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Saturday, November 17, 2007
Friday, November 16, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
"I have to live for him"
Leukemia patient and Glamour editor Erin Zammett Ruddy is ecstatic to be a mom—and determined to always be there for her son.
In 2001 Erin Zammett Ruddy, now 29, was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a cancer that until recently proved fatal for many patients. For almost six years she’s been taking a lifesaving drug called Gleevec and chronicling her experiences in these pages. Last December Erin went off it to get pregnant; fortunately, the disease stayed at bay. Now she’s back on her meds and trying to enjoy her baby as she struggles with her uncertainty over the future.
View Erin’s baby album
With Alex, my tiny miracle, two days after he was born
Late the other night, Nick and I were sitting in bed and obsessing over Alex, our three-month-old: Was he eating enough, sleeping enough, you-know-what-ing enough? And then, out of the blue, Nick told me that every night since I’d given birth, he’s lain awake thinking of me dying and him raising our son alone. “Your sisters even start encouraging me to date,” he said, revealing just how detailed his imaginings had become. My stomach knotted up. I asked him how old Alex is in his scenario. “Young,” he said, and turned his head away. “Don’t be crazy,” I told him, wiping tears from my face, trying, as always, to be strong, positive and upbeat. “I’m not going anywhere.” But the truth is, I’ve been thinking about the same thing.
So happy and so scared
In some ways, it’s still hard to believe Alexander James Ruddy is here (that’s partly because I’ve blocked out the 12 hours of labor and delivery). Even as I watched my belly grow, I refused to acknowledge that I’d risked my life to get pregnant. Since Gleevec enabled me to live like a normal person, I focused on that, rather than fretting about what could happen. These days, though, I am worrying about myself and letting my mind go to dark places. I can’t help it. I’m a cancer patient and a mother—two identities that don’t mix very well. Doctors don’t know for sure how long Gleevec will keep me in remission. What would happen if it quit working? How could I ever leave Alex without a mommy?
These thoughts haunt me when I’m rocking Alex in his chair, giving him Eskimo kisses and humming lullabies I can’t remember the words to. I stare down at him and want to say a million things—that he is worth every ache and worry, that I promise I will never leave him—but as soon as I start talking, I cry. I just can’t get the words out. The most I can whisper is “I love you” before my tears start dripping onto his chubby little cheeks. Sometimes, they’re tears of joy; sometimes, they’re tears of fear. I’ve cried more since having Alex than I ever did in my entire life.
Of course, I don’t want Alex to think his mommy is a freak, so we do other things besides crying. We watch The Ellen DeGeneres Show, go for long walks along the Hudson River and make up silly songs; my current favorite is the one about Alex peeing in his own face, which I let him do once (rookie error). I’m trying hard to focus on how beautiful he is—and how lucky I am. Six years ago I didn’t know if I would live to see my next birthday. Next month I turn 30, and Nick and I have a healthy baby boy. Someday, I hope, I’ll be able to get the words out to tell Alex just what he means to us.
Leukemia patient and Glamour editor Erin Zammett Ruddy is ecstatic to be a mom—and determined to always be there for her son.
In 2001 Erin Zammett Ruddy, now 29, was diagnosed with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a cancer that until recently proved fatal for many patients. For almost six years she’s been taking a lifesaving drug called Gleevec and chronicling her experiences in these pages. Last December Erin went off it to get pregnant; fortunately, the disease stayed at bay. Now she’s back on her meds and trying to enjoy her baby as she struggles with her uncertainty over the future.
View Erin’s baby album
With Alex, my tiny miracle, two days after he was born
Late the other night, Nick and I were sitting in bed and obsessing over Alex, our three-month-old: Was he eating enough, sleeping enough, you-know-what-ing enough? And then, out of the blue, Nick told me that every night since I’d given birth, he’s lain awake thinking of me dying and him raising our son alone. “Your sisters even start encouraging me to date,” he said, revealing just how detailed his imaginings had become. My stomach knotted up. I asked him how old Alex is in his scenario. “Young,” he said, and turned his head away. “Don’t be crazy,” I told him, wiping tears from my face, trying, as always, to be strong, positive and upbeat. “I’m not going anywhere.” But the truth is, I’ve been thinking about the same thing.
