Category: Health

Health of people related to Diagnostic & Statistical Manual (DSM) & psychology

Aptos, CA psychologist: We CAN fix the Achilles heel weakness of Ryan’s medicare reform plan!

Try out now Ryan’s “premium support” by offering it to seniors age 55+ who have a private medical plan. Select a fixed number by lottery and try it out. If good enough for your Congressman it is good enough for the average citizen.

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Dip into healing waters

The Achilles heel weakness: In Ryan’s medicare reform plan the federal government imposes it by fiat on all recipients of a certain age There is a way to fix this weakness.

Instead of years out, offer the medicare reform plan now.

Instead of imposing it on millions, try it out by lottery on a few thousand people.

Instead of denying “premium plus” to those over a certain age, off it now to any senior age 55+ with current health insurance and wants to switch.

Dip Ryan’s “premium care” plan now into the healing waters of voluntary use by seniors age 55+.

This will heal the Achilles heel of Ryan’s medicare plan. When seniors who are not permitted coverage under Ryan’s plan (as too old) embrace it as good that will provide factual proof of its utility.

Who could set this up? There is a woman who, thwarted from political office in New York, created a terrific charter school in Harlem, New York. Students get entry to that school by lottery. That school competes successfully with the top private schools in New York City.

This is the kind of person who could quickly put together the necessary resources to try out a voluntary form of Ryan’s “premium support” medicare reform. What is her name?
DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

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Aptos, CA psychologist: Let seniors age 55+ voluntarily try Ryan’s “premium care” plan

Let American citizens age 55+ with private medical insurance try out the Ryan “premium suppot” plan. Let all who want apply. Randomly select 2,000 and enroll them. This will test out how popular the Ryan plan is and also whether the plan delivers quality medical care at an affordable rate.

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Choice for Ryan's Premium Care health plan for Americans age 55

Let seniors age 55+ voluntarily try out Ryan’s “premium care” health plan. The plan is quite similiar to what Congress gets.

To cut the huge federal deficit of $ 14 trillion, we must engage in entitlement reform. Ryan’s budget plan which includes entitlement reform is bold and imaginative.

The time is ripe to try out Ryan’s “premium care” health care on a trial basis. Can Ryan’s “premium care” plan provide senior citizens with quality medical care at an affordable price for taxpayers?

Let’s ask Congress to implement Ryan’s “premium care” plan on a small, trial basis. Akin to the school vouchers for 1,700 Washington DC students which Congress authorized, Congress can set up a block grant to test the popularity and success of Ryan’s plan.

What the Ryan plan is: Per the Ryan “premium support” plan, each enrollee has a fixed supplement paid by the government directly to the private insurance plan chosen by the individual. The fixed supplement is adjusted by age, income and health status. The Ryan plan is quite similar to the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan which Congress gets. In the FEHBP plan the government contributes 72% of the average premium. In the Ryan plan the average supplement is roughly $15,000 per individual and raises are tied to inflation in the general economy.

Let’s see if Ryan’s plan is popular with seniors and how well it works: Offer any senior age 55+ with current private health insurance the opportunity to switch to Ryan’s “premium care” plan. Publicize the plan. Let all seniors who qualify and sign up via internet.

The number who sign up will indicate how popular the plan is with seniors over age fifty-five. Then, on a lottery basis, randomly select 2,000 seniors. Then put the pedal to the metal and see how well the plan works.

I, for one, would jump at the chance. I’m in my 60’s, work as a licensed psychologist and have private health insurance. I like working and don’t plan to stop. I also realize that so long as I work and have private health insurance I can stay off the rolls of Medicare.

I plan to have private medical insurance as long as possible. Why? My doctors do not take new Medicare patients. A 2008 survey found that seniors have considerable difficulty finding physicians who will take Medicare. I don’t want a Panel of Fifteen bureaucrats — whether it’s ObamaCare of Medicare – to ration my medical care or that of others. Philosophically I don’t want the federal government via ObamaCare taking over one sixth of the economy.

I, as many working seniors do, want choice. I’d like the voluntary choice to try out Ryan’s “premium care” program. Right behind me are the 76 million Baby Boomers who are starting to retire. They too may want to, or feel they must continue to work, given the hair cut their retirement suffered.

DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

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Firenzie Sage: drop cookies perhaps


A San Francisco man who apparently overdosed on medical-marijuana cookies has been sentenced to five years’ probation for pulling down his pants on an airline flight and otherwise interfering with the crew, authorities say.

Chan told FBI agents who met the plane that he had eaten two medical-marijuana cookies — twice his prescribed amount — before boarding the flight.

Chan said he had been prescribed marijuana in California for carpal tunnel syndrome.
—————————————————————–
My wrist hurts. Have a California drop cookie!!

FirenzieSage48@gmail.com

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Firenze Sage: BAGBAD

Government now tells us what we can give away for free — paper bags if organizatoin is a nonprofit. And no more plastice bags …

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No more, "Plastic or paper?"

Santa Clara County is joining San Francisco and other California cities and counties in banning plastic shopping bags.

Under the ordinance, proposed to take effect Jan. 1, retailers can sell recyclable paper bags for a minimum of 15 cents each, but cannot hand them out for free.

The ban would not apply to restaurants, fast-food establishments and nonprofit groups.

Now they want to tell us what we can GIVE away. Oh and what is so special about a non profit bag?

A bag is a bag…

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

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Aptos, CA psychologist: Tell congress to PUT BACK the $575 BILLION in Medicare & send bill to Obama to sign …

Force Obama’s hand as to what he really thinks of senior citizens. Put back the $575 BILLION and send it to Obama for signing. If he does not sing that signals his true views of older citizens. And then seniors will know who to vote against in 2012.

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Obama cut $575 BILLION from Medicare

Obama cut $575 BILLION for seniors using Medicare over the next 10 years. That $575 BILLION goes to other programs including a vast expansion of aid to the poor through Medicaid.

It’s time to ask congress to PUT BACK the $575 BILLION to Medicare.

If Obama refuses to sign a law returning $575 BILLION to Medicare so that system is funded “as we’ve known it” then senior citizens know what the President really thinks of older folks. And seniors will know who to vote against in 2012.

Next, offer seniors who use Medicare a choice: do you want to opt in to the Ryan plan or continue to keep Medicare?

The senior citizens I talk to want IN to the Ryan plan. Why?

The “choice” is a no brainer: what senior citizen wants a cost-cutting board of 15 unknown persons making all medical decisions (that congress cannot overturn) versus choice to pick their own private health plan? Huh?

The Ryan plan offers a choice of private health plans and a premium paid to the plan they choose. The amount paid is the equivalent of what Medicare is projected to spend under the Obama health care: $15,000 a year on average, more for the oldest and less for the youngest, all inflation adjusted.

The Ryan proposal includes a $7,800 annual medical savings account to help low income seniors out with out-of-pocket costs.

Since the President has deigned to show his birth certificate let’s force him to show his hand how he views senior citizens. Will Obama tell the 101 year old woman who wants a pace maker to take a pain pill (via the cost cutting decisions of his 15 appointees) or will Obama give her the choice to purchase a health plan that fits her individual needs?

DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

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Aptos, CA psychologist: parent with child with autistic spectrum disorder & epilepsy asks for advocacy help.

A mother of child with special needs (Asperger’s Disorder) emailed me asking for help. She lives in Redlands, CA. Her child has an Autistic Spectrum Disorder, is hearing impaired and has epilepsy. The child is in elementary school.

Parenting a child with these kinds of problems can be overwhelming. As there are many parents who face these difficulties, perhaps a general post may be helpful both for this one mother and for other families. Most importantly, know that there is help, there are resources and you don’t have to do this job alone.

The mother wants an advocate to assist her in the IEP process. She asks for immediate help.

She — and anyone in California — can call me for a free 15 minute consultation concerning psychological issues. Call 831 688-6002. Leave name, number and brief information as to situation. I will e-mail back a time to call me.

Before calling, find the most recent three year psycho-educational assessment done for the child. Every three years in California the school psychologist, Resource teacher and other professionals write reports summarizing progress. Those reports typically contain invaluable information. I will ask questions about those reports and may ask you to FAX it to me.

