Supplemental
July 26th 2009 09:29
I had a pleasant surprise the other day when someone wrote to me to say that things I'd posted in this blog about my experiences with water retention had helped them to understand what they were going through. I was quite chuffed!
I get a few comments on this blog, but most of what I have to say doesn't arouse any great debates, or start flame-throwing sessions or the like. Our preference is to keep things fairly mild over in this corner of Orble.
So continuing on the theme of health - you'll note this blog has shifted quite considerably from its stated intention of dealing with things related to work - I came across something called a Medicare supplement today. I honestly had no idea what this might be - though this is perhaps because I'm not in a country that has Medicare available. (We have private health insurance, certainly, it just goes by other names.)
A supplement to Medicare, in my limited understanding, sounded something like a tonic that perhaps you got from Medicare. But no, it's insurance over and above your Medicare. Okay, that makes sense, but it just goes to show what the mind will come up with when it doesn't know something!
I've been reading a book by Daniel Tammet called Embracing the Wide Sky:
a Tour Across the Horizons of the Mind. It's a fascinating book written by a man whose experience of the mind is somewhat different to most of us. He has Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism, and, while he functions well in the world, he does see some things differently, such as numbers, which tend to have particular shapes not related to their look on the page, or colours that relate to particular words.
And of course, he doesn't always think of things the way most of us mere mortals do....hence my comments about 'supplements.' Even with the most straightforward brain, it's possible to get a totally different picture from a word heard or on a page to the meaning intended. Actually, it's part of the fun of language.
I get a few comments on this blog, but most of what I have to say doesn't arouse any great debates, or start flame-throwing sessions or the like. Our preference is to keep things fairly mild over in this corner of Orble.
So continuing on the theme of health - you'll note this blog has shifted quite considerably from its stated intention of dealing with things related to work - I came across something called a Medicare supplement today. I honestly had no idea what this might be - though this is perhaps because I'm not in a country that has Medicare available. (We have private health insurance, certainly, it just goes by other names.)
A supplement to Medicare, in my limited understanding, sounded something like a tonic that perhaps you got from Medicare. But no, it's insurance over and above your Medicare. Okay, that makes sense, but it just goes to show what the mind will come up with when it doesn't know something!
I've been reading a book by Daniel Tammet called Embracing the Wide Sky:
And of course, he doesn't always think of things the way most of us mere mortals do....hence my comments about 'supplements.' Even with the most straightforward brain, it's possible to get a totally different picture from a word heard or on a page to the meaning intended. Actually, it's part of the fun of language.
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Comment by crb636
I hope I might be the one that sent you the comment regarding catheters & other unpleasant nasties...
In Oz everyone has a "medicare" card, where presumably you can receive Medical cost assistance. The Govt has a "most common fee" schedule where it will pay the cost of the "most common fee" for a given service The poor doctors over here have of course upped their fees because they believe the most common fee is not enough. A few years ago I moved a few km to a new home. After 37 years attending a small clinic near my old home, I was either forced to travel 10km to my regular Doctor, or attend a new Doctor nearby. As a regular "pill-popper" for various ailments. I need prescriptions at least twice a month & of course have to attend the Doctor for the prescriptions to be written. My new Doctor only charges the "most common fee" ($33.55)for a standard consultation so the account goes straight to Medicare & I am not required to pay any additional fee. At my previous clinic I was required to pay an extra $12.00 for the same service. I am sorry to see that my "old" Doctor can not survive on $33.55 every 10 minutes of the time he puts in at the clinic.. Perhaps he is a better Doctor ! ! ! !. I think that is what the medicare supplement is supposed to cover you for... "Public" patients at Public Hospitals here have to wait over a year for "elective" surgery. As a "heart" Patient I have nothing but praise for the emergency Dept. I have never had to wait very long. "Heart" being the magic word - but I went in with a broken leg, arm, or other non life threatening injury. I* could wait for 2 hours or 2 days before seeing a medical practioner... I undergo the "trial-by-void" excercise on tuesday. As to whether this Judicial "hearing" at the Urology Dept is sucessful or I "lose the case" will dertimine as to whether I actually get to meet a Urologist at a later date.... Glad to see that both you & wife are on the mend........charlie
Comment by Mike Crowl
Webitz
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And yes, you were the person I was referring to...!
Comment by Mike Crowl
Webitz
Work Report