Wellness Wednesday

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A new study published in Pathophysiology has shown that long-term use of cell or cordless phones comes with a high risk of brain tumors. In fact, the study says the long-term use of wireless phones triples the risk. Young people are particularly vulnerable since their skulls are thinner and heads smaller, therefore increasing the brain's exposure to the radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. Tips to avoid exposureinclude using speaker phones and texting, both of which keep the phone away from the head. Here's a summary of the study.

Sticker Shock, Affordability, and Who Really Counts

When we became self-employed, we searched for a health insurance policy that fit our lifestyle. We found one that had a very high deductible and only covered catastrophic illness and accidents. Although the monthly premiums were high, they were manageable. We are also told that as part of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"), we would be able to keep the our insurance coverage. As many Americans have learned, that is not the case.  

Despite removing both of our grown children from our policy, our premiums have continued to rise and we expected a hike for 2015, especially with the details of the ACA kicking in. However, nothing prepared us for the shock when we opened the envelope from our heath insurance company, laying out the *new plan details* for our 2015 coverage. Not only had our deductible gone up 30 percent, our monthly premium will almost double.

So over the weekend I went on the government's health insurance *marketplace.* After filling out a new application, the site revealed - ta da! - which plans we were eligible for. A *bright* note was that there was a catastrophic plan that, although had the same deductible as our new 30 percent higher insurance plan, has a monthly premium that is *only* about 17 percent more than our current plan. 

As part of the application process, an *Eligibility Notice* was generated. This notice informed us that our 

household's yearly income is too low for a tax credit [meaning no government subsidy to help with the out-of-reach-for-our-income-level premiums]. Generally, individuals and families whose household income for the year is between 100 percent and 400 percent of the federal poverty level for their family size may be eligible for the tax credit. [If you're below the federal poverty level, you don't qualify for assistance.]

Then we were told that, 

You are not required to pay a penalty for not having health insurance because of your income and because the state of VA declined to expand Medicaid to cover individuals in your situation. [Despite the fact that the purpose of the Affordable Care Act is to make sure everyone has heath insurance, you still can go without if you're too poor to afford it.]

So it boils down to this:

We know the premiums are too high for you to afford, you aren't required to have health insurance, and you don't count.

Now I'm not necessarily whining for us because we're on our second career. We chose to become farmers as we feel we are providing a very important service and setting an example and we were able to prepare a safety net before making the jump. My complaint is for the thousands of people who are self-employed or work for small businesses, especially young adults, who are in the same position and will not have health insurance because they cannot afford it. This segment of the population has no voice. There's nothing affordable about the Affordable Care Act for this group. Since most Americans either have employer-provided insurance or live in states where Medicaid was expanded, they don't understand that there are low income families and individuals who have been entirely excluded from the dance. When it comes to healthcare, everyone should count.

Monday Morning Amusement

Last night I opened my RSS reader to see how many blog posts from my subscriptions were unread:  2146. Since I don't have a premium account, I'm only allowed a maximum of 100 subscriptions. Life has been busy. I'm counting on winter to help me catch up on reading and commenting.

Quote for the Day

"We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure."

~Cesar Chavez

Wellness Wednesday

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Not that we need another reason to farm and garden organically, but a new study published in the Journal of Organic Systems that links the herbicide Roundup (glyphosate) to a wide variety of chronic diseases, including  autism, Alzheimer's and senile dementia, Parkinson's, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes. The study examined the correlation between the dramatic rises in these and other diseases over the past 20 years and the introduction of glyphosate in 1974. A summary of the study can be found here and the entire text of the study here. 

Monday Morning Amazement

Every city seems to have some sort of ugly, abandoned "big box" store, left after a large retailer decided it needed bigger, better space:

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One town in Texas decided to make something ugly into something beautiful and converted an abandoned WalMart into America's largest one-story library:

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See more photos and read about the transformation here. 

Quote for the Day

"There's only one rule that I know of...you've got to be kind."

~Kurt Vonnegut