Granted, Psych Central, the organization that granted the award, also hosts our blog, but Bipolar Beat really is one of the top bipolar blogs on the Web. Candida and I have invested a great deal of time, energy, and (her) expertise in addressing topics that we feel are most relevant to the bipolar community - including topics nobody else seems to want to touch, including the over-diagnosis of childhood bipolar, weight gain often caused by medications to treat bipolar, and alternative & complementary treatments that the mainstream medical community doesn’t care to acknowledge.

We owe much of our success, however, to the many people with bipolar disorder and their loved ones who have posted their stories on our original blog, Bipolar Blog. The Post Your Bipolar Story has become one of the most popular features on our blog. I believe it contributed significantly to the opportunity we were given to host Bipolar Beat - Psych Central’s only bipolar blog.

Lott concludes his article as follows: “Economists might be known for disagreeing with each other, but there is surprising agreement regarding the bailout and the causes for the current financial problems. There was no support for the broad bailout being discussed in Washington, and the economists believed that the same outcome could be achieved at much lower cost to the taxpayers.”

Now if this is true, somebody please tell me what the heck is going on. Shouldn’t our country’s top economists be central in writing any legislation required to clean up this mess? If we had a bird flu epidemic, wouldn’t we want doctors and epidemiologists telling us what to do rather than a bunch of politicians? If NASA has an emergency in space, does it consult Congress on how to resolve the issue?

If our top economists are warning against the bailout package, why is nobody listening to them?

How’d I figure that? Well, last I checked, according to the U.S. National Debt Clock, the national debt is currently about $10 trillion ($9,734,169,505,691.88). Add another trillion or so for the current bank bailouts, and we’re up to about $11 trillion. I won’t even count all the interest we’re racking up on that debt every second of every day. Divide that by 300 million (the approximate number of people in the U.S. according to the Census Bureau), and you get $36,666. For a couple with two kids, that represents over $140,000. They could buy a pretty decent house for that much.

It kills me to think how hard I work and how financially responsible I try to be. I obsess about balancing my budget, paying my bills (including taxes), and saving for the future. Then I witness corporations who haven’t done such a great job of doing the same getting bailed out with my tax money. I watch our public servants embrace deficit spending and simply print more money to cover their wreckless spending.

I wonder why I should bother. Maybe I should just max out my credit and become a day trader to see whether I can score a big payday. Could be fun. Why not? Oh yeah, I remember… it’s because the federal government won’t bail out the little guy. Only the fat cats get the free pass.

Later: After doing a little more research, I discovered a page (America’s Total Debt Report) claiming that the national debt is more like $53 trillion, if you take into account “recognized debt of federal, state & local governments, international, private households, business and domestic financial sectors, including federal debt to trust funds.” This represents over $175,000 in debt for every man, woman, and child in the U.S. Wow. That’s far worse than the scenario I painted.

I also found a page (”How Bad is the National Debt, Really“) that says we need to look at the national debt in perspective and view it as net worth per citizen. If we look at the national debt as a liability and our national wealth as an asset and then subtract liabilities from assets to determine net worth, we’re actually in the black. According to this page, every individual’s share of the national debt is about $162,000, but everyone’s share of the national wealth is over $300,000. If that’s true, I’d like to know where I can go to collect my $138,000, because I could really use it right now.

In essence, I’m more confused than ever.

The United States takes over companies that are losing money.

I think the U.S. government ought to take over the U.S. oil companies to offset the cost of its most recent financial industry bailouts. Maybe they should take over Microsoft, General Electric, and Coca Cola, too.

Why? Because I remember hearing this same sort of thing back in 2000.

In fact, if Friedman had a paper bag over his head, I would’ve sworn it was Al Gore. One of Gore’s central themes during his 2000 presidential campaign was to use global warming as a way to stimulate economic growth through the development of green technologies.

