TED2011 The Rediscovery of Wonder is coming up; February 28-March 4, 2011 in Long Beach. So this week, it’s all TED all the time. At TEDMED 2010, Thomas Goetz, the executive editor of Wired, redesigns your medical chart.

America has a new Website. And this time it’s for Health Care. It allows you to find insurance options, learn about prevention, compare care quality and understand the new law. That section includes a handy map to show you, the visitor, which states are choosing to not partake when it comes to pre-existing conditions, thus leading to the Federal government running the New Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP). Funny how most of those states choosing to sit this one out are rather conservative leaning. Ah, irony.

The site itself seems like a very useful tool, especially for someone like me who does pretty much everything online. So thanks Barack, for the nice new site. I’m really pulling for the rest of the law to be as clear, concise and effective.

Learn About Prevention

The PCIP Map

HuffingtonPost.com at 9 AM on Monday March 29th, 2010

So. Fourteen months after Barack Obama came to Washington, change has now come to America. Just look at those huge, red, all-capped letters from HuffPost. I have to admit. When the House passed the goods, “holy shit” were the first words I uttered. Say what you will about the process. It was ugly. Unfair. Stupid. Secretive. Pathetic. Infuriating. Open. Democratic. Optimistic. Inspiring. Hopeful. All and everything wrapped up into a spectacle of governing. But today, we are finally starting to say that universal health care is something we value as a society. It’s seen as important. Something this country should make sure all of its citizens have in the name of dignity, fairness, equality and justice. It’s an expansion of our common humanity that we actually give a shit about each other. 

32,000,000 each others.

We’ve now proven we can actually do something to make things happen. It’s a good feeling. Pre-existing conditions. Recision. Dropping the sick. All of it no more. Of course, I live in a conservative state so I’ve heard lots from the right about the destruction of America if this passes. About how our premiums are going to go up. Government takeover. How Canada sucks. Pretty much all of the sound bites I’ve gotten first hand. Hearing it all leads me to the conclusion we all have to stop worrying about something getting taken away from us. Instead we need to start envisioning how we can give of ourselves to make this place better. We need more of that “we’ve come to shape the future” attitude. And a big group hug after all of this.

C’mon people, hug it out. It’s a new day. We’ve taken on health care. Next up: climate change, immigration, worker rights. We’ll sure need more civility from here on out. Everybody now!

45,000 deaths per year.

Our attempt at health care reform has just been sad. Pathetic. We certainly don’t get any good marks for our “democratic process.” For whatever reason, we have nothing to show for the effort. Except knowing that premiums will rise and people will continue to die because they can’t get the health care they need because they can’t afford it. How’s that for a “death panel?”

via GOOD

poster on ETSY