Housematey Reunion

I'm too lazy to update the rest of my trip home but it involved congratulating Dr. Eric on successfully defending his thesis, waiting to be blown away by a tornado with Marc while sipping wine, and playing Nintendo with Gino.

When I got back to Chi-town the housemateys invaded for a 5-day whirlwind adventure. One of the many highlights was our visit to American Girl. This store is beyond creepy. Children pick out a doll that is dressed according to some time period. For example, there is a black doll from 1814 who comes with costumes and accessories from the time period including an information card. That particular one made no mention of slavery FYI, just that "the north and south were divided."

We were total assholes in this store, taking photos of the ridiculousness including Rachel posing infront of a gigantic star holding a book called, "Am I Normal?"

This card says "Dark skin, textured black hair boy." Even though the light-skinned dolls got 4 pages in the catalogue, dark skinned dolls only get one:




Matching clothes for you and your doll!



Tell your story! With a doll that looks like you! Your moment is now! Vague meaningless catch phrase!



Professional photo studio for you and your doll:


Randomly crippled doll:



Doll *hospital* where staff are actually wearing scrubs:




Hair dressers to style your doll's hair:



It's way too easy to make fun of this. It was a sign infront of a church:

Hail to the Ch-ch-chief!

In case you missed it, there is now a Chia Obama.

Access to Birth Control in Illinois Pt II

I knew this would go badly. And it did. So I went to that asian health clinic for my appointment today and was asked to fill out paperwork. The whole experience was very stressful for the following reasons:

1. They ask you to declare whether or not you have health coverage with a disclaimer that says lying is an offence. However, my deductible is $50 so I was afraid that if I admitted I had health insurance they would force me to use it rather than get a discounted fee for uninsured people. But I didn't want to get in trouble for lying so I ended up writing down my health insurance information.

2. Also, I wasn't given an opportunity to discuss the fee after I gave them my information. I had to receive the service first (talking to the doctor) and THEN discuss the fee. My anxiety kept mounting because I was afraid the proposed fee would be more than I could afford but I would be forced to pay because I had already spoken to the doctor.

Fortunately, I was only charged $15 for the visit which is far less than my other options. I specified to the doctor that I wanted a cheap pill because I couldn't afford much. She appeared to understand what I was saying and gave me my presription for three months worth of pills. I left feeling relieved. Big mistake.

When I got to the pharmacy I asked how much my prescription would be for one month. Apparently they have a deal with the clinic and all patients get 40% off their prescriptions! However, the particular pill I was given was a popular new brand and costs...wait for it...wait for it...

$69.99 PER MONTH.

In what UNIVERSE does birth control cost $70 a month (PLUS TAX)? Granted, I got a 40% discount which brought the price down considerably ($30-something dollars) but that is also outrageously expensive. So, I handed over my medical insurance card and asked what the price would be. First, I wasn't allowed to use the 40% discount in addition to my medical insurance. Second...

My prescription coverage won't pay for contraceptives.

Oh, it covers prescription medication alright. But not prescription contraception. I guess Jesus frowns on that so the insurance companies figured they better not piss him off. So apparently the doctor was either deaf when I said 'cheap' or she thinks that $70/month for the pill is reasonable.

From this little exercise in futility I have learned that if you live in Illinois and are a US citizen, getting access to birth control pills is very easy by using the pink card. However, if you are not a US citizen, access to the pill is extremely difficult and virtually unaffordable.

Access to Birth Control in Illinois

Recently I tried to refill my prescription for the pill. However, I don't go back to Canada until August so I started enquiring about my options in the US. Needless to say, my hatred for this health care system has reached levels I didn't know existed. Here is how I spent my morning:

1. HMOs: To find out where my health insurance was eligible, I had to dig up my paperwork and find the url for a website which lists all the service providers in my area. The website was somewhat difficult to navigate. When I got the list, I called one close to me and asked about fees. To see the doctor it cost $65 and the price of one pack of birth control is $25. My deductible is $50 and then my insurance provider pays 80% of the remaining cost. To put this into perspective, in Toronto I can go to a clinic and get a pack for $5-10 and not pay to see the doctor. This option blows chunks.

2. Planned Parenthood: I called Planned Parenthood which is an allegedly cheap alternative for people who don't have insurance. They have multiple sites throughout the city. However, they charge $58 for a visit plus $30 for a pack of pills! Also, their wait times are considerable and inconvenient if you are in a pinch. Eff this noise.