For more information about me, Dr. Cameron Jackson, go to Monterey Bay Forum, www.freedomok.net look at the top where it says Autism. Also look under the Categories for Autistic Spectrum Disorders. I wrote those posts.

I have 5+ years experience as a school psychologist in California and I am a licensed psychologist who specializes in assessment of children and adults. I am particularly interested in Autistic Spectrum Disorders.

Here is some general information that may be helpful to this mother and other parents with children with special needs, developmental disorders and autistic spectrum disorders:

1) The parent has the right to call an IEP meeting, again and again. This parent should find out what the IEP coming up is about and get an agenda ahead of time. Let the school know in writing that you as parent plan to request a series of meeting until all issues get resolved. Send the letter to Special Education Director, Principal, School Psychologist. Keep a copy for your file. Do not sign any IEP unless completely satisfied.

2) This child with some form of autism, epilepsy and hearing impaired is probably best served with an IEP under Other Health Impaired. And not served well under Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Autistic-Like is an education category that might be appropriate IF the therapy component is in place. From what the mother told me there is no appropriate therapy going on to address social deficits.

So this parent needs to know what Category the child receives services under and to request that the Category be changed to Other Health Impaired. All the mother needs is a brief letter from her doctor.

3) By California law, this child is entitled to a Free and Appropriate Public Education — called FAPE. It is not appropriate to put a fifth grade student into a first grade class for example. And, if the school district does not have appropriate public school classes then the district may be on the hook to provide a non-public school placement. Yes the schools and every public agency has budget woes. So, this parent needs to get some self education via the Internet as to what FAPE means.

From the tone of the email this mother sent, it appears that she feels lost in the system. Perhaps this mother can connect with the school psychologist for assistance. Also, there are a number of non-profit organizations that focus on assisting families with special needs. This mom might do well to explore which ones are in the Redland’s CA area. Up in the Santa Cruz-San Jose area for example there are two organizations: SPIN and PHP.

One possible advocate in Redlands, CA: When I Googled Redlands, CA Special Education an article popped up about a school counselor who wants to improved the IEP process. Her name is Yurida Nava and information about her is in the article below. I do not know anything more about this person than what is written below.

Student Encourages Advocacy for Special Education Students
November 23, 2009While working as a school district translator, Redlands School of Education counseling student Yuridia “Yuri” Nava says she became concerned some special education students were not being well served by their school counselors.She says the counselors often attended Individualized Education Plan (IEP) meetings with students, but did not always advocate for the students during discussions about which services they should receive, what education goals should be set and how their day-to-day school life should function.
“The counselors were there, but I felt they were not really a voice for the students – the IEPs were sometimes finalized in ways that were not in the best interest of the students,” Nava said.
Now, Nava is working to change those shortcomings by calling attention to the problem. One step in that effort came in November, when she presented her research during the California Association of School Counselors conference in Temecula.During the conference, she shared her research exploring the preparation levels of counselors working with special education students. As part of her study, counselors in two school districts were surveyed about their knowledge of the IEP process and whether they were prepared to help special education students and families.
She said she found that most counselors did not recognize their role in advocating for special education students. Some counselors also did not fully understand the IEP process and the role that they should play, she said.
Nava – an aspiring counselor who would eventually like to get her doctorate – said she credits assistant professor Janee Both-Gragg with encouraging her to conduct and present the research.
“The professors, including Dr. Both-Gragg, are like fuel – they fuel the passion that you brought when you came here. They prepare you and encourage you to do more than you ever imagined,” she said. “I’m so excited and thankful to be presenting at the conference and I know I wouldn’t have made it to this point without their support and belief in me.”

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Firenze Sage: Do fence me in?

Should the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco be fenced in so people cannot jump off it? The debate goes on….

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Golden Gate Bridge

A 16-year-old girl jumped or fell off the Golden Gate Bridge on Sunday and survived.

In March a 17-year-old boy from Windsor jumped as an apparent boast and also survived.

The debate has gone on for years whether to suicide proof the Bridge. Another part of the question about how much society should interfere in the personal lives (or deaths) of its citizens.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

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Respite services paid by govt not helpful says parent of autistic child. Better off that families keep more of their money…

Response to Obama’s budget speech from a parent of autistic child: Better to cancel got “help” programs that pay for respite time as highly paper intensive, onorous regulations, too many people paid their share before any services received. Parent discusses all the persons who get a “cut” before any benefit is received by the family. Cut these programs is his message.