So happy and so scared
In some ways, it’s still hard to believe Alexander James Ruddy is here (that’s partly because I’ve blocked out the 12 hours of labor and delivery). Even as I watched my belly grow, I refused to acknowledge that I’d risked my life to get pregnant. Since Gleevec enabled me to live like a normal person, I focused on that, rather than fretting about what could happen. These days, though, I am worrying about myself and letting my mind go to dark places. I can’t help it. I’m a cancer patient and a mother—two identities that don’t mix very well. Doctors don’t know for sure how long Gleevec will keep me in remission. What would happen if it quit working? How could I ever leave Alex without a mommy?
These thoughts haunt me when I’m rocking Alex in his chair, giving him Eskimo kisses and humming lullabies I can’t remember the words to. I stare down at him and want to say a million things—that he is worth every ache and worry, that I promise I will never leave him—but as soon as I start talking, I cry. I just can’t get the words out. The most I can whisper is “I love you” before my tears start dripping onto his chubby little cheeks. Sometimes, they’re tears of joy; sometimes, they’re tears of fear. I’ve cried more since having Alex than I ever did in my entire life.
Of course, I don’t want Alex to think his mommy is a freak, so we do other things besides crying. We watch The Ellen DeGeneres Show, go for long walks along the Hudson River and make up silly songs; my current favorite is the one about Alex peeing in his own face, which I let him do once (rookie error). I’m trying hard to focus on how beautiful he is—and how lucky I am. Six years ago I didn’t know if I would live to see my next birthday. Next month I turn 30, and Nick and I have a healthy baby boy. Someday, I hope, I’ll be able to get the words out to tell Alex just what he means to us.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Friday, November 09, 2007
Companies handle information overload with e-mail-free Fridays
12:13 AM CST on Friday, November 9, 2007
By JENNIFER CHAMBERLAIN / The Dallas Morning News
jchamberlain@dallasnews.com
First Fridays were casual. Now, at some offices, they’re e-mail free.
Advances in workplace technology have made it easier to communicate, but they’ve also led to a backlash against information overload. The concept of a day without e-mail first emerged in England about six years ago, when confectionary company Nestle Rowntree announced a Friday e-mail ban.
Also Online
Tell us: What do you think of e-mail free Fridays?
More recently, engineers at Intel in Santa Clara, Calif., announced a "Zero Email Friday" initiative. On Intel’s IT@Intel Blog, Nathan Zeldes explains that the idea isn’t to ban electronic correspondence but rather to encourage face-to-face interaction.
Dallas-Fort Worth companies are also taking measures to get a handle on information overload, though some say a day without e-mail isn’t a practical solution.
Commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield has started experimenting with e-mail-free Fridays in its Addison office. In addition to boosting productivity, the initiative has facilitated more interaction among the 100 or so employees who work on the same floor, said Brian Jensen, managing director of global communications.
"What that means for us is that any communication on that floor amongst your peers has to be done face-to-face or at least by telephone," he said. Employees are permitted to send e-mails to clients or people outside the office, or to send electronic documents if needed.
The company tries to make the initiative fun, posting signs around the office and designating "e-mail police" to enforce the rule, Mr. Jensen said. It’s been an "eye-opening" experience, he said, and reactions have been mixed, but positive overall.
"Some people are so chained to e-mail that it just really messes with their world if you attempt to throttle their e-mail," he said. "Other people are so put off by their e-mail world that they light up when you tell them about e-mail-free Friday."
For Nortel Networks, a day without e-mail isn’t practical, said Wes Durow, vice president, enterprise strategy and marketing. The Canadian company, with U.S. headquarters in Richardson, has about 33,000 employees and does business in 150 companies around the world.
"Each month there are about 34 million e-mail messages that transverse our e-mail network, and 34 million minutes of voice conversation," Mr. Durow said.
Nortel has adopted a unified communications system that ties together e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging, multimedia conferencing and other modes of communication into a centralized system. It enables an employee to see whether others on the system are available by phone, e-mail, etc., and choose the best way to interact with them, Mr. Durow said.
"Not only do you have presence, but you also have context," he said. "It’s not only about easing the burden of all these overwhelming communications, it’s about helping them interact within context and be more efficient. E-mail is not going to go away, but how we communicate is going to change radically over the next few years."
Nortel implemented its unified communications system about four years ago, and has realized about $20 million in savings since then, Mr. Durow said. Additionally, the system gives workers more flexibility. About 10 percent of Nortel’s employees work from home, and an additional 40 percent are "nomadic," Mr. Durow said.