3. The Pink Card: Illinois offers free birth control for women who reside in this state. Recipients get free birth control pills, condoms, and two 'plan B' pills per month. However, I am not eligible because I'm not a US citizen. Who cares about immigrants and students anyway?

4. Student health: Most universities have a student health centre that provides reasonably priced services.

5. Community clinic: My friend finally recommended her clinic which provides cheap health care services (had she not told me about it, I never would have known this option existed). It's specifically for asian immigrants but guess who has an appointment tomorrow? This girl! However, they *still* gave me a hassle. They wouldn't tell me how much an appointment costs until I arrive at my appointment. Before setting a price they need to review my most recent pay stub and photo ID. But wait - my pay stubs are from Canada and are mailed to my mom's house. The operator told me they only recognize pay stubs from the US anyway but told me to show up and 'see what the doctor says.' So there will be a part two of this story.

So what I have learned is unless you are a US citizen and/or have kickass medical insurance, birth control is virtually unaffordable and exceedingly difficult to obtain due to wait times, administrative hoops, and high prices. I'm surprised that more women aren't pregnant because honestly, it's probably less of a hassle and will cost about the same.

Easter Rant

My life is embarrassingly dull right now as I am in the middle of finals. So, I will rant about the American healthcare system a little more. I could write a book about what I've learned so far but I'll focus on one story:

My friend is a high school teacher who you would think would have decent medical coverage. However, he has a $500 deductible. His wife is pretty sure she has a thyroid condition and needs to have a physical by a doctor including blood work to confirm. The problem is that this exam costs $250. Since this is less than the deductible she has to pay for the exam out of pocket. Since her husband's salary has to pay for tuition, rent, car payments, food, etc they can't afford for her to go to the doctor to get this test and ultimately to get the medication she needs (and also can't afford). So they're going to wait until they've saved up enough money.

Isn't this wild? Further, if he wants to get a physical exam by a doctor he can't combine his bill with hers so that any further medical expenses would be paid by the insurance company (because two $250 exams would equal their deductible). Each person gets billed separately so it's even harder to get to that $500 if all you want is routine preventative medical care.

If someone with a good job can't afford basic healthcare, imagine what those less fortunate are going through.

On an Easter-related note, this is ridiculous.

Cigarettes and Bars

A weird thing happened to me at the bar the other night. I was out on the patio of a bar with two friends who smoke. A representative from Camel cigarettes came over and asked if we wanted free cigarettes.

My friends said yes. The cigarette girl pulled out a Star Trek-esque scanning device and scanned their cigarette cartons, and driver's licenses, then entered their names and contact info into the same device. Then she scanned packs of Camel cigarettes and gave them each two packs of their choice.

I was asked if I wanted some for myself. I said no, but my friends wanted me to get some for them (I actually felt a lot of dissonance doing so). However, after looking at my driver's license the girl said she couldn't give me cigarettes because I was Canadian and therefore couldn't confirm that my license was valid. While I joked about this being discrimination against foreigners, a dude in a suit came over and said he could in fact give me some cigarettes.

All I had to do was print and sign my name on a form. I don't think I even had to declare that I was of legal age to smoke. Then I was handed one pack of cigarettes, not two. Let's review:

* They can't give me two packs of cigarettes because they can't prove I'm legal age.
* They can give me one pack of cigarettes without any proof at all.

This makes total sense. Also, is this legal?

Mental Health Care in the USA

One benefit about living in the United States is you learn a lot about their health care system. We all know the gist but I'm studying the ins and outs: access to medical coverage, specific policies regarding access to psychotropic medication, and availability of services. It's an ugly scene. Although I have always supported universal health care, it has been possible to further sway me in that direction. Unless you are filthy rich and exceedingly misanthropic, there is no way anyone in Canada should want to have a health care system like the US.

Specifically, mental health services are appallingly bad. How bad? The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) decided to grade US mental health service provisions state by state, and as a country.

Check out the results.

Note that Illinois has improved from an F to a D! Woo!! Also, not one state received an A. USA! USA!

Unfortunately, I suspect that Canada's mental health care system is in similar shape. This is because psychological and psychiatric services have to be paid for either out of pocket (which is virtually unaffordable for many people) or through insurance (which not everyone has). I'll have to look into this further.

