When I hear people worried that the Government is going to get between them and their doctor, I suggest they take a good look at the decisions being made about their health care dollars now.

My insurance tells me which doctors and hospitals I can go to, which drugs I can order, which orthopedic apparatus I can use should I sprain or break something. If I wanted psychological counseling, my insurance tells me how much of that is allowable. Seriously. Not my doctor, my therapist or the government. In my case, it’s Aetna that determines what is best for my well-being.

My insurance insists that I pay EXTRA for the birth control medicine that DOESN’T make me break out, because it’s BRAND NAME MEDICINE. That’s Aetna getting between me and my doctor. Why should it cost more for me to use the medicine that works better?

My husband decided to work for himself a couple of years ago. His former company offered him a COBRA plan. At $600+ per month! How is that reasonable? In the 90s I took advantage of the COBRA deal at less than $100 per month, and it was very helpful between jobs. But at over $600 per month, he was better off paying full price for prescriptions and hoping he didn’t break any bones until we came up with another solution.

I suggest that some government regulation of the health care industry is needed.

1. Prescription coverage should be simplified. Why can’t all drugs have one price? Why are there lists A and B? I remember my grandmother had a rainbow of pills to take, and I am rapidly catching up to her at 38 years old. This stuff gets confusing. There’s no reason for it, though. Why should I pay $1 for antibiotics and $60 for brand-name birth control? Even it out and pay $25 for each.
2. No one can be rejected for coverage. Even if we don’t reach the standard of requiring health care for everyone, we absolutely cannot reject people for pre-existing conditions. These are the people that need coverage most, and should be given credit for getting coverage.
3. COBRA has to be brought down to earth. $600 is not a reasonable monthly payment for insurance. And it’s not near what the estimates were for individually purchased insurance. So why was COBRA that high? We cannot expect a person who is leaving a job to pay such a high amount for insurance.
4. Dental and vision need to be included. These are medical benefits. Treatments for your eyes and teeth cost real money. Neglecting these parts of your body is just as dangerous as neglecting your knee or your finger, if not more so. Putting this insurance into a separate category is simply a joke.

We do need more, but these changes will put us well on our way.

The President has once again spelled out his thoughts on Why We Need Health Care Reform, in The New York Times Op Ed page, and I agree. I hope you’ll read his thoughts and chime in. And call your Senator and Representative.

UPDATE: Here’s the White House point of view, at WhiteHouse.gov/RealityCheck.

Just to be clear.

I’ve been watching this silly debate about our President’s citizenship, and I’m certain there’s nothing worth debating. I did a good bit of marketing work for the Office of Personnel Management, and I’ve seen the forms that need to be filled out when one applies for a government job. I’ve got confidence that when Obama first came to Washington, his paperwork was well worked through. His birth certificate, passport, resume and urine sample have all been screened. They have already gone down in his PERMANENT RECORD.

The silliest argument of all that I’ve heard is that people don’t trust the certificate that has been shown because Obama’s birth certificate is a CERTIFICATE OF LIVE BIRTH. Well kids, take a look in your scrapbook, safe or underwear drawer. Wherever you keep your important papers.

I’ve got a Certificate of Live Birth, too. Not only that, I’ve got a COPY. It’s issued one month after my birth and it has a raised seal from the DC Department of Human Resources. (Accordingly, I updated my About page.)

Take a look. I’m curious. Who out there is holding an original BIRTH CERTIFICATE?

I’m blaming this on government double-speak. Why call something a “certificate of live birth” when you’re really talking about a birth certificate?

Miraculously, I was able to text Twitter updates for much of the morning, so Mom and Dad could keep tabs on us from Pennsylvania. That was nice.

We took photos to fill in the blanks. Luckily we set our sights on the back of the Mall, after following updates on television and the innovative project http://twitter.com/carfreejan20.

I’m grateful we followed the advice we heard and used all the technology available to get updates.

It was discouraging on the way home to meet a father and his daughter from Illinois that ended up watching the ceremony on a TV in Starbucks, and to hear from purple ticket holders that weren’t granted admittance.