"Time is a precious commodity in all of our lives," he said. "If I have the ability to work from home effectively, then work becomes an activity and not a place with this type of technology."
Texas Instruments Inc. is also exploring the possibility of using unified communications technology, said Laura McGee, manager of e-mail and calendaring in the information technology services department. The Dallas-based company employs 38,000 people in 100 locations worldwide.
But in the meantime, she said, banning e-mail for even one day wouldn’t work.
"We’re a very global company with manufacturing and design occurring around the world all the time," she said. "It’s kind of difficult for us to say we’ll just get up and go talk to somebody because they might be in another time zone."
Instead, the company has focused its efforts on an aggressive spam-filtering program.
"In September, we had 48.3 million messages identified as spam, and we blocked 90 percent of the incoming mail as spam," she said.
Ms. McGee’s findings are in line with the latest research. Spam made up 95 percent of all e-mails in the third quarter of 2007, according to a report by Commtouch Software, an e-mail security firm.
Ms. McGee said employees complain about meetings more than e-mails as being time wasters. Although it’s not a companywide initiative, some employee groups have meeting-free Fridays to give employees more time to work on projects.
Nevertheless, information overload is a serious issue in many offices, and it’s not going away.
"I would say it’s up near the top, right up there with bad bosses," said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. "It’s definitely a necessity of the modern workplace — the cat’s out of the bag now, and we’re not going back to no e-mail. It’s more that we have to figure out boundaries for when e-mail gets too intrusive." Boundary-setting encompasses a whole range of trends, such as shorter vacations and “BlackBerry addiction,” that make workers feel tethered to the office.
"t’s kind of like kudzu. It’s taken over everything, and it’s happened so quickly and totally that there’s no escape, and we haven’t caught up with it to find ways to work out those boundaries," Mr. Challenger said.
PICK YOUR E-MAIL STYLE
To tame your inbox, you first need to determine your work style, says John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
Push-model: If you need a constant stream of reminders to keep you on track, use technology that “pushes” information to you. Set your e-mail or BlackBerry to flash or chime when you have a new message or to remind you of tasks.
Get-model: If you find yourself overwhelmed by information, turn off those notifications and set aside specific times during the day to “get” your e-mail.
If you’re a boss: “Managers need to understand how to work with people in both camps and not try to fit everybody into the same box, and they could certainly give people training on how to manage their e-mail better,” Mr. Challenger said.
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Updated Fri 11.9.07
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Cake this wonderful has to be from Texas, right?
Coconut cake is the glamour queen of confections
Ex-employees: Copeland ministry followers being misled
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12:13 AM CST on Friday, November 9, 2007
By JENNIFER CHAMBERLAIN / The Dallas Morning News
jchamberlain@dallasnews.com
First Fridays were casual. Now, at some offices, they’re e-mail free.
Advances in workplace technology have made it easier to communicate, but they’ve also led to a backlash against information overload. The concept of a day without e-mail first emerged in England about six years ago, when confectionary company Nestle Rowntree announced a Friday e-mail ban.
Also Online
Tell us: What do you think of e-mail free Fridays?
More recently, engineers at Intel in Santa Clara, Calif., announced a "Zero Email Friday" initiative. On Intel’s IT@Intel Blog, Nathan Zeldes explains that the idea isn’t to ban electronic correspondence but rather to encourage face-to-face interaction.
Dallas-Fort Worth companies are also taking measures to get a handle on information overload, though some say a day without e-mail isn’t a practical solution.
Commercial real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield has started experimenting with e-mail-free Fridays in its Addison office. In addition to boosting productivity, the initiative has facilitated more interaction among the 100 or so employees who work on the same floor, said Brian Jensen, managing director of global communications.
"What that means for us is that any communication on that floor amongst your peers has to be done face-to-face or at least by telephone," he said. Employees are permitted to send e-mails to clients or people outside the office, or to send electronic documents if needed.
The company tries to make the initiative fun, posting signs around the office and designating "e-mail police" to enforce the rule, Mr. Jensen said. It’s been an "eye-opening" experience, he said, and reactions have been mixed, but positive overall.
"Some people are so chained to e-mail that it just really messes with their world if you attempt to throttle their e-mail," he said. "Other people are so put off by their e-mail world that they light up when you tell them about e-mail-free Friday."