The Next Surgeon General

I read this interesting blurb about how Barack Obama has chosen CNN celebrity Dr. Sanjay Gupta as the next US Surgeon General. There is a petition going around to get someone else elected - Dr. George Lundberg. I won't post the whole petition but please compare two (albeit biased) blurbs about each doctor's credentials which are both humourous and sad:

Dr George Lundberg not only is a consummate public health scientist who knows public health issues, he strongly embraces the above three priorities in words and deeds (1. getting insurance for all Americans 2. decreasing unnecessary and expensive medical tests 3. Rebuilding public trust in the FDA, CDC, etc). As Editor- in-Chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association’s journal, commonly known as JAMA, between 1982-1999, the most widely read medical journal in the world, Dr. Lundberg earned the respect of a worldwide readership of JAMA. In 1999 he then went onto become(until January 30, 2009) Editor-in-Chief of MEDSCAPE, the leading source of online health information and education for physicians thus establishing himself as genuine pioneer in e-medicine work a trend he recognized very early and began at the AMA. He was dubbed “Online HealthCare’s Medicine Man” by The Industry Standard. He excels in both professional and patient medical education.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, conversely , trained in neurosurgery,-named in 2003 as one of the sexiest men in America-,shows little to no evidence of embacing the three fundamental priorities outlined above in this petition. Quite to the contrary Dr. Gupta has been a voice for the status quo in our very broken, profiteering based, bloated, bio-medical complex. One medical journalist described Gupta’s reporting as an “unquestioning –almost cheerleading approach to health news” most often reporting on the “the issue, or worse, the breakthrough of the day”. Gupta’s ties to the pharmacutical industry and medical testing industry need to be further investigated in his vetting process. We the signers of this petition demand this. And Gupta’s on–air attack of Michael Moore’s data contained in Moore’s movie Sicko requiring formal retraction by CNN and duly noted by Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman of The New York Times was a disgrace (I remember this...sooo awkward).

When I looked up Dr. Lundberg on Wikipedia, this is what it had to say:

One month before joining Medscape Lundberg was dramatically fired from JAMA by E. Ratcliffe Anderson, who was then executive vice president of the AMA over a research study report from the Kinsey Institute that Lundberg had selected for publication. The JAMA article reported, among other things, that 60% of college students surveyed in 1991 considered "oral sex" as not "having sex," which Anderson said was "inappropriately and inexcusably" timed to influence the debate over the Impeachment of Bill Clinton and "to extract political leverage." Lundberg subsequently successfully sued the AMA and was awarded an undisclosed settlement.

****UPDATE****

Dr. Gupta has apparently withdrawn his name as a candidate. Whatever. The comparison between the two doctors is still pretty funny.

Undecided Voters

I didn't think these people really existed. The Daily Show did a great bit on them but I thought, there's no way they're out and about, dressing themselves, driving cars, and maintaining jobs. Until I met one last night!

I asked how she could possibly be undecided. The response: "I just want more time so I can hear more from the candidates." When pressed whether she would actually vote: "No, I never vote, politics is such bullshit. I hate politicians, they all lie."

I could go on a never-ending rant but instead I'll post this great quote:

“I look at these people and can't quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention? To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. "Can I interest you in the chicken?" she asks. "Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it? To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked."

- Author David Sedaris, on undecided voters

I Just Want A Cup of Tea

I was sick of being cooped up in my mini-office all day, so I ventured out with my laptop to grab a cup of tea at a coffee shop to do some work (how very yuppie of me, I know). It turned out to be quite the challenge.

My favourite tea shop was packed so I couldn't sit anywhere. I went further down the street to this crazy European place. The dude behind the counter said I couldn't pay with credit card but could pay with a debit card. However, he only accepts Chase bank accounts, not Bank of America. He told me to go buy something at Walgreens (translation: Shoppers) and get cashback. Eff that. Who's heard of people selectively accepting say, TD debit cards but not Scotiabank debit cards?

So I went FURTHER down the street to Caribou Coffee and asked the dude what he accepted. He said ANY bank account! So I handed over my ATM card and ordered an apple cider. After several tries he told me my card didn't work because it's an ATM card. I said, "yyyeeeessss......?". He said "you can't pay for things with ATM cards, only debit cards." Aren't they the same thing you ask? No. One is for taking money out of bank machines, the other is for paying for stuff. So I rummaged around in my wallet and found an almost identical card that said "debit" which finally worked.

So, after about half an hour of dicking around, I have finally sat down to write my essay. I am sitting beside a fireplace and drinking what is possibly the finest apple cider I have ever had. Aside from the crazy/homeless man that just sat down beside me, I am in good shape for some serious productivity. If I could stop blogging that is...

