Jason Colby’s Blog

It has been a while since my last post on here.  The extended weekend is near and I am excited for the extra time off though I have no major plans (which I don’t mind at all).

The Lupus Foundation of America, Pacific Northwest Chapter has several walks coming up. I will be assisting at the Spokane and Olympia walks and participating in and assisting with the Seattle walk.  I urge everyone that is able to participate in their nearest walk.  If you can’t walk your self consider donating (there is a link to my donation page on the right).

Portland – September 19th (I won’t be able to attend this)
Spokane – September 26th
Olympia – October 3rd
Seattle – October 17th

The summer has been an especially warm one here in the Pacific Northwest and I am looking forward to my favorite season…Autumn!  Bring on the fog, cool weather, and brilliant colors.  The cool foggy mornings have an incredible feel and smell to them that are hard to describe except to say that it is truly wonderful.

Let me start by saying that I do support health care reform. With that being said I feel that any reform should be carefully researched prior to proceeding. Health care in the United States is long overdue for some changes and I applaud President Obama for working toward that goal. I also would like to see some “easing up on the reigns” as this is too important to rush.

I work in the health care informatics field and try to keep informed of potential changes that could affect the industry. Also to be quite frank what affects this industry affects all citizens in the United States as health care is needed by everyone eventually. Today I received an email form a colleague which I feel compelled to share.

Pardon my intrusion, but I’d like to ask a favor – please click on the following link and “sign” a petition opposing the proposed cuts to the Medicare home care benefit. The cuts proposed for home health care in President Obama’s budget are disproportionate. These cuts will total 11.5% of the total Medicare program savings over 10 years while home health segment is only 4.5% of total program expenditures. These cuts will result in $34 Billion in cuts over 10 years from a $16 Billion program. The House Tri-Committee bill has even greater cuts to the home health benefit totaling $51 Billion over 10 years. The homecare industry cannot sustain this level of cuts.

http://www.wecansavehomehealth.org/

I “signed” this earlier and it only took a minute, fast and easy and you can make a difference if you take the time!

With an aging population that relies on this system and considering the disproportionate cuts mentioned I would urge you to sign this petition.

On a side note it seems that I am straying from the topics I outlined for myself more and more frequently. Perhaps I constrained myself too quickly! I will have to rethink the content of my blog, perhaps it will just include whatever is on my mind…therefore backing out of my self created limited topic rule.