If you’ve read the book (or you happen to be Thomas L. Friedman, not Al Gore pretending to be Thomas L. Friedman or vice versa), please let me know what you think. Maybe you can convince me that it’s worth reading. Friedman certainly didn’t convince me through his appearance on Meet the Press.

Cat’s Cradle

On Wednesday, September 10, 2008, scientists are going to fire up the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) on the border between Switzerland and France to re-enact the “Big Bang” on a smaller scale. In the process, they hope to discover more about the origins of the universe and the composition of dark matter, dark energy, and other dimensions. A handful of scientists are concerned that this tiny big bang could ultimately shower the earth with miniature black holes that will ultimately cause the earth to collapse in on itself.

I always get a little concerned when humans begin messing with stuff they don’t fully understand, like genetic engineering. I think back to the genetically engineered corn that was killing Monarch butterflies. I think ahead to the possibility of some scientist trying to genetically modify bacteria that can convert water and carbon dioxide into oil. What if something unexpected happened, and all of our water turned into oil?

Maybe I just don’t understand the risks involved or how scientists manage to contain the risks, but some of this experimentation really gives me the heebie jeebies. I think science and technology have done wonderful things for humans as a whole and hold out the promise of doing even more good. I would hate to tie the hands of the curious scientist, but I wonder what gives scientists the right to proceed with these experiments without consulting with the rest of the human race. I suppose it’s the same thing that lets world leaders wage war without consensus of the people who stand to suffer the consequences.

I don’t disagree that (overall) today’s students are not as educated as they need to be for today’s world. That’s patently obvious. What I disagree on are the reasons why.

Everyone is quick to blame the teachers and the schools. Politicians constantly rant about holding teachers and schools accountable. I just heard one of the presidential hopefuls talk about making schools and teachers “answerable” to parents and students!

What a crock of bull-loney.

Our society is broken. We have a divorce rate of about 50%. Kids are spending far too much time watching TV, playing video games, and surfing the Web and far too little time playing outside, interacting with one another (in reality rather than “texting”), exploring their environment, and reading. Parents are afraid to send their kids outside, afraid they’ll fall victim to a child molester or drug dealer or other miscreant. And kids’ access to porn and violence via TV, movies, the Internet, and other media is appalling.

Instead of doing something to turn our society around, we take the easy route – blame somebody. Whose fault is it? The schools, the teachers, of course. After all, aren’t they the ones responsible for educating our children?

People, wake up. Our kids are failing because we’re failing our kids. It’s not the schools and the teachers. It’s us – the rest of us who are supposed to care for our children for all that time they’re not in school. We’re too afraid or lazy to turn off the TV; enforce restrictions on video games and bedtimes; make our neighborhoods safer; and encourage our kids to spend some time reading on their own. It’s too difficult to fix a sick society that considers torture movies like Saw as entertainment and easy access to porn as a first amendment right. It’s much easier to just blame someone else.

Over the past couple months, I’ve heard some discussion about Anthem Health Insurance not covering treatment provided by St. Clare Medical Center - the only hospital in Crawfordsville. Apparently, the two parties settled whatever dispute they were having, and the issue kind of faded as a topic in the local gossip chains.

The other day, however, my wife received a letter from Athens Medical Group, where her primary care physician practices. (You can view a PDF version of the letter - 1 meg.) In his letter, CEO of Athens Medical Group, Brett Spencer, MD informs patients that Anthem Insurance Companies are dropping Athens as an “in network” provider. For anyone who’s dealt with health insurance, this is a biggie, because you pay a premium for “out of network” care.

The conflict could affect my family through my wife - forcing her to pay out-of-network if she wants to continue seeing her current providers or to drive a half hour or more out of town to obtain in-network care. My health insurance is even worse. I pay over $2,000 per year for a $10,000 deductible policy to a company (American Medical “Security”) that simply sends me statements explaining why it’s not paying any claims.