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Update: Crazy/homeless guy fully has a cell phone! *And* it's way better than my cheap ass piece of crap. It's one of those tilt ones with the built-in keyboard! Amazing.

Banking Pt 2

I promised a good follow-up to my last post in this series and I don't think I'm going to disappoint. Check out my new cheques for my US bank account, through Bank of America:



...of course.

Banking Pt 1

My goal today was to open a US bank account at the Bank of America so I could pay my bills for free online as opposed to buying cheques and stamps. Being Canadian, I knew this would be a challenge so I armed myself with a passport, my F1 visa, mail showing my name/address, etc.

Getting the account was surprisingly easy, so I got really confused. Then - the glitch. They couldn't set up my online banking and to call the head office. It turns out they won't let international students without social security numbers to bank online. Let's get this straight - I can do all the banking I want in person at the branch but I can't do the same banking online until October 1. They're doing some bank merger and after it's complete I'll be able to do my business online.

This all makes perfect sense. The best part though? I'm getting a few cheques to use for paying rent and got a preview of what they'll look like. I can't spoil the surprise but trust me, you will want to stay tuned...

Pronunciation

Last night I discovered something. People in America pronounce "badminton" as "BADmi'in". No 't', emphasis on the 'bad'. At first they didn't know what I was saying when I said 'bad-min-ton.' Who are these people?

Talking to Americans

Awhile ago I went to this conference which discussed the idea of 'structural racism'. It's a complex concept that describes how institutions and people's implicit beliefs maintain racism, thus preventing the targets of this racism to get ahead in life. However, I think it can be extended past the borders of racism to encompass basic value judgments on other people as well. It was an interesting talk, but it's always more fascinating to see it happen in real life...

The other day I was having a conversation with an American about healthcare which turned into her view that the Canadian system sucks because you have to wait to get access to healthcare. Now, while wait times certainly are a huge area of concern for our system, the issue wasn't necessarily the quality of healthcare. The issue was getting what you want when you want it because that's what you 'deserve':

- "Americans work hard for their money and they should get the healthcare they deserve"
- "If you don't have healthcare, just get a job"
- "My hard earned dollars shouldn't go toward paying for some lazy person's healthcare"

I promptly pointed out that some people can't get jobs with good benefits, or obtain any sort of employment. The response:

- "The people who can't get employment are homeless and lazy"
- "Everyone has an equal opportunity to get a job in this country"
- "People who make a lot of money work hard and they deserve to keep their money"

So I says to the chick, I says sure lazy people exist everywhere. But a lot of homeless people have mental illnesses that prevent them from maintaining a job. Further, in the American system, they can't afford to see a psychiatrist or pay for medication so they'll never get better. Other people have the misfortune of being disabled due to an accident or disease which prevents them not only from working, but from getting decent healthcare coverage even if they had the money to pay for it! And even if they are lazy, are they not people too? Are they not Americans? What about children of lazy people - should they be denied access to good healthcare?

As for people who make lots of money - ever heard of nepotism? How about white privilege? If you are black in America and have a history of slavery in your family, do you really think that money has been passed down in the generations that could allow successive generations to pay for college and subsequently obtain a high paying job? Or do you think white people have a much better chance of doing so? Maybe the people who do the hiring at these jobs don't want to hire a black person because they think they're all lazy, or stupid, or they'd rather hire the boss's daughter who is a terribly inept employee but wears see-through clothes to work so the guys want her hanging around the water cooler.

These people still believe in the American Dream of working hard and achieving success, and are totally heartless when it comes to helping out other people, regardless of whether they are legitimately disadvantaged or not. I says to her, "don't you people say you're one nation under god, and all men were created equal?" Isn't that the shit you people say? She just laughed and said "that has never been true and never will be."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ps: I don't want to sound all idealistic and hippie with this post. You people should know by now that I am irritated by pretty much everyone I come in contact with. But when I hear someone say all of that shit in one sitting, I realize how ridiculous it sounds. Yes, I would love to get access to doctors instantly and never have to wait for anything. But as someone who is perpetually broken and has bandaids and staples holding me together, I am well aware that if I were an American, I would be one of the poor, lazy, uninsured people who doesn't deserve healthcare because apparently I'm not willing to try hard enough.

Medical Bills Continued...

If you recall, I had some bloodwork done in February at a local hospital that cost me $265.

