Sorry Doc, It's Not in The Budget

Summary: Studies show that about one-third of Americans are living without health care treatments because they cannot afford it. This percentage is greater than the number of residents going without health care treatments in ten other industrialized countries. In Britain only 5% of the residents have ever missed a treatment, which is much less than 33%. Canada also has a lower percentage of 15. These statistics were discovered by a new study called The Commonwealth Fund. This foundation, found in New York, has a main focus of looking at common health care problems and why there is an avoidance of getting care when illnesses occur. Recently their main focus has been on America, Australia, Germany, and France; which concluded that Americans were far more likely to skip out on doctors appointments and visits to the hospital because of the money issue. They would rather save what they have than spend their pay on check-ups and prescriptions. Studies showed that Americans were not only struggling with cost but also with higher out-of-pocket costs, insurance, and paying regular bills. Money has become a major problem.

Opinion: When I read this article it made me sick to think that some people don't even have the choice to go see a doctor when they are ill. They simply have to avoid going because they can't figure out a way to pay the high fees. I really feel that there is a very demanding need, in America, to lower health care costs. If someone is sick it should be a priority to get them the help that they need. Materialistic items are a different story, but when it comes to health everyone should be able to afford medical care. I don't understand why conditions have to be so harsh in this debated area. As a country we should bless everyone with good health and therefore make it more affordable to all classes of society. It should from here on out be an immediate action, to lower heal care costs and give to the people a necessity that we all commonly share. No one should have to debate whether they can afford going to the doctor or not.

http://lifeinc.todayshow.com/_news/2010/11/23/5496431-sorry-doc-its-not-in-the-budget

Issue #2: Ensuring Quality Care for Medicare Patients

Summary: Today, Americans strongly feel the need for adequate medical care among all citizens. The government has to make health care accessible and affordable in order to create an equality throughout the country, when it comes to visiting the doctor, or the entire situation becomes a major issue. The government spent nearly $420 billion on Medicare in 2006 and experts are agreeing that because of increasing costs and population they will run out of money unless changes are made. Medicare helps to aid with hospital expenses. It can help pay for hospital nursing care, where the patient must pay first out of their own pockets, and then Medicare covers the remaining expenses; also Medicare covers 80 percent of doctors' fees, laboratory tests, and other medical expenses for each beneficiary. As of 2008 doctors that treat Medicare patients faced cuts of 5 to 10 percent in their reimbursements form the federal government. As of now Medicare dictates that doctors get paid based on quantity rather than quality of their work. Therefore, in late 2006 legislators passed "pay-for-performance" which is a system that allows Medicare to pay a 1.5 percent bonus to all doctors that provide information about the quality of their services. This way doctors will be getting paid for giving patients the right diagnoses and treatment instead of them making money off of lousy treatment/prescriptions and patients having to come back for a re-evaluation. By encouraging better services legislators are hoping to increase Medicare customers and create a steady supply of customers. This way more people will be demanding Medicare and the cost can be lowered. One side of the debate over "pay-for-performance" establishes that it will promote better communication between patients and their doctors, the best hospitals will get better recognition, and it will point out that insurance and medical associations are successful because of quality as well. On the other hand, non supporters of the new system say that federal officials are not equipped to set the standards of the medical field. Some feel that it will offend the professionals education and judgement. It's also argued that the 1.5 percent bonus is not a substantial enough amount and doctors should be providing quality care at all times.

Opinion: The idea of ensuring a more vital health care process is definitely a step in the right direction. First of all I think that all people should have the right to acquire some form of health care. Granted lower income patients may not receive as much as higher income patients, but with that being said they should both get some or a certain type of financial aid. I also think that by providing a more quality based medical system would be very beneficial to people that visit doctors frequently. It makes me sick thinking that a professional doctor would write the wrong prescription to have the person pay more money to come back for another. The system would make customers feel better about their evaluations and the doctors would take pride in their work. The physicians that were already working based on quality and not quantity would be gaining money to keep doing what they had been doing, therefore it would be a win all around. Once people got service that they knew they could rely and depend on, I think that they would be more willing to pay for Medicare, that way with the increase in purchases, the cost of Medicare and Health care in general could be lowered in the long run. Overall, the decrease in the number of deaths, the better patient to doctor communication, the quality work, increase in pay for doctors doing good, and decrease in pay for health care makes the "pay-for-performance" a system of value. Uwe E. Reinhardt is an economist professor at Princeton and he agrees that "pay-for-performance is the way we should be headed, along with making headway in other aspects of health care as well.

Issue: #1 http://rachelrachrachel.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-1-comprehensive-vs-incremental.html

Issue:#3 http://maxineannec.blogspot.com/2010/11/issue-3-safe-to-eat.html

Police Clash With California Students At Tuition Protest

Summary: In the city of San Francisco, police arrested and pepper-sprayed multiple students that attend the University of California. The students were a the time protesting against a tuition increase. The scandal involved a violent uprising and left four police officers injured. Thirteen people were arrested at the scene and ten of the thirteen were college students. The protesters became very enraged and physical. Some even surrounded a cop, out numbering him by a large amount, and they grabbed his baton and started hitting him with it. This is when the officer called in for back-up. The Police force even felt the need to draw there weapons at certain points because the crowd got so out of hand. Fortunately the police used pepper spray on fifteen of the protesters that tried to get into the building. About 300 students and workers were involved in the protest of an eight percent tuition raise and 32 percent fee increase. The plan would cause student fees to go from $822 to $11,124. Officials replied by saying that the increase was needed to maintain student enrollment courses and services. Although, there is a plan called the Blue and Gold Opportunity Plan, so student families earning less than $80,000 per year would not have to pay any tuition if they got financial aid and the plan currently covers families making $70,000 or less.