For Nortel Networks, a day without e-mail isn’t practical, said Wes Durow, vice president, enterprise strategy and marketing. The Canadian company, with U.S. headquarters in Richardson, has about 33,000 employees and does business in 150 companies around the world.
"Each month there are about 34 million e-mail messages that transverse our e-mail network, and 34 million minutes of voice conversation," Mr. Durow said.
Nortel has adopted a unified communications system that ties together e-mail, voice mail, instant messaging, multimedia conferencing and other modes of communication into a centralized system. It enables an employee to see whether others on the system are available by phone, e-mail, etc., and choose the best way to interact with them, Mr. Durow said.
"Not only do you have presence, but you also have context," he said. "It’s not only about easing the burden of all these overwhelming communications, it’s about helping them interact within context and be more efficient. E-mail is not going to go away, but how we communicate is going to change radically over the next few years."
Nortel implemented its unified communications system about four years ago, and has realized about $20 million in savings since then, Mr. Durow said. Additionally, the system gives workers more flexibility. About 10 percent of Nortel’s employees work from home, and an additional 40 percent are "nomadic," Mr. Durow said.
"Time is a precious commodity in all of our lives," he said. "If I have the ability to work from home effectively, then work becomes an activity and not a place with this type of technology."
Texas Instruments Inc. is also exploring the possibility of using unified communications technology, said Laura McGee, manager of e-mail and calendaring in the information technology services department. The Dallas-based company employs 38,000 people in 100 locations worldwide.
But in the meantime, she said, banning e-mail for even one day wouldn’t work.
"We’re a very global company with manufacturing and design occurring around the world all the time," she said. "It’s kind of difficult for us to say we’ll just get up and go talk to somebody because they might be in another time zone."
Instead, the company has focused its efforts on an aggressive spam-filtering program.
"In September, we had 48.3 million messages identified as spam, and we blocked 90 percent of the incoming mail as spam," she said.
Ms. McGee’s findings are in line with the latest research. Spam made up 95 percent of all e-mails in the third quarter of 2007, according to a report by Commtouch Software, an e-mail security firm.
Ms. McGee said employees complain about meetings more than e-mails as being time wasters. Although it’s not a companywide initiative, some employee groups have meeting-free Fridays to give employees more time to work on projects.
Nevertheless, information overload is a serious issue in many offices, and it’s not going away.
"I would say it’s up near the top, right up there with bad bosses," said John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. "It’s definitely a necessity of the modern workplace — the cat’s out of the bag now, and we’re not going back to no e-mail. It’s more that we have to figure out boundaries for when e-mail gets too intrusive." Boundary-setting encompasses a whole range of trends, such as shorter vacations and “BlackBerry addiction,” that make workers feel tethered to the office.
"t’s kind of like kudzu. It’s taken over everything, and it’s happened so quickly and totally that there’s no escape, and we haven’t caught up with it to find ways to work out those boundaries," Mr. Challenger said.
PICK YOUR E-MAIL STYLE
To tame your inbox, you first need to determine your work style, says John Challenger, chief executive of Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.
Push-model: If you need a constant stream of reminders to keep you on track, use technology that “pushes” information to you. Set your e-mail or BlackBerry to flash or chime when you have a new message or to remind you of tasks.
Get-model: If you find yourself overwhelmed by information, turn off those notifications and set aside specific times during the day to “get” your e-mail.
If you’re a boss: “Managers need to understand how to work with people in both camps and not try to fit everybody into the same box, and they could certainly give people training on how to manage their e-mail better,” Mr. Challenger said.
Print E-mail this article Forums
Submit a news tip Subscribe to newspaper
RSS News on your wireless
E-Mail newsletters Desktop News
Advertisement
More Latest News
UT Southwestern offers special treatment to Dallas elite
Collin County woman dies during Ironman triathlon
Some of Dallas' homeless prefer woods to shelters
Hunt family embroiled in trust lawsuit
North Fort Worth crash strikes at heart of family
More Latest News
Most Read Stories
Updated Fri 11.9.07
Collin County woman dies during Ironman triathlon
Collin County woman dies during Ironman triathlon
UT Southwestern offers special treatment to Dallas elite
Hunt family embroiled in trust lawsuit
Dallas Mavericks ward off Warriors, 120-115
Most E-mailed Stories
Aqua Dots toys recalled, linked to 'date-rape' drug
Cake this wonderful has to be from Texas, right?
