Health Insurance

“Could please somebody tell me why 1,112 registered voters and only 70 voted? And I have a grandson who is on his way to Afghanistan, just to help the people build a country so they can vote. Could somebody please explain that to us, what is wrong in America today?” — Washington County “If you do not call in to a doctor’s office before your appointment and cancel it, sometimes they charge you. But how come sometimes when you go to a doctor’s office, once they schedule your appointment and then tell you that they did not schedule it on their schedule or in the computer, but you have the card, they tell you to come back the next day, or they cannot see you that day. Shouldn’t your next visit be free?

A town meeting Wednesday night brought out about 50 people to talk about ways to get involved in the political process — or at least start talking about it again. Local activist Russell Mokhiber invited the public to join the discussion at the Earth Dog Cafe on South Washington Street. Mokhiber asked the audience if Americans avoid politics and is there is a cost? "The purpose is to discuss this issue to learn why and how we can confront it," he said. People avoid politics, but the nation is $14 trillion in debt and it spends $750 million a day on two wars, he said.

Shhhhhhhh!!! Let’s not mention Christmas this year. All right? Let’s be politically correct and just say “Happy Holidays.” What’s up with that?  I have always enjoyed Christmas and have always enjoyed wishing people a Merry Christmas and people wishing me a Merry Christmas back. When growing up in those beautiful hills of Dargan, Christmas was always a very special time of the year. Everyone seemed to be a tad bit friendlier and even some became a little more fond of giving and helping out others in need during the season.

Editor's note: The letters below had been scheduled to appear in the print edition of the Sept. 30, 2010, Herald-Mail but were pulled to make room for the editorial honoring the late Nick Giannaris. The letters are now scheduled to be published in the Herald-Mail print edition on Monday, Oct. 4. Insurance companies show true colors To the editor: Showing the need for greed, several large insurance companies have already said in advance they could deny insurance coverage to children with pre-existing medical conditions guaranteed by the new laws by not offering any new policies for children at all. Insurance spokesmen explain their potential consideration of an end run around the laws by anticipating that parents might not purchase insurance for their children until they got sick, affecting the insurance companies' bottom line and their commitments to Wall Street.

CHICAGO (AP) -- The nation's new health care law turns 6 months old today and starts delivering protections and dollars-and-cents benefits that Americans can grasp. But it won't affect all consumers the same way, which might cause confusion. Will everyone's health insurance change today? No. It depends on when your health insurance plan year starts. Many of the new requirements begin with plan years starting on or after Sept. 23. But if your plan year starts Jan. 1, as many do, that's when the changes start.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of people living in poverty has climbed to 14.3 percent of Americans, with the ranks of working-age poor reaching the highest level since at least 1965. The Census Bureau says that about 43.6 million people, or 1 in 7, were in poverty last year. That's up from 39.8 million, or 13.2 percent, in 2008. The number of people lacking health insurance rose from 46.3 million to 50.7 million, due mostly to the loss of employer-provided health insurance during the recession.

Washington County Public Schools employees will receive a notice with their paychecks Friday that the school system has hired a firm to verify that dependents enrolled in the system's health insurance plan are actually eligible. The verification process is part of cost-containment measures, school system officials said during Tuesday's Board of Education meeting. The independent auditing firm of Chapman Kelly, of Indiana, will conduct the verifications. According to the presentation at Tuesday's meeting, there will be an amnesty phase from Aug. 25 to Sept.

HAGERSTOWN --Following her mother's death two years ago, Joanne Harig made an unexpected discovery. On a small sheet of paper found inside a book, the 70-year-old woman had jotted down the aches and pains she had been experiencing in the weeks leading up to her fatal heart attack. Harig's mother told no one about her symptoms. "I wish she had," her daughter said. "She could be alive today. " Her mother's death, however, has taught the entire family a valuable lesson, Harig said: you have to be proactive when it comes to your health.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a key provision of President Barack Obama's health care law, sending a clear message of discontent to Washington and Democrats less than 100 days before the midterm elections. With about 70 percent of the vote counted late Tuesday, nearly three-quarters of voters had supported the measure. Tuesday's vote approving the ballot measure, known as Proposition C, was seen as largely symbolic because federal law generally trumps state law. But it was also seen as a sign of growing voter disillusionment with federal policies and a show of strength by conservatives and the tea party movement.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. -- A taxpayer who owed five years of back taxes worth more than $200,000 to Martinsburg helped ease the pinch on the city's budget, City Finance Director Mark B. Spickler said Tuesday. Along with a couple of other unexpected "one-time" shots of revenue, the city's unassigned general fund balance at the end of the fiscal year was $1,484,002, according to figures released this week. Spickler declined to identify the delinquent taxpayer who paid the city $202,364 in business and occupation taxes, which are based on gross sales.