What I’m waiting for is the doctors to get totally fed up with the status quo and launch their own national health insurance company through the AMA (American Medical Association). Get rid of the middleman! They could standardize all the forms, so they wouldn’t have to deal with multiple insurance companies and forms, streamline operations, and increase efficiency. Who better to oversee what insurance companies should and should not pay for than the doctors themselves?

And if that doesn’t work, why don’t we just go back to paying cash - out of pocket? Require each doctor to do a set amount of pro-bono work, and get rid of health insurance altogether? What we have now just isn’t working.

Until this gets fixed, I’ve left strict orders with my family. If I have a serious illness and can’t get myself to the hospital, they’re to take the wallet out of my pocket, drive me up in front of the hospital emergency room, and roll me gently out onto the pavement. This is the only way I’ll be able to get the treatment I need without going bankrupt.

If anyone has any detailed information about what’s going on between Athens Medical Group and Anthem Health Insurance Companies or any other similar dispute, please leave a comment. Or just weigh in on the current state of health insurance in the United States.

Usually, I can control the symptoms by popping Benadryl and shooting NasalCrom up my nose a couple times a day during peak pollen season. This year, my usual treatment regimen didn’t phase the allergies, so back in January, I saw my doctor to see if he could recommend anything. He gave me prescriptions for fexofenadine (generic Allegra) and fluticasone propionate (genric Flonase, a nasal spray). That seemed to do the trick, but I often had to add some Benadryl to the mix when things got bad, especially at night.

I eventually stopped taking the meds and was okay for several months, but a couple weeks ago, the allergies returned with a vengeance. I refilled my prescriptions, stocked up on Benadryl and NasalCrom and hit them with everything in my arsenal:

• Generic Flonase
• Generic Allegra
• NasalCrom
• Benadryl
• Afrin
• Sudafed
• My wife’s Albuterol inhaler or my over-the-counter Primateen Mist (for clearing my lungs)
• Mucinex
• Saline solution irrigation (2 cups water + 1/2 teaspoon sea salt + 1/4 teaspoon baking soda + capful hydrogen peroxide) warmed in the microwave for a minute on high and pumped through my WaterPik using a gadget I rigged for it

Eventually the congestion got so bad, I was tempted to snort a couple lit firecrackers to blast through the blockage, but on second thought realized that would probably be a bad idea. Instead, I visited my doctor. Here’s what he did:

• Added Singulair to my generic Allegra and Flonase (boy is Singulair expensive! With my whopping $18 insurance discount, it cost me $105 for 30 pills).
• Told me to reduce my use of Afrin because over the long-term the “rebound effect” could make me more congested. (I could still use it once a day before bed).
• Told me to lay off the Sudafed and Primateen Mist because it could boost my blood pressure into a range of concern.
• Gave me a shot of cortisone, telling me that it’ll clear me up for at least two weeks.

Soon after that shot, I felt much better. Woke up last night sneezing, but when I took the generic Allegra and the Singulair, the combination cleared me up. This morning, I feel like a champ. I’m even thinking of going jogging later.

Yes, I found a new best friend - Cortisone, I love you! Thanks, doc!

Yet, whenever my doctor dutifully bills the insurance company (so those billing amounts can be applied to the deductible), he’s giving the insurance company personal information about me that they can use to increase my rates. They now have a complete record of any health issues I have… supplied directly by my doctor.

I rarely see the doctor, but over the course of the past few weeks, I had several doctor’s appointments, a chest x-ray, and a few prescriptions for allergy medications. Within a couple weeks of my most recent visit, I received a notice from my health insurance provider, American Medical Security, that the company was raising my premiums.

I suppose the only solution would be to tell the doctor that I don’t have insurance and just pay cash for everything, saving the receipts in the off-chance that my healthcare costs will exceed my deductible. My question remains, however – What good does a privacy policy do if the doctor has to inform the insurance company in order to get paid?

Sure, the privacy policy could help keep this information from others, including my employer or someone else I might not want to know about it, but the people who can use that information to do the most damage to me financially have ready access to it.