Coconut cake is the glamour queen of confections
Ex-employees: Copeland ministry followers being misled
Mesquite Poteet High band brings home second state championship
More
Print E-mail this article Forums
Submit a news tip Subscribe to newspaper
Sponsored links
This was posted on DallasAreaMoms.com today:
> > My sad heart...
> > ________________________________
> >
> > I'm posting this really late, cause I can't sleep,
> > my heart is heavy
> > with sadness... today this adorable little Jack
> > Russell Terrier Mix came
> > up to my front door and sat on my porch. He was so
> > cute and wanting to
> > come in. Of course the kids were all over the glass
> > door wanting this
> > dog in our house. If I didn't have two other dogs
> > and a cat, I would
> > have kept him. Anyway, I put him in our backyard and
> > was going to make a
> > poster of this found dog. I called my neighbor and
> > she said, she thought
> > there was a poster for him already on our corner.
> > Sure enough, there was
> > one. So I figured that his owners didn't want him
> > anymore and I wanted
> > to get him adopted out. I called Little Elm animal
> > control and they said
> > they would get him and find him a home. Well I think
> > they lied to me. I
> > found out that the Little Elm Shelter is a KILL
> > SHELTER. While, I know
> > they do adoptions, I didn' know they kill the
> > animals they don't adopt
> > out. I thought they would find something for the
> > animals. I'm so sad
> > that now I just can't stop thinking of this little
> > dog and to make
> > matters worse I looked at all the other animals on
> > thier site and some
> > of them it says their time is running out... ugh!!!!
> > I hate to think
> > about these things.
> > I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you have room
> > in your home and
> > heart or know someone that does, please look at this
> > site and adopt a
> > dog or cat. Some of the dogs here are sooo sad
> > looking. They have a
> > Golden Retriever and some cute puppy Black Labs.
> > The dog I found is on page 2, they named him
> > Scooter. Their adoptions
> > are really cheap... only $10.00
> >
> http://www.littleelmtx.us/index.asp?Type=GALLERY&SEC={AD09007D-0885-4A9D
> > -A303-7CD16B9135C0}
> >
>
> > Scroll down on the left side to see the tab for
> > Little Elm Dogs and Cats
> > to see the photos and their stories...
> >
> > Please help if you can!!
> >
> > My sad heart...
> > ________________________________
> >
> > I'm posting this really late, cause I can't sleep,
> > my heart is heavy
> > with sadness... today this adorable little Jack
> > Russell Terrier Mix came
> > up to my front door and sat on my porch. He was so
> > cute and wanting to
> > come in. Of course the kids were all over the glass
> > door wanting this
> > dog in our house. If I didn't have two other dogs
> > and a cat, I would
> > have kept him. Anyway, I put him in our backyard and
> > was going to make a
> > poster of this found dog. I called my neighbor and
> > she said, she thought
> > there was a poster for him already on our corner.
> > Sure enough, there was
> > one. So I figured that his owners didn't want him
> > anymore and I wanted
> > to get him adopted out. I called Little Elm animal
> > control and they said
> > they would get him and find him a home. Well I think
> > they lied to me. I
> > found out that the Little Elm Shelter is a KILL
> > SHELTER. While, I know
> > they do adoptions, I didn' know they kill the
> > animals they don't adopt
> > out. I thought they would find something for the
> > animals. I'm so sad
> > that now I just can't stop thinking of this little
> > dog and to make
> > matters worse I looked at all the other animals on
> > thier site and some
> > of them it says their time is running out... ugh!!!!
> > I hate to think
> > about these things.
> > I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you have room
> > in your home and
> > heart or know someone that does, please look at this
> > site and adopt a
> > dog or cat. Some of the dogs here are sooo sad
> > looking. They have a
> > Golden Retriever and some cute puppy Black Labs.
> > The dog I found is on page 2, they named him
> > Scooter. Their adoptions
> > are really cheap... only $10.00
> >
> http://www.littleelmtx.us/index.asp?Type=GALLERY&SEC={AD09007D-0885-4A9D
> > -A303-7CD16B9135C0}
> >
>
> > Scroll down on the left side to see the tab for
> > Little Elm Dogs and Cats
> > to see the photos and their stories...
> >
> > Please help if you can!!
