Pete's BLOG-Day 26,582. Two day until the MLB trip.

Today is Friday, August 30, 2013. My stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes of lifting weights and 45 minutes of walking = 2.5 miles for an August total of 51.5 miles. My weight was 162.0 pounds.

Quote from Martin, age 10. When Martin was asked what people do on a date, he answered with this: "On a first date, they tell each other lies, and that usually gets them interested enough to go for a second date."

My THOUGHTS today:  I haven't done much blogging this summer - sometimes it's good to take a break and come back refreshed.

Brad is here again. He and Lene took a 3-week vacation to north central Minn. including seeing his cousin Andrea and Aunt Marlys in Alexandria. Then they headed to the Black Hills and  Denver and finally  Kansas City. The visited Up With Friends in Minnesota, Denver and Kansas City.

Lene flew home to Denmark last Sunday. Brad is staying - he is in-between jobs right now so that means we can fulfill one of the items on our Bucket List. That item is a Major League Baseball Trip. Brother John is coming to Anamosa tonight - tomorrow the three of are going to the Hawkeye-Northern Illinois game. Then on Sunday we take off for Milwaukee to see our first game. After Sunday's game we'll travel to our hotel in Wrigleyville and see the Cubs play on Monday. We plan on having some fun after the game in some of the sports bars around Wrigley Field. We'll stay at our hotel in Wrigleyville Monday night and travel to Cincinnati on Tuesday. That's the first 3 days.

I'm bringing my computer so if I have time each day I will try to keep things up-to-date.

Pete's BLOG-Day 26,574. Final comments on medical bill

Today is Thursday, August 22, 2013. Mt stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes on the ball and 37 minutes of walking = 2.0 miles for an August total of 35 miles. Me weight was 163.8 pounds.

QUOTE from Anita, age 9: Is it better to be single or married?  Answer from Anita: "It's better for girls to be single but not for boys. Boys need someone to clean up after them."

My THOUGHTS today have to do with final comments on Ruth Ann's medical bills.

In my last post I unloaded on Ruth Ann's $5,578.65 medical bill for two nights in the hospital. Since then I went to the hospital to try and get some answers about my concerns. The lady I talked to was real nice but overall I didn't get much satisfaction but she did print off an itemized list of every charge on the mailed bill we got.

 So, what did I learn or not learn?
1. I learned that for every hydrocodone-acetaminophen, clonazepam, lisinopril pill  they gave her she was charged from $5.30 to $5.45.
2.  I learned that for the two physical therapy charges the first one was for the PHYSICAL THERAPY EVALUATION for $159.99. The second PT charge was entitled THERAPEUTIC ACTIVITY DIR EA 15 M. The charge was $107.85. I'm assuming the 15 M means 15 minutes - which would be accurate (I was there when he did it.)  As far as the EVALUATION we have no idea when they did this.  For almost $160.00 it must have taken them hours and hours to decide what to do with Ruth Ann for 15 minutes.
3. The explanation for the OBSERVATION CHARGE was like this - I guess it had to do with how many hours the nurses had to keep an eye on Ruth Ann. The charge was  $530.00.

The list of what I didn't learn is much longer. Here are some examples:
1. PR ED LEVEL 5 VISIT - the charge was $263.00.
2. ETHANOL (ALCOHOL); NOT BREATH. - the charge was $200.25.
3. OXYGEN SUBQ DAY - the charge was $621.00.

The lady I talked to was the receptionist. In fairness to her she was not the expert but she said she would try to help me. The financial/billing lady was not on duty so this gal tried to help me and actually knew quite a bit, considering. She was very nice and admitted when she didn't know something. She said I was welcome to come back and talk to the billing lady.

How much of the $5,758.65 bill was actually paid? Here it is.

Medicare SEQUESTRATION reduction 7/5/13              -$32.57
Medicare contractual write-off - 7/5/13.                      -$3,098.57
Medicare actual payment         -  7/5/13                    +$1,595.71
Our BC insurance payment      -  8/0/13                    +$1,015.04

Total payments and adjustments  =                           -$5,758.65

So Jones Regional Medical Center got paid - $2,610,75 for Ruth Ann's 2-day stay. That looks much more realistic to me than $5,758.65

Pete's BLOG-Day26,569. Part II-Medicare going broke.

Today is Saturday, August 17, 2013. My stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes on the ball and 27 minutes of walking = 2.0 miles for an August total of 26.0 miles. My weight was 163.2 pounds.