This past week I get ANOTHER bill in the mail for $33 from a pathology lab in Indianapolis. I called because I had no idea why I was being billed and the operator told me that even though I paid for the bloodwork at the hospital, this bill was separate. I am now being billed for the pathologist to write out the results of the bloodwork on a piece of paper to cover costs of 'ensuring quality of each lab test, supervising lab personnel, and directing the medical laboratory.'

I'm half expecting more bills to come in drips and drabs over the next year:

* Secretary fee for putting my bills in the envelope
* Janitor fee for keeping the laboratory spotless and clean
* International fee for analyzing non-American blood


...and so on.

Security?

Does increased security at airports make us safer? Maybe, maybe not. But they sure do make you feel violated. Let me give you an example.

I started unpacking my suitcase when I got home, and immediately when I opened the bag, I felt that something was amiss. I'm not the neatest packer in the world but my belongings were in total disarray which is bad even for my standards. Also, a bottle of my hair spray had leaked EVERYWHERE despite the fact that I put it in a plastic bag before I left. I looked and the cap was on very loosely. It ruined one of my books, and several other books that I had packed were bent. At first I just assumed things must have REALLY gotten roughed up in the flight.

Then a piece of paper [also soaked in hair spray] fell out of some of the clothes I had taken out of my bag:

NOTICE OF BAGGAGE INSPECTION

"To protect you and your fellow passengers, the TSA is required by law to inspect all checked baggage. As part of this process, some bags are opened and physically inspected. Your bag was among those selected for physical inspection.

During the inspection, your bag and its contents may have been searched for prohibited items. At the completion of the inspection, the contents were returned to your bag.

If the TSA security officer was unable to open your bag for inspection because it was locked, the officer may have been forced to break the locks on your bag. TSA sincerely regrets having to do this, however TSA is not liable for damage to your locks resulting from this necessary security precaution."

Oh really? Now, I must admit, it is POSSIBLE that somehow I didn't tighten the cap on my hair spray and that my belongings were all bent because they shifted during flight. But I flew to Buffalo with that same bottle of hair spray and nothing spilled, and I don't see why I would unscrew the cap for any reason.

Regardless of who or what caused my suitcase to smell like a hair salon, I do feel violated. It's creepy knowing that some stranger rifled through my personal items in my luggage, like some of my financial records from doing my taxes. I had no idea they were searching bags, and I don't fully trust some random TSA agent to go through my things and a) not take anything or b) notice anything fell out.

Apparently others feel the same but lodging a complaint is probably futile.

Guns

I had lunch with some friends today who told me that they both own guns, and they keep the guns in their homes. Although one of them had a gun license, the other did not. I asked how she got the gun, and she said she walked into a gun store, bought the gun, went home. She said it was like the scene in Bowling for Columbine when Michael Moore gets a gun at the bank.

I asked them why they needed guns in their homes, the answers were [in no particular order]: protection, hunting, and target shooting.

Personally, guns scare the crap out of me and I wouldn't want one in my house, even if it's unloaded. I'm probably scarred by that story of the rock star guy who accidentally shot himself in the head at a party...JTL - help me out here...

Anyway, I just can't see how easy gun access can be a good thing. My friends agreed with me, and went on to discuss the right for civilians to purchase automatic rifles. One friend summarized, 'Owning automatic rifles is a perversion of the constitution.'

I think out of all my friends, I know one who has owned a gun. Does anyone here know of people who have guns?

*poof*

*poof*

Maternity Leave

I was out for lunch with some girls from class and we were discussing maternity leave [I don't know why]. I made a comment about my friend who had a baby who is still enjoying her year off and my American friends were shocked - maternity leave?? WITH PAY?! Their jaws dropped. Confused, I asked how much Americans get and the response?

No paid maternity leave, minimal unpaid.

I looked it up on wikipedia here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_leave#Americas

Check it out - the US gives 0 weeks paid maternity leave and 6 weeks unpaid. Given that the importance of early mother-baby bonding has been emphasized in research for years now, I am surprised [and sadly not surprised] to find this out. Curiously, the only other countries that appear to offer no paid maternity leave include:

Lesotho
Australia [weird, huh?]
Swaziland
Latvia [apparently offers 10 paternity days but not maternity days??]

I'm not sure if a lack of a number indicates missing data or whether that means maternity leave isn't offered. Regardless, when countries such as Ukraine, Yemen, Iran, El Salvador, and Nigeria are offering more maternity leave than you are, you're in bad shape.

I would also like to highlight Denmark's policy on maternity/paternity leave:

1 year. To be shared between the parents as they see fit.

Man, I love this country. Who's moving there with me?