> >
Thursday, November 08, 2007
Thursday, November 8, 2007 (SF Chronicle)
Medicare drug plans are changing - and costing more
Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer
Medicare beneficiaries who fail to examine next year's changes to
their
prescription drug plans may find the price of their pills tougher to
swallow come Jan. 1.
Enrollment begins Nov. 15 for the new crop of drug plans, and health
advocates warn that people are likely to see increases in their monthly
premiums - and no guarantees that drugs covered under their plan this
year
will be covered in 2008. Among the changes:
-- Monthly premiums for drug plans paired with traditional Medicare
will
increase in California by an average of 24 percent.
-- Nationwide, about 75 percent of enrollees in drug plans face
premium
hikes if they stay in the same plan next year.
-- Millions of low-income and disabled people covered by both
Medicare and
Medicaid - about 500,000 of whom live in California - automatically
will
be switched to new plans that may or may not cover their drugs.
"It may feel like the same old thing and not worth changing. But, in
fact,
plans are changing, and consumers may find themselves better off making
a
switch," said Tricia Neuman, vice president of the Kaiser Family
Foundation.
Since the federal government added prescription drug coverage to its
Medicare benefits in 2006, about 24 million of America's 43 million
seniors have taken advantage of the new option. The program, known as
Medicare Part D, is administered by private companies that are approved
by
the federal government to sell drug plans.
Medicare is available to people 65 and older and those who qualify
because
of disability or income level.
There are two main ways to get drug coverage under Medicare. One is
to be
covered by traditional Medicare and buy a separate Part D drug plan for
an
additional monthly fee. But a growing number of plans combine health
and
prescription coverage under one roof, which means medical and drug
services are handled by a private company.
Under this free-market approach, more than 1,800 plans are available
nationwide. In California, seniors have their choice of 56 stand-alone
plans, all of which are available statewide.
An additional 180 Medicare health plans, which can come in the form
of a
health maintenance organization, or HMO, are sold throughout the state,
but where those plans are offered varies by county. In addition, there
are
newer forms of Medicare benefits known as private fee-for-service
plans,
some of which have come under fire from consumer groups and the federal
government for marketing abuses.
This dizzying array of options offers beneficiaries both choice and
confusion. But Medicare officials say more choice means competition.
"There are a lot of choices because the market is robust," said Jeff
Nelligan, spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
"Why go into a supermarket and only confine yourself to the first two
aisles? More choices mean more value."
According to Medicare officials, the average monthly premium for
Part D
coverage in 2008 will be $25, up from $22 this year.
This is far lower than the $41 monthly premium predicted by the
federal
government at the beginning of the program. But consumer and health
advocates say the numbers are misleading because they include both the
stand-alone plans and the Medicare health plans, also known as Medicare
Advantage, which are more highly subsidized by the government and are
eligible for rebates not available to standard Part D plans. Some
Medicare
Advantage plans have no premiums.
Californians who stay in the same stand-alone prescription drug plan
will
experience an average 31 percent premium increase next year, said Chris
Perrone, senior program officer for the California HealthCare
Foundation.
Advocates found the average cost of a stand-alone plan in California
for
2008 will increase by 24 percent.
The cheapest plan available this year in California will go up 96
percent.
People who choose that plan, WellCare's Classic plan at $9.70, will
find
themselves paying $19 a month if they stay the course in 2008. Next
year,
First Health Part D Secure offers the state's lowest cost plan at
$14.30 a
month.
"Every single beneficiary is exposed to instability and
unpredictability,"
said Kevin Prindiville, an attorney with the National Senior Citizens
Law
Center in Oakland. "Everyone should be looking at their plan changes
and
making sure the plan they enrolled in is really the best plan for
them."
Prindiville's group is most concerned with the 1.2 million poor and
disabled Californians who are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, a
joint state and federal program for the indigent known here as
Medi-Cal.
About 600,000 of these dually eligible residents are enrolled in
plans
that didn't have a monthly premium in 2007, but now cost too much to be
offered to these recipients in 2008.
The bulk of these beneficiaries automatically will be switched to
new
plans, but those who are not will face higher premiums. Prindiville
said
there's no guarantee that their new plans will cover the drugs needed
by
this vulnerable population, which tends to be the sickest and poorest
in
the state.
Health advocates also are concerned about the low number of plans
offering
brand-name as opposed to just generic drug coverage through the
infamous
"doughnut hole," a coverage gap built into the program to reduce the
cost
of the benefit.