MY THOUGHTS today continue on the bill we got from the Anamosa Hospital for Ruth Ann's 2-day stay in the hospital in May. Yesterday, I vented about the physical therapy part and the drug costs part. Today I want to show the rest of this draconian bill. Here goes:

Part 4:The part called MEDICAL COSTS was for $621.00. Question: What exactly does that mean?
Part 5: The part called RADIOLOGY had two charges: $299.15 and $266.52.
Part 6: The LABORATORY had six charges: $200.25; $113.55; $179.85; $181.15; %25.50; and $113.55.
Part 6: The EKG/ECG was $157.47.
Part 7: The OBERVATION ROOM had three charges: $150.84; $16.76; and $362.77. Questions: Where is the OBSERVATION ROOM?  Who was observing and what is particular were they looking for?
Part 8: The EMERGENCY ROOM had two charges: $932.78; and $27.97.
Ruth Ann was there for 3-4 hours total. Maybe that is the observation room!!!!!
Part 9: The IV THERAPY had four charges: $111.94; $124.39; $732.00; and $311.12
Part 10: This is the real mystery: There was a charge labeled N/A for $263.00. Question: What in the hell does N/A mean?

Part 11. The total was $5,578.65. But they did expect Ruth Ann to pay $56.75 - which is about 1%. And, in my opinion, man of these charges are inflated.

Hey, I'm grateful for the care she got and I'm grateful Anamosa has such a wonderful medical facility. And the care she received was wonderful and doctors and nurses were great. And I also realize that they have to make money so they can pay all the employees and pay for the utilities, etc. But why can't they make these damn bills understandable and explain in simple words what these things mean?

Thank God for Medicare and supplemental insurance. One of the reasons I'm a Democrat is it is the Democrats who gave us Medicare in 1965. I'm grateful to the Democrats for providing the majority of the votes to get it passed. And there were some Republican who also voted for it. It was President Lyndon Johnson and Vice-President Hubert Humphrey who pushed it through the Congress - I'm grateful to those two men.

If Medicare paid the total bills from doctors and hospitals they would've been broke years ago. Medicare does not pay the entire bills because Medicare officials know that doctors and hospitals inflate their bills in humungous ways. It is true that Medicare is hurting financially. I read in TIME Magazine that Medicare gets up to 3 million bills  every day from doctors and hospitals. And they approve $1.5 billion every day in the form of wire transfers to these doctors and hospitals. What Medicare doesn't pay our supplemental insurance usually pick up the rest - and I'm grateful for that also.

Brad, our son, lives in Denmark. Denmark has universal health care for every citizen. from the day they are born until the day they die. YES, it is government run health care. And you know what? It works. The results of their system is that Danes live  longer than we do and they have a lower baby death rate than we do. Also, Danes consider themselves the happiest people in the world - one of the main reasons is they have health care and they will never have to file bankruptcy to pay a medical bill.

Doctors in Denmark do not make as much money as our doctors do. However, they do not have to make as much money as our doctors. First of all the government pays for their tuition through 8 years of university/medical school so they don't come out of med school with $300,000 to $500,000 worth of loans to pay back. Secondly, doctors in Denmark do not have to pay malpractice insurance - if a doctor screws up in Denmark a disabled person will be put on welfare and will enjoy a decent life the rest of his/her days.

Pete's BLOG-Day 26,568. Why Medicare is going broke

Today is Friday, August 16, 2013. Me stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes lifting weights and 37 minutes of walking = 2.0 miles for an August total of 24 miles. My weight was 163.6 pounds. QUOTE from Albert Einstein: "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." My THOUGHTS today are about why Medicare is going broke and why I hate the U.S. healthcare SYSTEM. However, for those of us fortunate enough to be on Medicare or have health insurance through work or on our own we get the best health care in the world. The reason is because we have the best doctors, nurses, hospitals and medical technology in the world. SO I'm NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT THE CARE WE GET BUT THE WHOLE SYTEM IN GENERAL. The SYSTEM is what I'm complaining about today. For those without health insurance you can end up bankrupt trying to pay your medical bills (60% of bankruptcies in the U.S. are caused by people unable to pay their medical bills.) And if you have no insurance and go to the ER you'll end up with a bill in the thousands of dollars after only a few hours. What got me on this subject was yesterday we received Ruth Ann's medical bill from our local hospital for her 2-day stay in May (it was due to her cracked sternum and ribs,). The total was $5,578.75. When I examined the bill I got angry. What follows is why I got angry. 1. She had 2 physical therapy charges of $159.99 and $107.85. The problem is that the physical therapist only worked with her 1 time for less than half an hour. That's when he put a belt around her waist for safety purposes. He grabbed the belt to make sure she didn't fall and walked her less than 75 steps to a physical therapy room where he made her walk up and down 4 steps. Then she got in a wheel chair and I pushed her back to the room. That took about 20 minutes. He was a former student of mine and I was curious why he had made a career change from a high school science teacher to being a physical therapist. That conversation took about 10 minutes to make our total time together about a half hour And to make matters worse he said now I'm underworked and overpaid and when I was teaching I was overworked and underpaid. 2. The second thing that pissed me off were the charges entitled "DRUGS-SELF ADMIN" Four of the charges were for $5.45, two were for $5.35, and two were for $5.30 and one was for $13.65. I'd like to know why the difference in the charges. 3. Plus there were charges for "DRUGS" of $79.25 and $43.00. Plus another one entitled "DRUG CHARGE" for $43.00. I'd like to know what kind of drugs they were and what were they for and why do you have one entitled "drug charge" and the other two are just "drugs?" That's it for today but I'll vent a little more tomorrow.

