If Medicare Advantage Rates Are Going to Be Cut, Why Have the Big Medicare HMO Stock Prices Been Up Since the Election?

That question came from Matt Holt today over at his blog: The Health Care Blog.Good question.As any regular reader of this blog knows, I have been arguing that the Democratic Congress is going to cut Medicare Advantage payments to HMOs as soon as they get their hands on the federal budget.If that is a good bet, why wouldn't Medicare HMO stocks be reflecting that risk? Instead, they have generally

10 minutes

That's all the time it takes to go from feeling healthy and fit to woozy and ill.

But I don't have to do again it for three whole weeks.

Ultrasound early tomorrow morning, echocardiogram on Thursday. The next couple of days will be tough.

But I should feel like myself by the week end. And did I mention that I don't have to have chemo again for three whole weeks?

CBO Pours Gasoline on the Democratic Plans to Cut Medicare Advantage Payments to HMOs

Told you so.For some time I have been warning that the Medicare Advantage payments to HMOs are going to be "target number one" when it comes time for Democrats to reshuffle the federal health care spending priorities after 12 years of Republican Congressional rule.For the last year, a number of estimates have put the "over payments" to HMOs when compared to the traditional Medicare plan at around

hodge podge of good things

S. had the day off from school today. We watched a movie (the Adventures of Baron Munchausen), went for a long walk in the sun (with a stop for bagel sandwiches) and then he beat me at Mind's I. It was a good day.

I just came back from dinner with friends. We were celebrating my birthday. Which was in August. We've had a bit of a hard time coordinating schedules. We had lovely vegan thai food and then went next door to Dairy Queen for Peanut Buster Parfaits. Perfect.

Best of all, I have secured myself a chemo vacation. We are heading south next week (!) and I have managed to delay the start of the next treatment cycle. This means that, after tomorrow, I don't have chemo again until March 27th. I am elated.

S. has asked me to knit him a Dr. Who scarf. D. has asked me to knit him "a green sweater." I am trying to convince him that some other colours would be nice, too. He remains unmoved.



Yesterday's skate on the Rideau Canal, "the world's largest skating rink," was a lot of fun. The boys really impressed me with their improved skills. Skating behind the stroller gives me a lot of stability and makes me look like a competent skater. It makes me laugh, though. Nothing says "Canadian mom" more than bundling up and pushing a giant stroller on a frozen canal.

I didn't post the shot of me skating away from the camera. Let's just say that some angles are less flattering than others. And maybe I need to ease up a little on the chocolate.

channelling peggy lee

Is that all there is, is that all there is
If that's all there is my friends, then let's keep dancing
Let's break out the booze and have a ball
If that's all there is

I am tolerating chemo relatively well. I am no longer experiencing the rollercoaster of Herceptin side effects. But the routine is grinding me down. Two weeks on, one week off. And there is no end in sight (at least not an end I want to spend much time thinking about).

When I am feeling well (and even much of the time when I am not) I am rarely bored. I am, however struggling to fight some serious malaise. Not that long ago, life felt full of possibility. There were paths to chose and decisions to be made. And if any particular path didn't please me, I could easily change direction and try a new one.

Now that I am not working outside the home (my oncologist says that no insurance company would ever expect me to work again), I have time for other creative pursuits. But I need to shake off the funk brought on by two weeks on, one week off.

I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Today, I am going to do that in a pair of skates. Despite living three minutes (on foot) from the canal, I haven't been skating in a couple of years.

"If that's all there is, my friends, then let's keep dancing."

ho hum

So the layout of this blog is really boring me.

I have access to technical assistance to change things up but am feeling distinctly uninspired. I played around with the Blogger template this afternoon but ended up making few changes, wanting to keep things clean and accessible.

Any thoughts?

A new banner? Illustrations?

New font?

Larger type?

Any suggestions would be welcome.

business ventures

As the dog and I walked him to school the other day, my eight year old son and I had the following conversation:

S.: "I have an idea for an internet venture for dogs. I'd call it ismell. The web site would describe a whole list of smells and you could chose the one you think your dog would like best and order a patch with that smell."

me: "That's a great idea! But the smells would have to be pretty disgusting."

S.: "The more disgusting, the more expensive."

me: "Old socks, rotting meat..."

S.: "Exactly. We could have a page listing all the newest smells and the home page would have a list of the top selling smells."

me: "That reminds me, Papa tells me that you were making a vending machine when you were supposed to be in bed last night."

S.: "Yeah. And it works, too. Except no one wants to buy my product."

me: "Why not?"

S.: "Because it costs a dollar and the product is a penny."