If consumers hit the hole, they are responsible for 100 percent of
their
drug costs until - or unless - they spend themselves out of the hole.
Next
year, plans pay 75 percent of drug costs until a beneficiary's total
drug
tab hits $2,510. After that point, seniors must pay all drug costs
until
their out-of-pocket spending hits $4,050 and comprehensive coverage
resumes.
Despite their differences, both advocates and Medicare officials
agree
that consumers need to be aware of the changing Medicare marketplace.
"Every year, we talk about having your annual checkup for your
health.
Every year, through this open enrollment period, you should have an
annual
prescription drug checkup," said Dr. Charlotte Yeh, acting director of
Medicare's San Francisco regional office.
You'd better shop around
Open enrollment to choose a new Medicare prescription drug benefit
is Nov.
15-Dec. 31. Those who want to switch plans should do so by early
December
to ensure their benefits start smoothly Jan. 1. Many senior centers
offer
counseling services. Other resources:
-- Medicare.gov offers the most comprehensive online tools to help
consumers pick a plan. The same information will be available at (800)
633-4227.
-- The Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program offers free
individual counseling. Call (800) 434-0222 to be directed to HICAP in
your
county, or go to calmedicare.org.
-- The Medicare Rights Center provides Medicare Part D information
at
medicarerights.org.
-- Benefitscheckup.org is maintained by the National Council on
Aging and
supported by major drugstores, insurers and pharmaceutical companies.
-- AARP does not offer individual counseling but does help with
general
information about Part D. Visit aarp.org or call (888) 687-2277.
Source:
Chronicle research
E-mail Victoria Colliver at vcolliver@sfchronicle.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2007 SF Chronicle
Medicare drug plans are changing - and costing more
Victoria Colliver, Chronicle Staff Writer
Medicare beneficiaries who fail to examine next year's changes to
their
prescription drug plans may find the price of their pills tougher to
swallow come Jan. 1.
Enrollment begins Nov. 15 for the new crop of drug plans, and health
advocates warn that people are likely to see increases in their monthly
premiums - and no guarantees that drugs covered under their plan this
year
will be covered in 2008. Among the changes:
-- Monthly premiums for drug plans paired with traditional Medicare
will
increase in California by an average of 24 percent.
-- Nationwide, about 75 percent of enrollees in drug plans face
premium
hikes if they stay in the same plan next year.
-- Millions of low-income and disabled people covered by both
Medicare and
Medicaid - about 500,000 of whom live in California - automatically
will
be switched to new plans that may or may not cover their drugs.
"It may feel like the same old thing and not worth changing. But, in
fact,
plans are changing, and consumers may find themselves better off making
a
switch," said Tricia Neuman, vice president of the Kaiser Family
Foundation.
Since the federal government added prescription drug coverage to its
Medicare benefits in 2006, about 24 million of America's 43 million
seniors have taken advantage of the new option. The program, known as
Medicare Part D, is administered by private companies that are approved
by
the federal government to sell drug plans.
Medicare is available to people 65 and older and those who qualify
because
of disability or income level.
There are two main ways to get drug coverage under Medicare. One is
to be
covered by traditional Medicare and buy a separate Part D drug plan for
an
additional monthly fee. But a growing number of plans combine health
and
prescription coverage under one roof, which means medical and drug
services are handled by a private company.
Under this free-market approach, more than 1,800 plans are available
nationwide. In California, seniors have their choice of 56 stand-alone
plans, all of which are available statewide.
An additional 180 Medicare health plans, which can come in the form
of a
health maintenance organization, or HMO, are sold throughout the state,
but where those plans are offered varies by county. In addition, there
are
newer forms of Medicare benefits known as private fee-for-service
plans,
some of which have come under fire from consumer groups and the federal
government for marketing abuses.
This dizzying array of options offers beneficiaries both choice and
confusion. But Medicare officials say more choice means competition.
"There are a lot of choices because the market is robust," said Jeff
Nelligan, spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
"Why go into a supermarket and only confine yourself to the first two
aisles? More choices mean more value."
According to Medicare officials, the average monthly premium for
Part D
coverage in 2008 will be $25, up from $22 this year.