That was some launch party! What a great time. It was nice to see the front yard of the nation used for music and celebration again. And it was a surprise to see the Obamas and Bidens in attendance. I certainly hope that our new neighbors come by often.

Obama visited The Washington Post today, and it stirred up two city blocks and untold numbers of office workers, who quickly got word of who was in the area. The Post’s neighbors are accustomed to VIPs darting in and out of the building. Condoleeza Rice was here earlier this week and no one batted an eye. But they had to lock down the block for Obama, and everyone knew what that meant. So people just poured out of their offices waiting for him to appear. And the POTUS-elect strolled through the newsroom shaking hands. No one got any work done.

I am quite excited about the Inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

I was one of those who was sorely disappointed by Al Gore’s defeat, which has made every misstep over the last 8 years all the more painful.

It was not important to me that Obama’s father was African as I placed my vote, but I do believe this is a great milestone in cultural understanding for our country, and it makes me proud.

I am concerned about rights like Choice and Privacy and Habeas Corpus. I’m concerned about health care and housing, both for my family and for poor Americans. I’m concerned about our environment.

I believe that Obama is concerned, too. So after all the tourists leave town and we’ve sold our last Commemorative Coffee Cup, the work can begin in earnest, and I hope the excitement and trust doesn’t fade too fast. We will all have to pull together.

What that means is hard to say, but a dialogue with the President is hard for Americans to have. Congress was developed to give people a voice in Washington, and Americans should be certain that their representatives are speaking for them as life carries on.

The past 8 years have taught me that the entire democratic process must work together: voters, representatives, senators, states and governors. And that couldn’t be clearer than this month, as two senators are in question due to votes and a governor.

So we’ll celebrate our exciting new president, but don’t forget your job isn’t ever over as a citizen.

*

Addendum:  I was privileged enough to be able to attend some of the Inauguration events. It was amazing. I’ve lived in the area for about 20 years now, and it’s been some time since I bothered to join festivities on the Mall. The We Are One concert was fun, and I honestly was surprised to see the Obamas and Bidens there. I volunteered on MLK Day at RFK Stadium in D.C., and was surprised to see Michelle Obama and Jill Biden there, and they stayed long enough for many of us to be able to go up and meet them. On Tuesday, we went to the Mall again for the Inauguration itself, and were counted among the 1.8 million there to witness Barack Obama’s swearing-in in person. In 20 years in Washington, I’ve never seen that many happy people together in D. C. at once. I didn’t have tickets, but I enjoyed every minute of shared jumbotron viewing with my fellow Americans, and I’ll never forget it. For one weekend, Obama was the great uniter.

I wrote a while back about how disappointing the Inauguration can be for Washingtonians.
The Inauguration: Welcome to the District of Clusterfu@%

The sad thing is, every time I get more excited, something happens to let me down. There are now nearly 100 balls scheduled, starting on the Saturday before the Inauguration. Yes. A full three nights before the actual Inaugural ceremony, there will be balls. Washington will have more balls than a stud farm.

I was very excited to get my Inaugural ball invitation. Wow! Then I got a second. And a third. Now Obama has sent a couple of invitations that rely on essay contests. What is this, a college application? Then I got two more invitations to “Grassroots” balls, thrown by Obama’s fund-raising crews. Aren’t those the folks that should get the invitations to the official balls?

When you get down to brass tacks, the event itself, the Inauguration, will be the MAIN EVENT. And that’s going to be in the cold morning, likely accented by a harsh wintry mix. That’s what the weather man calls it when it’s raining and snowing at the same time. If you want to witness the Main Event, then you have to wait through some prayers and speeches and put up with a few million of your fellow citizens stepping on your muddy toes.

BUT – you will feel what it is like to be one of the huddled masses yearning to breathe free! You will hear, with your own ears, thanks to the hard work of some very talented sound engineers, (including my own dear brother-in-law), a real historic event. One of the largest feats of sound engineering ever.

I mean, the first African-American to take the oath of office to become President of the United States.

And as you pass out in a hotel lobby, waiting in line for hot chocolate at the Starbucks counter, you will be glad you came to Washington. Please tip your barista. She had to figure out how to get to work early.