anasv
anasv's JournalPlan to Limit Some Drugs in Medicare Is Criticized
Source: New York Times
An alliance of drug companies and patient advocates, joined by Democrats and Republicans in Congress, is fiercely opposing an Obama administration proposal that would allow insurers to limit Medicare coverage for certain classes of drugs...
The proposed rule, which would lift a requirement that insurers cover “all or substantially all” drugs in certain treatment areas, is just one of a series of changes to the drug program that are being opposed by the unlikely alliance. Even insurers and drug benefit managers, who have previously supported added limits on drug coverage, oppose the rule. They object to provisions including changes to so-called preferred pharmacy networks, where consumers are steered toward a limited network of pharmacies, and to reducing the number of plans that insurers can offer in any one region...
“We’ve been scratching our heads over this,” said John J. Castellani, the chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug-industry trade group. Medicare Part D, he noted, is the rare government program that not only gets high marks from consumers but also has cost taxpayers billions of dollars less than originally expected. “Why is the administration trying to make such extensive changes to a program that isn’t broken?”...
Under the proposal, Mr. Sperling said, a Medicare drug plan could have a list of preferred drugs with just two medications to treat schizophrenia. That is inadequate, he said, because antipsychotic drugs work in different ways in the body, and have different side effects. “You get much better outcomes when a doctor can work with patients to figure out which medications will work best for them,” he said.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/22/business/plan-to-alter-medicare-drug-coverage-draws-strong-opposition.html
wheat berries
I'm doing more cooking from scratch, and I'd like to make wheatberry salads.
The recipes on the web all start with something like, simmer wheatberries for 45 minutes. I don't want to hang around in the kitchen for 45 minutes, and if I wander off to do something else, I'm likely to forget. My brain is even capable of ignoring a timer going off. Not to mention the concern of the pot boiling over if I don't have the heat set right and I'm not there watching it.
Is it possible to cook these in the microwave? I found one set of directions, but they say the time is "a few minutes," which sounds suspicious compared to 45 minutes.
Thanks.
fluorescent tube light bulbs
A couple of at least ten year old fluorescent light bulbs in the garage need replacing.
They're marked Econ-O-Watt Rapid Start Only F40D/RS/EW-B 40 watt. That brand seems kaput.
So I've been grubbing around the Lowe's website, and it's not clear to me if the "lamp shape," i.e. T8, T12, etc. matters. I found on the web that the current bulbs are T12, but T12s are apparently no longer made.
Will a T8 or whatever fit the fixture and work properly with it, or do I have to replace the fixture?
T8s seem to be a smaller diameter, but I can't tell whether or not the pins are spaced differently.
Thanks.
RI Medicaid enrollments far exceed projections; private Obamacare numbers also up significantly
Source: Providence Journal
"Medicaid enrollments in Rhode Island are soaring, with 35,821 people newly signed up as of Feb. 8 — far ahead of projections.
Additionally, enrollment in private insurance through HealthSource RI continues to accelerate; 16,512 signed up as of Feb. 8, up from the previous month’s cumulative total of 11,770. Rhode Island has now far exceeded the Obama administration’s target of 12,000 by March 31."
Read more: http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20140211-ri-medicaid-enrollments-far-exceed-projections-private-obamacare-numbers-also-up-significantly.ece
Is it November and I didn't notice it?
I've gotten about five recorded political phone calls or emails in the last few days. What's that about...
Over 65? We're not interested in your opinions.
So, a few weeks ago weatherunderground has a link to a survey about a new design on its site. I start the survey, it asks my age, I click over 65, and it dumps me out.
Ditto a New York Times survey a bit later.
Tonight a company called Issues and Answers calls me up, asks me if I'll take a twenty minute survey. Okay, I say. First question is age. Oh, sorry, we are only collecting information from people under 65.
Like, we don't buy stuff? We don't vote? We don't click on websites?
Sarah Marshall, Actress in ‘Twilight Zone’ and ‘Star Trek’, Dies at 80
Too old to be LBN, not sure where to put this.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/26/arts/television/sarah-marshall-actress-in-twilight-zone-and-star-trek-dies-at-80.html
Not all that memorable to me, but I hate to lose any of them.
idiots with guns kill two endangered whooping cranes
Two endangered whooping cranes shot to death:
http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2014/005.html
I follow the efforts to reintroduce them in the East, and an average of something like two a year are shot out of an Eastern population of about a hundred. The effort to raise each one and imprint the first year cranes on migrating via following ultralights is incredibly labor intensive (months on migration, 24/7) and expensive (some money from Fish&Wildlife, but most from private donations including school kids raising money), then some idiot comes along and kills them, and a judge fines them $1.
Just before the news about this killing came out, Operation Migration, the group flying the migration had completed this years trip with...eight cranes.
Men behaving badly
Rolls eyes -
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/president-obama-poses-funeral-selfie-article-1.1543188
strawberries - prune?
I wound up growing strawberries sort of by accident. (I bought some seedlings from a company that ships in units of 6 due to the packing setup, so I filled in with strawberry seedlings.)
I didn't keep a record of what I bought, since these were an afterthought. Some are Sarian, I think there is at least one other kind in there.
They're in a very large planter. The first year they sort of did nothing. The second year they spread like crazy. Now it's winter and the stems and leaves are brown and dried out and several feet long.
Do I leave them? chop the stems off near the roots? or ? random web directions seem to say to cut them back, all the way to the roots?
Thanks.
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Member since: Fri Nov 29, 2013, 02:28 PMNumber of posts: 225