Obamacare...from craddle to grave

Breaking News…

October 12, 2011 3:30 PM

(Owosso, Michigan) – If you live in the area of Owosso, Michigan, “Chances are you or a loved one has been cared for by Memorial Healthcare, with a 150-bed hospital, a comprehensive emergency room, two urgent care centers, outpatient rehabilitation centers, satellite primary care and specialty medical offices, and a cancer/endoscopy center, Memorial Healthcare provides high quality preventative, acute and rehabilitative care close to home.”  But now the facility will be adding to their range of health services for truly “birth to grave one stop health approach.”  That was announced today by James Full, President & CEO of Memorial Healthcare. 

This comes in the wake of changes to our national healthcare system and the passage of the Healthcare Affordability Act, otherwise known as “Obamacare.”  Full went on to say, “We are the first hospital system in the country to gain approval of adding ‘after live’ services to the healthcare experience.”  The hospital will now offer federally assisted “post life” services to all who qualify under the plan.  A board of 3 judges and 3 alternates will serve to determine the suitability and range of services for these new post life services to include, but not limited to, final life expenses.  Deductibles and co-pays may apply.

In making the announcement, at their new Healthcare, Rehabilitation and Casket facility, Full had this to say, “These are tremendous achievements for our entire organization, but more importantly, they speak to our focus to use our expertise and technology to improve quality of care, patient flow and ‘final’ outcomes.” 

When contacted, area funeral homes (who did not want to be identified) all were taken back by this new development.  One said that the hospital administrator was, “Full of it” in thinking that the hospital could ultimately compete for these services.  Most agreed that there was a “conflict of interest” with this full service concept.  

Most area residents were ambivalent to the concept, when asked.    But there still seems to be a difference of political opinion on the issue.  Elected Democrats responded, “The economy is in the tank and the government has got to bail the little guy out.  It’s just governments’ role to give it all too each and every one of us!”   Republican elected officials in Washington are waiting and watching to see if they get a favorable US Supreme Court ruling to rescind major portions of “Obamacare” stating “We just don’t have spine to stop all this craziness and the Presidential Election is still over a year away!”

…Mike, wake up!  Uh, ah, what?  Whew, I just had a terrible dream about Memorial Healthcare getting in the funeral business under the new healthcare laws.  What a nightmare.  Wonder what prompted my brain to think of that?...

 A picture can be worth a thousand words!  ...or one good nightmare!

Michigan Winter Weather Forecast, Cold & Snowy… WTF?

AccuWeater, Long-Range Meteorologist Paul Pastelok, says about the upcoming winter, “It's going to start fast. By the Thanksgiving holiday, we're going to see pretty good lake effect kick in, and it probably doesn't end through the Christmas holiday.” 

Well for anyone who lives there (or has ever lived there), isn’t this what always happens?  Don’t you expect it to be cold and snowy between Thanksgiving and Christmas?  …and then everyone understands that it will not end until sometime around Easter!

Somehow this year they say the winter “is going to be an exceptional one.”  “Michiganders are going to need to get their snow shovels ready early, ‘cause they’re going to need them for the harsh winter being forecasted for much of lower Michigan, the entire Great Lakes, and especially Chicago.”  In fact, according to AccuWeater.com, “People in Chicago are going to want to move after this winter as snow and cold will be unusually harsh there, this year!”  I think these weather forecasters underestimate the people who live in the “Windy City”, or any place else in the Midwest, for that matter.  They are used to experiencing the harsh winds off Lake Michigan and cold and snowy winters!

Pastelok is predicting that Michigan’s southwest corner, and up to Traverse City, should prepare for early season snow, fueled by cold northwest winds crossing warm Lake Michigan waters.  “The thing with Michigan is that there’s going to be three types of systems, clipper style, lake effect and then late-in-the-season storms, all adding up to extra snow.”  He adds, “Great Lakes snow buildup could act to prolong the colder-than-normal weather beyond February and into early spring.” 

The National Weather Service (NWS) says, “Stay tuned!”  Their predictions are due out in mid-October.   They tell us that we are in a “La Niña” weather pattern.  La Niña is a naturally occurring climate phenomenon where cooler-than-average Pacific Ocean temperatures influence global weather patterns. It typically occurs every three to five years, they say.

So, where does this leave me?  I feel like Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.  “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn! (…unless I have to make a last minute trip back to Michigan this winter!)"  But, really, we’re just getting over the hottest summer on record in Phoenix of over 110 degree days, so I’m looking forward to a cool down.  The difference is I do not have to shovel any sunshine in the winter!  Whiskey, Tango, Foxtrot!

If it gets too cold for my friends back in Michigan this winter; come on out to Arizona for a warm up.  It’s quite pleasant all winter long! 

 

Weather graphics courtesy AccuWeather.com