This is far lower than the $41 monthly premium predicted by the
federal
government at the beginning of the program. But consumer and health
advocates say the numbers are misleading because they include both the
stand-alone plans and the Medicare health plans, also known as Medicare
Advantage, which are more highly subsidized by the government and are
eligible for rebates not available to standard Part D plans. Some
Medicare
Advantage plans have no premiums.
Californians who stay in the same stand-alone prescription drug plan
will
experience an average 31 percent premium increase next year, said Chris
Perrone, senior program officer for the California HealthCare
Foundation.
Advocates found the average cost of a stand-alone plan in California
for
2008 will increase by 24 percent.
The cheapest plan available this year in California will go up 96
percent.
People who choose that plan, WellCare's Classic plan at $9.70, will
find
themselves paying $19 a month if they stay the course in 2008. Next
year,
First Health Part D Secure offers the state's lowest cost plan at
$14.30 a
month.
"Every single beneficiary is exposed to instability and
unpredictability,"
said Kevin Prindiville, an attorney with the National Senior Citizens
Law
Center in Oakland. "Everyone should be looking at their plan changes
and
making sure the plan they enrolled in is really the best plan for
them."
Prindiville's group is most concerned with the 1.2 million poor and
disabled Californians who are covered by both Medicare and Medicaid, a
joint state and federal program for the indigent known here as
Medi-Cal.
About 600,000 of these dually eligible residents are enrolled in
plans
that didn't have a monthly premium in 2007, but now cost too much to be
offered to these recipients in 2008.
The bulk of these beneficiaries automatically will be switched to
new
plans, but those who are not will face higher premiums. Prindiville
said
there's no guarantee that their new plans will cover the drugs needed
by
this vulnerable population, which tends to be the sickest and poorest
in
the state.
Health advocates also are concerned about the low number of plans
offering
brand-name as opposed to just generic drug coverage through the
infamous
"doughnut hole," a coverage gap built into the program to reduce the
cost
of the benefit.
If consumers hit the hole, they are responsible for 100 percent of
their
drug costs until - or unless - they spend themselves out of the hole.
Next
year, plans pay 75 percent of drug costs until a beneficiary's total
drug
tab hits $2,510. After that point, seniors must pay all drug costs
until
their out-of-pocket spending hits $4,050 and comprehensive coverage
resumes.
Despite their differences, both advocates and Medicare officials
agree
that consumers need to be aware of the changing Medicare marketplace.
"Every year, we talk about having your annual checkup for your
health.
Every year, through this open enrollment period, you should have an
annual
prescription drug checkup," said Dr. Charlotte Yeh, acting director of
Medicare's San Francisco regional office.
You'd better shop around
Open enrollment to choose a new Medicare prescription drug benefit
is Nov.
15-Dec. 31. Those who want to switch plans should do so by early
December
to ensure their benefits start smoothly Jan. 1. Many senior centers
offer
counseling services. Other resources:
-- Medicare.gov offers the most comprehensive online tools to help
consumers pick a plan. The same information will be available at (800)
633-4227.
-- The Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Program offers free
individual counseling. Call (800) 434-0222 to be directed to HICAP in
your
county, or go to calmedicare.org.
-- The Medicare Rights Center provides Medicare Part D information
at
medicarerights.org.
-- Benefitscheckup.org is maintained by the National Council on
Aging and
supported by major drugstores, insurers and pharmaceutical companies.
-- AARP does not offer individual counseling but does help with
general
information about Part D. Visit aarp.org or call (888) 687-2277.
Source:
Chronicle research
E-mail Victoria Colliver at vcolliver@sfchronicle.com.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 2007 SF Chronicle
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Subject: Catster Wishes Marbles a Happy Birthday
Dear Marbles,
Meow meow!
We want to wish you a very Happy Birthday full of love and joy and purring. We are thrilled to be able to celebrate it with you!
Marbles will be profiled today with other birthday kitties on Catster's special Birthday Stroll.
Since it's your birthday we want to give you something special, so we have given you 25 Catster treats and one vote of 5 Paws! Catster loves you!
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Catster
Dear Marbles,
Meow meow!
We want to wish you a very Happy Birthday full of love and joy and purring. We are thrilled to be able to celebrate it with you!
Marbles will be profiled today with other birthday kitties on Catster's special Birthday Stroll.
Since it's your birthday we want to give you something special, so we have given you 25 Catster treats and one vote of 5 Paws! Catster loves you!
Sincerely,
Your Friends at Catster
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