Mama Carol

I'm 55, so I'm only a few years behind you. I'd love to meet you, too.

Every holiday, especially 4th of July and Labor Day, my cousins and I would gather at my grandmother's house and have someone take us all for a ride in my uncles pick up truck. We would gather all of us in the back (I have 8 cousins plus by that time some of them had kids) and hit the road (not literally). One of our big joys was going through the Covered Bridge, after dark, without headlights! I remember another time several of us piled in the back of my uncle's pick up and went to lunch. Other than sunburn nothing bad happened to us.

I took the course online through Chattahoochee Tech. Things happened and I wasn't able to take the final or the licensing exam. I've really been considering retaking the course and getting my license. I have a friend who is interested in taking the course and hope I can talk her into us taking the course together. Hint, hint you-know-who-you-are.

Congratulations!!! But you aren't that much older than I am, are you? We should one day. After all, I'm semi-retired already.

If I wasn't anonymous on here, it might drive some of my FB friends nuts. Then again, I think most of my FB friends ARE nuts. Why else would I be friends with them????

I know! I've seen you on BOTH at the same time.

Get pre-approved first. That way you don't waste your time or the time of your agent looking at houses that you could not afford. Go to the bookstore or shop at Amazon and find a book called "House Hunting" by Dian Hymer. Great workbook for the house hunter. It gives you space for notes, flooring layouts, mortgage information, agent information, negotiating the price, EVERYTHING you need in one, easy to carry book. I'd let you have my copy but I hope to need it again soon. Don't settle for the first agent you talk to unless you have talked with at least two others before making

Ain't that a fact!

I know what you mean. I have a friend who has had two bouts of breast cancer. Even with insurance (high deductible but at least it IS insurance), the costs are astronomical. Coupled with the downturn in the economy, they are hurting very badly.

Well, I alternate between the two. If I check one, I check the other. Some of my FB friends are on Pcom and some of them aren't. Most are not on Pcom. Unlike some of the previous posters, I don't have two tabs open RIGHT NOW. A whole lot of the time I have three open--Pcom, FB and webmail. Same here. Been a member of Pcom since...what, 2004 I think. My online addiction before that was SMT (Sci.Med.Transcription). Pcom has much nicer people. Man, those MTs could be brutal!

Married filing joint is usually the best, ESPECIALLY if you have children. With your earnings, you wouldn't be required to file a return BUT if you did file separately and he itemizes you would have to do so as well. Not fair, but such is the nature of taxes. We, too, plan to move to Florida at some point but when we do, we will liquidate EVERYTHING here, up to and including closing our corporation in Georgia and moving it to Florida. It sounds as though the poster and her children reside here full time. It's hubby who doesn't.

I had been going to the same primary care physician for years. I really liked him but since I wasn't working in Dallas anymore, I wanted someone closer to where I live. I scheduled a new patient physical for the new doctor. It seemed as though I waited a bit long in the waiting room but I'm generally a patient person and it didn't really bother me. I really liked the doctor, he was knowledgable about my genetic condition and we seemed to be able to work well with each other. I had lab work done on that visit. Two days later, they call with my lab results and tell me I need to come back i

I'll go you one better. On December 18, 2009 I had a mammogram. My insurance company paid Wellstar for the procedure but denied payment to the radiologist saying that I was ineligible. WTF??? In 2008, the radiologist used the incorrect ID number and the claim was denied on the first go-round. It was paid on the second go-round. I thought that might have happened again but that wasn't the case in 2009. I ended up writing a check for that.

I'll pass but thanks for the offer. I told my hubby I had to think today. He thought that was funny.

Great minds! And I beat you to it again.

I believe 3Kids is correct on all points. You would get a credit for taxes paid into the state of Florida but since they don't have a personal income tax, there would be no credit for those taxes.

I would not set foot back in that doctor's office! Old school or not, that is inexcusable. Your friend doesn't need a new drug. Your friend needs a new PCP.

Great minds must think alike because I've said for years that is what we need an overhaul in and not necessarily health care per se. The health care we as citizens generally get is fine and dandy. It's GETTING it that seems to be the issue. I think the government is pretty much incapable of doing anything. PERIOD. And yes, I have government employees within my family. FWIW, they agree with me.

Now the designation "certified medical assistant" means little more than you completed a course at a tech school. When I took the test, there were a lot of qualifications for even taking the test. It wasn't an easy thing to pass. I agree with you about the licensing for the staff. It seems outrageous that one has to have a license from the state to be an athletic trainer but doesn't have to have one to give injections, draw blood or do in-office patient care or even scheduling! There are many fine courses in medical office positions out there but there is no consistency in what th

Same thing happened when Tagamet went OTC. You could buy a generic at Walmart or somewhere and pay less than your copay would be for the Rx. Heck, most of the time you could buy the brand name at Walmart and pay less than your copay. If memory serves me correctly, some strengths of the Rx Tagamet and similar products were no longer covered by insurance. I wasn't taking them but had a friend who was. What really aggravated me about prescriptions was the cost for my hormone patches. I could pay for them out of pocket and pay LESS than my co-pay. I used my Greystone Connections card a

Have an absolute, total BAN on drug advertising. No TV ads, no print ads, no radio ads. None, nada, zilch, zip. That right there would drop the cost, and demand, for certain drugs dramatically. I've said for years that insurance companies have been running the health care industry. They need to stop that. My fear about national health care is that the insurance companies will be screwing over the general public but now will have the federal governments approval, and help, to do it.

I definitely agree about the lack of preventive care. I have a friend, the brother of my friend who is morbidly obese, and he was told that if he lost 25 pounds and started exercising he might not have to take medications to regulate his blood sugar. He joined a gym, lost 35 pounds and only has to check his blood sugar about once a month or so (and it is fine). Another problem is patients not being compliant. My mom absolutely REFUSED physical therapy that would have extended her life and made her more comfortable and active during that extended life. But how many insurance poli

The person you know has her priorities all screwed up! But odds are she knows that she won't have to pay for health care anyway. Is the company your husband works for hiring???? I have a son in law who needs a job. With two kids, he needs a job with health insurance that he can afford.

No, it isn't strictly cost. It's the fact that insurance companies are determining what care patients receive. That should NOT be up to the insurance companies or the government. That should be decided by the patient and the doctor. Someone else mentioned that the drug that would help them wasn't covered by their insurance company because others had to be tried first. We got that same info from our insurance company the other day. And that IS about cost but it still should not be up to the insurance company to play doctor. I have little enough faith in my doctors, so why in the wor

I know a number of people who choose not to have insurance coverage because they can't afford to have it. I don't think there are many people out there who can afford it and don't have it unless they are just ignorant of the fact that they should have it, especially if they have kids or are over 40. Nowens98, you are very fortunate with your health insurance coverage! Hubby and I were paying almost $650 a month for ours. He went back to work with the same employer and we only had to pay half (a little over $400 a month). Now he isn't working for them again and I have yet to see what