-next-for-health-care-reform-jan-20-2010/activity.atom

I thought the comments were varied and helpful. It helps to have a thoughtful discussion in a democracy. Which you can't do if only one voice is talking. Or if people are simply throwing party lines at one another. Only with a thoughtful discussion can we truly get to know one another and begin to see what our options are!

I participated in the calling in Massachusetts, and while it was an interesting experience, I'm not sure it was an effective way to campaign. It really sounds like the Democratic candidate should have done her homework - and not fallen back on Organizing for America as a last-ditch campaign strategy. People don't like to be bombarded with sales pitches - whether it's a sales call or a campaign call or even a fund-raising campaign for a good cause. With today's technology, a lot of people let their answering machine take calls when they don't recognize a number. I know I do.

On the other hand, if someone legitimately needs to know when the poll is open, or where it is, or how to get a ride, or even that their vote is critically needed ... a brief message on the phone with some helpful information may be appreciated.

It's hard for the average joe/jane (like me) to understand the health care proposal. I know I found it a little disturbing when Physicans for a National Health Care Plan said they couldn't support it. Huh? They found it fatally flawed. Apparently the insurance and drug companies are going to make more money than ever.

Huh?

I thought the idea was to cut costs and make health care more accessible.

Okay. So now what are we supposed to do? Nothing? Well, I don't know about everybody else, but that won't fly with me. While I am grateful for last November's historic election, glad I voted for President Obama, and glad he won, health care reform was THE determining issue for us in picking a candidate. It would have also been a historic election if Hillary had been elected. And maybe, she could have gotten us a better health care bill. With her previous health care reform experience as First Lady, as well as her recent experience as the Senator from New York, I'll bet she would have been tremendously helpful! But instead she's running around as Secretary of State ...

Ah, well, I digress. Anyway, take a look at what fellow Americans think in the Progressive Congress poll.

JuneBug

People age 55-64 find it hard to rebound from unemployment, but are the wave of the future?

Yes! Someone FINALLY noticed! I knew I wasn't alone - that if this was happening to me, there were others out there grappling with a similar dilemma!


Check out this article tweeted by heymarci:


http://www.miamiherald.com/business/story/1421791.html


Thanks to reporter Cindy Krischer Goodman of the Miami Herald for noticing and for giving us a voice!

I lost a new job last April when I was 58. And while I have to accept some responsibility for allowing myself to be duped away from a two and a half year stable job to take a job that lasted only six weeks, shame shame shame on those who practice such irresponsible and hurtful hiring practices (all the while proclaiming they want to benefit community health and be seen as a premiere employer in the area)! I know it sounds harsh, but American workers are tiring of such corporate hypocrisy (and the growing wage disparities as well). After all, the only reason I started looking for a different job was because health care premiums had doubled, and I knew I had to find either a second job or more affordable benefits. But now, if it weren't for President Obama's ARRA discount, I wouldn't even have health care.

Seems as if management theory has been promoting more and more horrific management practices the past few year (and the propagators likely paid rather well, I might add) - but where do these ideas come from? In the eighties and nineties, participative management emerged as a management theory. It was both energizing and empowering. Along with more inclusive policies for women and minorities in the work place, it helped create opportunity, therefore it must have indirectly fostered economic growth. Like the GI Bill after World War II, it built the confidence of a generation. It encouraged exploration and new ideas. And then it disappeared. What ever happened to it? Of late, I really wonder if managers are turning to reality tv shows as their models. If this is truly the case, it does not improve life in the American workplace, needless to say, but rather seems just another way in the popular trend to be outrageous.

But perhaps I digress. Ageism is an age-old issue and it has touched all groups, whether privileged or marginalized. When I encounter ageism in the workplace, I just think, "May you also be blessed with health and long life. And don't you know you're looking at your future   - and don't you want to make it better?" And when that person is actually my age or older and hasn't a clue, I think, "There but for the grace of God go ...."

I hope we can get back on track and make the work place a better place for all Americans to work for future generations. A good place to start may be to join organizations like American Rights at Work (araw) and to support the Employee Free Choice Act. As well as putting some checks and balances on the abilities of individuals, corporations, and I suppose whole industries to buy our elected officials. Sigh. We have enough of that already. The current disparity of wealth in some cases is such that a single business entity or individual could "trump" the wishes of a whole democracy. And historically, human nature seems to favor the odds that they will. And if they do, will we still be truly free?

The second half of the title of Cindy's piece (that we may also be the wave of the future) is definitely more upbeat and hopeful - and that should give us incentive. :)




JuneBug

Why I Support Health Care Reform

These are hard times. However for some Americans, it’s always been hard times. Back in the 80’s and 90’s when I had a good job in my field, my hair stylist contributed to my financial success by keeping me looking stylish, sharp, professional, and well-groomed. Only a few years older than me, she is passionate, talented, experienced, and devoted to her craft. She is good at what she does, and she has developed a loyal customer base. For years she has put in 60 and 70 hour weeks on her feet to take care of her customers and pay her bills and support her family. I used to feel bad because she didn't have access to an affordable comprehensive health care plan, or even sick leave or a pension plan all the while she was helping me to have all of those things. I felt especially bad when she had to leave her chosen field and even sell her home because of health problems and because she worried about a retirement income a few years ago. I have to wonder how many people in the health and beauty field have faced a similar dilemma. And yet what would we do without them?

Another person who has never had access to health care is my daughter. She has built her career and considerable expertise as a server and a cook in the hospitality industry on the east coast and locally. She has always had to pay any health care costs out of her own pocket or go without. Still in her early forties, she is a young and healthy woman. But what will happen to her when she reaches age fifty and beyond? She will certainly start to need more preventive healthcare services. I have to wonder how many people in the food service and hospitality industry face a similar dilemma. And what would we – and what would the American economy – do without them?