Pete's BLOG-Day 26,564. Great weekend.

Today is Monday, August 12, 2013. My stats today: 10 Minutes of yoga, 10 minutes lifting weights and 45 minutes of walking = 2.5 miles for an August total of 16 miles. My weight was 164.2 pounds. My THOUGHTS today are about the weekend I had. Our Chatfield class of 1958 had our 55th class reunion on Saturday at Jac's Bar and Grill in Chatfield. We graduated with 58 kids, 11 have passed away - we only had 25 at the reunion, including spouses. It is kind of sad that so few come. There are probably 15-20 classmates who have never attended a reunion. The last time we saw them was graduation night on June 5, 1958. And to make matters worse many of them live in the area. I guess they have their reasons - there must have been something(s) that happened during their school days that left a bitter taste in their mouth. Ruth Ann has been having bladder problems so she didn't want to be put in an uncomfortable situation and decided not to attend. Anyway, I went by myself and stayed with Jerry and Elsie Narveson, our longtime friends from seventh grade on. After the reunion we went to the city park for some live music, ice cream, visits with old friends, my brother Mark (Margie), my old band instructor (Curt Peterson), at 5pm we went to the live play SPAMALOT. And then we went to Jerry and Elsie's rural home for a couple beers and Elsie's potato salad (made with Jerry's homegrown potatoes), bean hot dish, and pulled pork sandwiches. We visited until midnight. Sunday morning at 9am we went to ecumenical church service at the auditorium. I headed for home about 10:30. I had a great time. I always enjoy their company so much. Jerry and I have so many memories from our high school athletic days and from knowing each other since seventh grade. And it was Jerry and Elsie that got Ruth Ann and I connected in the first place at the end of 10th grade. Plus, the four of used to double date - and Elsie and Ruth Ann were the best of friends from 4th grade on. So we have a lot of memories. (Elsie and Ruth Ann say our athletic exploits get better and bigger every year.)

Pete's BLOG-Day 26,559. Laying the groundwork for Baseball Trip.

Today is Wednesday, August 7, 2013. Me stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes lifting weights and 45 minutes walking=2.5 miles for an August total of 11.5 miles. My weight was 162.8 pounds. QUOTE from OUR IOWA magazine: "One way to be popular is to listen attentively to a lot of things you already know." My THOUGHTS today are I'm getting excited about our baseball trip as son Brad is getting tickets ordered. Brad has been on the internet starting to get some tickets lined up for our trip. So far he has ordered tickets online for 5 games. He orders them and sends the link to me and I run them off. -I have tickets run off for the September 1 game between the Milwaukee Brewers and LA Angels at Miller Park for $25.00 each. - The September 2 game between Cubs and Marlins at Wrigley for $$23.00 each. -The September 6 game between Yankees and Red Sox at Yankee Stadium for $32.00 each. - The September 12 game between Pirates and Cubs at Pittsburg for $38.00 each. In this game we will be right behind home plate. - And the tickets for the Cleveland/Orioles game at Cleveland on September 4 will arrive today by FedEx. We will feel like VIPs at this game because Brad's friend from Boston has gotten us tickets in the Club Section where we will have our own waiters. His friend is Dave Eaton. Dave grew up in Cleveland where his Dad had established a very successful PR firm and was well known citywide and friends with many of the shakers and movers in Cleveland - including the owner of the Indians. His father passed away but Dave took his place on some board which has access and influence with the Indians. He lined up the tickets and paid for them himself. That's what I would call a good friend. Can hardly wait for that game. The most expensive ones so far are $38.00 - pretty inexpensive I'd say. So that's 5 games taken care of and only 6 to go.

