Tag Archives: health insurance

Families Reunited on ABC

We’re all at this site for a reason: our family. No matter its shape or size, we’re here because of how important family is to us. Unfortunately, thousands of people around the country are not so lucky. Some always feel that sharp ache of loneliness and loss. While others cling to the hope that they may one day be reunited with their family. ABC’s new show “Find My Family,” which premiered on Monday, November 23rd, chronicles these poignant stories of loss and finding. The program aims to reunite individuals with the families they lost many years before, or with the … Continue reading →

The Return of the Jonas Brothers

If you have tween or teen girls in your house, you’d better plug your ears: the Disney channel has renewed both of the Jonas Brothers’ television series. “JONAS,” the hit sibling band’s sitcom-style series, will return mid-2010. Meanwhile, season 2 of “Jonas Brothers: Living the Dream,” will debut earlier in 2010. “Living the Dream,” the Jonas Brothers’ short-form reality series, is likely returning earlier because it can be filmed while the brothers focus on other projects, such as their current European tour. Gary Marsh, President of Entertainment of Disney Channels Worldwide, says of the show, “We can deliver something to … Continue reading →

We’ll Tell You if We Cover That Later

A member of my family has been having a terrible time with his sinuses… to the point where his doctor has suggested surgery. As it happens, I had a similar surgery when I was nineteen to cut away infected sinus tissue and correct a deviated septum. (What a thing to have run in the family!) After he inquired to his insurance company about the surgery, he got this reply (I’m paraphrasing): Go ahead and get the surgery, and then we’ll tell you if we’ll cover it. That’s a pretty big risk to take, Insurance Company, in the hopes that you’ll … Continue reading →

Medical Bills and Bankruptcies

Posted on by

A recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation took a look at the connection between medical bills and bankruptcies in the United States. The results at a glance: More than 62 percent of bankruptcies in 2007 were related to medical bills. This is an increase of approximately fifty percent since 2001. More than three-quarters of families who declared bankruptcy due to medical bills DID HAVE health insurance but were still overwhelmed by medical debt. More than ninety percent of people with medical debt owed more than five thousand dollars. In many cases, the amount of medical debt was … Continue reading →

The Supreme Court Upholds Crackdown on Television Profanity

The other night, I was having dinner with some friends. One expressed shock that she saw Luke, a deaf contestant on “The Amazing Race,” sign the term for a female dog (follow me here). I told her I wasn’t really surprised because one of the other contestants had verbally called him that derogatory name beforehand. That prompted another dinner guest to say “Oh yeah, they can say…” and went through all the curse words that could be said on television today without being bleeped out. After that conversation, I remembered that when I was growing up, things certainly seemed a … Continue reading →

Hawaiian Officials Angered Over SNL Skit

I don’t know if you caught last week’s “Saturday Night Live” or not. The host was Dwayne Johnson, no doubt due to this weekend’s release of Race to Witch Mountain plus his hosting the upcoming Kid’s Choice Awards on Nickelodeon. I thought the show was great, but there was one skit that didn’t make several Hawaiian officials too happy. The skit involved Johnson (who is of Polynesian descent on his mom’s side) and SNL’s Fred Armisen as lowly paid entertainers in a Hawaiian hotel restaurant. The two danced around the restaurant, doing the hula, wearing grass skirts, and singing. But, … Continue reading →

Guide to Recycling Electronics 2

Does your household contribute to the vast amount of e-waste (electronic waste) that has become a big issue for our environment? All of those cool devices and wonders of technology today will probably wind up in a landfill tomorrow, leaching out toxic chemicals such as arsenic and lead. One way to help the world is to recycle our home electronics in a responsible way. Today let’s talk about televisions. Most households have more than one television. And now that high definition televisions (HDTV) are available, families are eager to upgrade. At the same time, those new HDTVs will one day … Continue reading →

Guide to Recycling Electronics

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Americans toss out about 2 million tons of e-waste, that is electronic devices that are no longer useful. Computers and other electronics can actually provide hazards to the environment beyond just taking up space as trash. Electronic waste can leach all sorts of dangerous chemicals, such as arsenic, lead, mercury and other toxic elements. That is why it is so important to recycle electronics properly. Here is a guide for you to use. Let’s start with the biggest electronic impact to the environment, computers. More computers are tossed ever year over any other electronic … Continue reading →

The Tudors, Big Love, Weeds and Other Premium Shows for Free

If you feel like the last person on earth who doesn’t know what Bill Patterson is up to these days just because you don’t think paying for a premium cable package is worth the money, take heart. There are plenty of ways to get the top shows that everyone is talking about, and get them for free. Go online Before you invest in any of the other methods of seeing the top shows, first go online. Many hit shows offer a free season premier episode or season finale episode in order to entice you to order the cable or buy … Continue reading →

Celebrity Good Week/Bad Week News

It’s that time of the week again to check in with celebrities who are doing well and those who are not doing so well: It’s been a good week for…ER Fans The show is in its fifteenth and final season, but fans will get three additional episodes before the show leaves the air. Perhaps part of the reason is that the aging show has been winning its time slot as of late. It’s been a bad week for…Gregg Allman Singer Gregg Allman had his Richmond Hill house broken into this week. Among the things the burglars took were Allman’s 19th … Continue reading →