Recently I’ve come across hard times myself. This January my not-for-profit employer had to double its insurance premiums. I knew I either had to find a second job or look for a new job to be able to afford health care. I was incredibly thankful when an opportunity that looked good on the surface opened up with the new hospital. Although my previous employer wanted to keep me,I decided to go to work for the new hospital for better pay, better benefits, and an exciting opportunity to train clinicians on how to use their new electronic medical record software. Unfortunately the new hospital fired me after 8 weeks. Now, at age 59, I am without a job and any income. Initially my unemployment was denied. Of course I appealed and the State found in my favor – but it has been 4 months since I lost my job and as of this writing I still haven't received any unemployment compensation from the State. In the meantime, I’ve pretty much exhausted our savings and have had to cash out pension funds early to pay the bills – at a time when pension values are down and even though there could be a huge tax disadvantage. I can now understand the sense of abandonment the victims of Katrina must have experienced as they waited and waited while the people and institutions they thought they could count on never came to help them.

In my case I haven’t been waiting – I’ve been job-hunting and otherwise getting on with my life. But age 59 is a hard sell when you are a woman in the technology field with family to look after in the Lafayette area. Even if you look in Indianapolis. If it weren’t for President Obama’s 85% COBRA discount, I wouldn’t have health care. But so far I have been able to make the monthly payment because of it.

I have decided to share my story on this blog to add to the sheer mass of voices of people across the nation who need jobs and who need quality, timely, and affordable healthcare. Let’s face it – like the auto industry, the health care and insurance industry has had YEARS to address this problem. They have totally dropped the ball all the while increasing their own salaries and bonuses by orders of magnitude as they left the average American worker behind in the dust. It is time to solve this problem. The American people voted for Bill Clinton in 1993 because they wanted Health Care Reform. We watched as the focus shifted instead to balancing the budget. Then we watched another eight years as George Bush and the Republicans made a total farce of themselves, their party, their values, and the whole concept of balancing the budget – all the while evidently thinking that we the public are stupid or that we’ve forgotten.

Well we haven’t. We voted for Health Care sixteen years ago, and we are still waiting. My COBRA runs out 9 months from April. If I am still unemployed by then, I hope that the United States will have affordable, timely, quality health care options for me and anyone else who needs them.

JuneBug

Training the EMR: A Case-Based Perspective - The Patient's Point of View

Part Four of a Four-Part Series

I thought I had completed my 3 part series on Training the EMR:

• Training the EMR: A Case-Based Perspective
• Training the EMR: A Case-Based Perspective - Drilling Down
• Training the EMR: A Case-Based perspective - Best Practices and Training the
  Trainer

But then, as fate would have it, I landed back in the middle of it with an unexpected trip to the ER this summer.

Coming Full Circle

As noted previously in my blog, this winter I had an opportunity to work as an EMR trainer for a new hospital in our county. Before that I worked for two years at a local not-for-profit agency as their Grants and Compliance Specialist during which time I designed a grant reports tickler system to keep the agency compliant and our grantors happy. I enjoyed my job at the agency. The impetus to change occurred solely because of healthcare. In January insurance rates doubled - and I knew I would either have to find a second job, or find another job with more affordable benefits. I felt incredibly fortunate when the EMR trainer opportunity came along.

Unexpectedly, the position lasted only 8 weeks and I found myself in the unemployment line after several years of gainful employment. Even so working with the EMR was a great learning experience and opportunity to round out an area of my professional development - namely training and presentation skills (and learning an EMR). I ended up writing a four part series on Training the EMR. Another really cool thing is that recently I had an opportunity to bring what I learned back to the agency when they had me return to train my replacement.

You are Invited to Serve!

We're certainly living in exciting, albeit difficult times, aren't we? It's gratifying to see that my experience ten years back as an avid online campaigner and webmaster for an innovative television series hasn't been lost on the current presidential election, inauguration, and upcoming Day of Service which by and large have been managed online.

It all started for Benny and me before Christmas when, in response to an email request from the President-Elect's transition team, we hosted a Change is Coming Meeting at our local Barnes and Noble in which participants were asked to plan a service event. Up til then, our involvement in the 2008 political process had amounted to a couple of small donations and a sign in our yard - which was actually pretty good for two "old-timer" refugees from the 20th century, but fairly minimal compared to what others have done in this ground-breaking election.

However, when I read the the transition team's request in the December email, I thought, "This is something I can do. This is something I have done."

I had witnessed firsthand how people all over the world met one another online, followed up one another with face to face, formed friendships, and challenged and extended themselves to collaborate up close and over distance to get things done. So, I entered a Change is Coming event at the transition team site and seventeen people in the Lafayette area showed up to our Barnes and Noble meeting on a chilly December evening!

As already noted, at that meeting we were asked to plan a service event to coincide with the Martin Luther King Holiday and with the Presidential inauguration. Early in January, a member of the inauguration committee called and requested that we post our service event on their website. Just this morning I received a call to service and link to a video by Michelle Obama inviting us to join her and the President-elect in a day of service. She and President-elect Barak will perform their day of service in their new community Washington D.C. However, in her email she also included a link where everyone can search for service events (or add them) for their local communities at http://www.USAservice.org/. Our Change is Coming Service event is listed there - if you're from the Lafayette area, look us up!

During the presidential campaign and afterwards, there have been myriad sites - the mybarackobama site, the transition team site, the inauguration team site to name a few that I know of. It's nice to see the Washington folks have come up with some hopefully enduring names that communicate an ongoing, inclusive, and bipartisan collaboration for change:

http://www.usaservice.org/
http://www.change.gov/


JuneBug