Pete's BLOG-Day 26,558. What GOP control mean

Today is Tuesday, August 6, 2013. My stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes on the ball and 45 minutes of walking = 2.5 miles for an August total of 9.0 miles. Mt weight was 163.0 pounds. QUOTE from Gandhi of India: "I like your Christ. I do not like Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." (so true as far as I'm concerned.) My THOUGHTS today are on politics in the state of North Carolina. I read this in the 8/12/13 TIME Magazine. North Carolina went straight Republican in 2010 - Governor Pat McCrory is a hard right-winger and both houses of the legislature have huge GOP majorities. The legislation passed and signed by McCrory is scary and an indication of what will happen if the GOP wins the presidency and the Congress in 2016. Here are the new LAWS in North Carolina. 1. Blocked an expansion of Medicaid enabled by Obamacare. 2. Reduced access to federal unemployment benefits. 3. Cut the corporate tax rate. 4. Trimmed public-education funding. 5. Allowed concealed weapons in bars and restaurants. 6. Proposed a ban on Islamic Shari'a ( Boy, is that ever needed!!!!) 7. Enacted voter-identification laws that will also curb same-day registration. These new laws are the most stringent of any state so far. 8. Restricted access to abortion - it bans publicly funded health insurance from covering most abortions. (Down the road we could see more of GOP goals for the U.S. SUCH AS: All entitlements must be lowered or eliminated starting with welfare, housing, food stamps, unemployment, education, disability. health care, and minimum wage laws. And destroy and eradicate unions).

Pete's BLOG-Day 26,557. A Senior Citizen has fun with his bossy daughter

Today is Monday, August 5, 2013. My stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes lifting weights and 37 minutes of walking = 2.0 miles for an August total of 6.5 miles. My weight was 161.0 pounds. (Daughter Carron's burned left hand is slowly improving - but still very painful.) My THOUGHTS today are on an email I received this morning - it is pretty funny - it was simply entitled SENIOR CITIZEN. Here it is: Yesterday, my daughter again asked me why I didn't do anything useful with my time. Talking about my "doing something useful" seems to be her favorite topic of conversation. She said that she was "only thinking about me", and suggested that I go down to the senior center, and hang out with the other guys. I did this. When I got home last night, I decided to teach her a lesson about staying out of my business. I told her that I had joined a parachute club. She said, "Are you nuts? You're 80 years old, and you're going to start jumping out of airplanes?" I proudly showed her that I even had a membership card. She looked at it and said, "Good grief Dad, where are your glasses! This is a membership to a Prostitute Club, not a Parachute Club." I told her, "Then I'm in real trouble because I've signed up for five jumps a week." Life as a senior citizen is not getting any easier, but sometimes it can really be fun!

Pete's BLOG- Good News and some bad naews.

Today is Saturday, August 3, 2013. My stats today: 10 minutes of yoga, 10 minutes on the ball and 36 minutes of walking = 2.0 miles for an August total of 4.5 miles. My weight was 163.6 pounds. My THOUGHTS today have to do with good news and one pretty bad event. First the GOOD NEWS. 1. On Sunday night Brad and Lene arrived safely from Denmark. They will be here for several weeks - not only visiting us but also visiting friends in Wadena, Mn and Kansas City. 2. On Wednesday night we got a phone call from Copenhagen, Denmark. I was Granddaughter Alexandra talking in a very excited manner. She said "Grandpa and Grandma, I've been accepted in to Medical School at the University of Copenhagen. She said her Mom (Inge) was so happy she was drinking champagne and dancing around the dining room table." So congratulations to Alexandra - she has a long journey but she will be up to it. 3. Carron said she had an email from Air Force son Wesley, in New Jersey, that he had been promoted to Staff Sargeant. He was pretty happy and excited 4. Now the not-so-happy news. Thursday morning, at 5:30 AM, Carron was going to work. She got in her car and remembered she had forgotten her travel mug of coffee. She went back in the house, got her mug, and started pouring from the scolding hot pot. As she was pouring the coffee, the cat, Isabelle, jumped from the top of the frig and hit her right arm, which was holding the pot - she spilled the hot coffee on back of her left hand. The hand looks like an uncooked piece of beef. Yesterday, I took her to the University of Iowa burn unit and they treated her. No more work until further notice. She has second degree burns and possibly third degree on some parts. The nurses cleaned it first, then covered it with a thin gauze cloth, and then they covered the cloth with a cream and finally they put like a glove over her hand to keep it in place and moist. Every morning she is to shower with the glove on, then remove it and clean the open burn with a special soap and then put a fresh gauze cloth on, soak it with the cream and then put a new glove over it for another day. They gave her morphine right at the hospital and a prescription for more. She has to elevate it to lessen the pain. She goes back to the hospital on the 13th. What a bummer. She hasn't been at the factory job long enough to get any sick leave - so that means no income for yesterday, all of next week and two days into the next week. However. it could've been worse - if it had spilled on her face or eyes, etc.