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DrCameronJackson@gmail.com

How “helpful” are the respite services provided to families with a disabled child?

In California, children with autism are assisted by the regional centers. There are non-profits and operate individually though connected loosely together. A child made eligible by one regional center is usually accepted by other regional centers though the case may be reviewed.

Due to CA budget issues typically families are offered 24 hours of respite a month though the number may be considerably increased depending on the individual’s particular circumstances. “Respite” is supposed to be time away from the disabled child and someone else takes care of the child so that parents get a real break.

In the Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito and Santa Clara Counties parents can receive respite hours away from their diabled child through varous agencies. The agencies take care of the paper work issues which negatively impact the overall helpfulness.

Below is from the parent of an autistic child that finds government “help” not helpful. And why not helpful.

We’re From the Government, and We’re Here to Help
Presient Obama’s recent budget speech

Reader Gordon Calkins writes in with his perspective on President Obama’s ghastly budget speech:

“I am the primary care-giver to my autistic and developmentally delayed son. I must admit that we accept from our state Division of Services for People with Disabilities some monitory support. The state gives us a small grant with federal matching money that allows us to hire extra support workers and care givers which gives us a few hours a month to run errands and have a little time out of the house.

“The program has been a benefit to us. But to put this into perspective, in order to be eligible for the support, we work with a state-contracted support coordinator, a state-approved fiscal agent that handles the payroll, and we have to keep logs of what we are doing to meet the state-approved training goals. We have several hours of doing paperwork each time we hire a new person. Our current employees are the adult kids of some of our friends, but they are still required to get background checks, fingerprinting and annual reviews.

“I’ve known people who have opted out of this system because the hassle of dealing with the state is too much.

“Although, as I said, I believe that this support is a net positive for us, the benefit we receive is much less than I pay in federal taxes each year.

“I would be even better off if the federal government would cancel programs like this and just let me keep more of my money, and there wouldn’t be nearly so many people making money off the support we get.

So, the purpose of government is to take my money, filter it through a bunch of agencies and contractors, each taking their cut, and then give a small fraction of it back to me to spend on “approved” services. Gives new meaning to the phrase “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” I wish they would stop helping

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President Obama not know: Medicare picks up full tab for only 20 days….

April 15, 2011
Medicaid, Medicare, whatever…
Russ Vaughn
“In yesterday’s campaign speech, Barack Obama demonstrated that he really doesn’t understand long term care or nursing home care as it is known to most of us.

Obama made the claim that under the Ryan/Republican debt reduction plan that seniors would have to go on Medicaid to go into a nursing home with their bills being paid by the government. Well for Mr. Obama’s edification, that is exactly the situation right now, under his administration. Like far too many of those ignorant of the issue of long term care, Barry seems to think there is a Medicare benefit for residential status in nursing homes.

The fact is, Mr. Chief Executive of the Federal Government, no such benefit exists.

The Medicare benefit for nursing home stays is limited to what is called skilled nursing stays which normally occur following a minimum three-day hospitalization of a Medicare recipient when that individual is discharged directly from a hospital to a skilled-nursing facility for recuperative care.

Under this program, Medicare will pick up the full tab for only 20 days. A longer stay requires re-hospitalization or certain other qualifiers but under no circumstances is this an open-ended program. In most cases, after day 20 the patient begins to assume the costs up to $128.00 per day from day 21 through day 100….

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Firenze Sage: Patient runs (amok) at asylum

Mentally ill patient had roam privledges and strangled staff. Why privledges?

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Psychiatric patient Massey strangled Donna Gross to death on the grounds of Napa State Hospital.

California Division of Occupational Safety and Health investigators found that Massey was awarded a “grounds pass” by facility staff, a privilege that allows patients to roam freely through the sprawling and shaded campus. Cal/OSHA investigators found that such a system exposed staff to danger.

Well duh!! Not the “campus” you remember?
Naturally an appeal has been filed.

FirenzeSage48@gmail.com

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