Opinion: If I put myself in those college students shoes, which is easy to do because I will be attending college next year, I would be upset as well. I know that paying a college tuition is a challenge for many American families. State schools are supposed to be more reasonable, but even then it gets to be enormously spendy. Students should NOT be deprived of a college education because they aren't financially stable. How do we know that a person in poverty, not able to pay for college, could have been the man to find a cure for cancer? I'm not saying that just anyone should be let in, but what I am saying is that students that work hard all through high school, are involved, and get good grades should be able to attend a college without having to worry about breaking the bank. I feel that the California University students had a right to protest against the issue at hand. Except I don't agree with how far they took things. They would have gotten their point across without physically injuring public authorities. That was taking things a step too far. They needed to let their voices be heard, but without actually taking down the officers. So to sum things up I say go college students, speak your mind; without hurting anyone!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40243640/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

Cracks Found in Shuttle Fuel Tank

Summary: Recently NASA discovered multiple cracks in the fuel tank of one of their space shuttles. The space shuttle was called Discovery and once the fractures in the tank were found the shuttle was demanded to stay grounded until the end of November. The cracks were figured to have been caused by a hydrogen gas leak, which also made them cancel the launch attempt on Friday. Later cracks also became visible in the isulation as well as in the actual aluminum. Now engineers are looking to see if they can figure out ways to fix the tank at the pad. Usually things like this are fixed at a facility but now they are going to have to figure out some way to fix it at the launch pad so that the launch mission can go back into action as soon as possible.

Opinion: Hopefully experts are able to come up with something to fix the cracks in the aluminum tank. It sounds like it won't be as safe to try and fix it at the launch pad, so careful and prestigious work should be done to make sure that nothing goes wrong. They also need to try and figure out what caused the gas leak in the first place. Even though the launch is being delayed I feel like the engineers need to take their time in fixing the shuttle so that nothing goes wrong again. Thankfully, the fractures in the tank were found before launch took place so that nothing bad happened. I'm sure they will be able to fix up Discovery and get the mission started again soon.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40114376/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Beijing Bashing and A Professorial Panda

Summary: The United States didn't pay much attention to China's reaction of the American Midterm voting. Last month it was noticed that in a New York Times ad China was deliberately being bashed. Politicians in the November 2nd election have been campaigning a great deal more than in recent years and the Chinese Communist Party feels as though China has become a mid-term election strategy for both the Republican and Democratic parties. An example of a political ad, offending Chinese citizens was an ad called, "The Chinese Professor." The ad was posted on the web and has gotten more than 800,000 views since the post. The responses to the video have been about equal as to whether it accurately depicts the future. China concluded that the election may have some effects on its domestic policies, but only a slight effect on major topics such as currency and trade issues.

Opinion: China thinks that we are using the country as a strategy to better our governmental voting, but I say that they are reading way to far into the situation at hand. Just because their country has been mentioned in a couple campaign ads, doesn't mean that we are trying to use or get back at them in any way. Instead of just seeing what's going on on the surface of the campaigning, they should read between the lines and see that maybe we are comparing ourselves to China and mentioning them because their country is worth mentioning. It shouldn't be seen as an insult but rather worldly advertisement for both countries. Many people are commenting and listening to the ads and forming their own opinions; which right now are said to be half and half. Therefore, helping America as well as giving China some spotlight and discussion.

http://behindthewall.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/11/03/5401688-beijing-bashing-and-a-professorial-panda-

Hotel Replaces Room Keys With Mobile Phones

Summary: Visitors planning to stay at a Stockholm hotel will be able to use their cell phones as a key to unlock their room. The world's larges maker of door locks has created a brand new way to use mobile phones. Recently it has been confirmed that customers attending a hotel will be able to place close-range chips into their phones, launched by a pilot, to open their room door. It is a process much like the self pay stalls at gas stations. Soon people will be able to check in through their phones, skip registration, and activate a phone as a key and holding it next to the door in order to open it. The new short-range radio technology is still trying to get the kinks all worked out before expanding to other buildings and hotels, but is expected to be built into smart phones in upcoming years. This new form of phone technology is said to be less time consuming and also a better form of security. Old keys will still be given out, but for people that wish to apply the new technology to their phones will have the chance to try it.

Opinion: I think that the technology today is becoming so much more advanced and the things people are inventing and coming up with are very creative, to the point where it is cool and convenient. The phone becoming your door key idea is great because it would cut time off of having to check in and out of hotels, the worry about losing your key would be eliminated, and you would be able to feel more safe knowing that you are the only one that has a key to your room. Although it could create a more clueless environment, as to the people that are staying in the hotel, but I feel like once issues and glitches are worked out in the system, it will become the more preferred way of door keys in hotels. Also not only would it work for hotels but it could also become a big seller for businesses, restaurants, and other buildings with locks. The world is becoming more advanced, and in a way that benefits our needs and conveniences.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39976610/ns/technology_and_science-wireless/