Show 106 Wrap-up

How does that saying go? Hosting a live internet radio show is like riding a bike? Well, maybe. It was great to return to the airwaves after being off for a month and a half. As always, you can listen to the show on the player above, or download the show here and listen to it later. And, of course, don't forget to check out the video post above.

I talked a little bit about what I've been doing on my summer "vacation." Thanks to first time listener Jan who not only listened for the first time, she called in to ask me my opinion about the current health care debate. I admit that I could have done a little more research, since my answer could have been a little better.

Thanks also to Kimmie and "The Burl" also for calling in and chatting with me on my first show back. In addition to that, I had a little post show "celebration" over on my ustream site for another 30 minutes (following a 90 minute show - sheesh!). Thanks to all of you out there who listen to the show and read the blog. I really appreciate it.

If you're around this weekend, I will be having Show 107 at 9pm Eastern Time on August 8, 2009 - as always - live on BlogTalkRadio for Saturday Night with Dr. A. Hope to see you then. Finally, I did want to give some props to @Jabulani9 who listened live from England where it was 2am when we started the show and close to 4 am when we closed up the post show. Truly an international audience!

Dr. A Show Tonight!

Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 9pm Eastern Time

The long awaited (or at least what I think is the long awaited) return of The Doctor Anonymous Show is tonight! What did you do this summer? Well, why not stop by the live chat room and hang out with the Dr. A Community - who are the best people around, in my unbiased opinion hehe. Above you'll see a picture of me when I was in Boston - specifically on the campus of Harvard University.

If you are new to the show, I encourage you to catch us live. There is a great chat room that also goes on. You can even see my shining face on the webcam. In addition, you can call into the show to say hello. Can't catch us live? That's ok. You can listen anytime after the show as it is saved as a podcast so you can listen later.

For first time Blog Talk Radio listeners:
*Although it is not required to listen to the show, I encourage you to register on the BlogTalkRadio site prior to the show. I think it will make the process easier.

*To get to my show site, click here. As show time gets closer, keep hitting "refresh" on your browser until you see the "Play/Chat" button. Then, of course, press the "Play/Chat" button. Now, don't be surprised if there are problems getting into the BlogTalkRadio chat room. Sometimes, it's taken me as long as 10 minutes to get into the chat room. Don't worry it's your computer - it's been a BTR problem, and they've been working on it. Sorry if there is any inconvenience.

Dr. A Show 106: The Return

After a long month and a half off, The Doctor Anonymous Show will make it's triumphant return on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 9pm Eastern Time on BlogTalkRadio. And, boy, do I have a lot to talk about. I have no idea if anyone missed the show when I was off, but I certainly missed doing the show live for you people hehe

What am I going to talk about? I'll be able to catch up on things like Podcamp Ohio, my trip to Boston, soccer doc stuff, my trip to a local dog show (yup, that's right), my recent TV interview, and other things. And, if I get off on a real rant, I may share some thoughts about the current health care debate that is occurring in this country. So, I hope that you'll be able to join me this week! (Don't forget to check out the video post above)

Congrats Emergiblog

If you didn't already know, today is the anniversary of Emergiblog. (I forgot if it was the fourth or fifth anniversary, but regardless, it's a long time blogging!) Congratulations to Kim for continuing to have one of the leading blogs in what I call new media medicine. You can see in my video above how I try to express this - and try is the word - hehe. Anyway, definitely check out Kim's blog - especially this week as she is hosting Grand Rounds. Happy Emergiblogiversary! LOL

Happy August

Just a random post from me. I don't even know if people read my blog anymore, since I don't post that much. Can you believe that it's August already? I'm looking forward to bringing the show back this coming week. I'll have much to update as far as my summer. And, I hope to hear from people checking in to see how everyone is doing. The pic above is when I went to Boston. It was great to meet up with Dr. Gwenn. I'll talk about this a lot more coming up on the show this week.

Heat-Related Illnesses TV News Spot

Yesterday was my 3rd interview on local TV news talking about health related issues. The video is above. The topic was "Heat-Related Illnesses" - namely heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. I only had 2 1/2 minutes, but I think things went ok. My critique will follow in a future post. If you find this helpful, you may want to check out my other videos at mikesevilla.tv. Enjoy!

Blue Dog Dems in Health Care Debate

Everyone wants a piece of this legislation. Late last night, CNN posted a story called "Blue Dog Democrats May Block Health Care Bill." Rep. Mike Ross, D-Arkansas, (pictured above) is a leading negotiator for the Blue Dog Democrats on health care. According to the article, they are threatening to block to keep it from getting out of committee.

The conservative Democrats don't believe the legislation contains sufficient reforms to control costs in the health care system and believe additional savings can be found. Their letter to leaders raised concerns about new mandates on small businesses. Blue Dogs also say the bill fails to fix the inequities in the current system for health care costs for rural doctors and hospitals.

And, the beat goes on. Let's see what today's news cycle has to offer. I'm curious to see the responses to the statements yesterday, and to see who is not happy today with either the house or senate proposal, or both....

Health Care Reform: Not Imperative?

Well, you knew it was only a matter of time until the press started covering the court of public opinion - meaning polls. This story came out last night from the Houston Chronicle entitled, "Poll shows falling support for health care reform." It seems as if the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Zogby International - have found that public support for congress and health care reform seem to be declining.

The authors conducted an online poll that found 50 percent of respondents oppose a bill introduced by U.S. House Democratic leaders this week that would overhaul the system and pay for it by raising the taxes of the wealthiest Americans. Forty-two percent said they support the bill.

Now, I know what people say at this point - it's bad data - who was the polling sample of - blah, blah, blah. One poll says this and another poll says that - who do you believe? It doesn't matter who you believe. It matters who the people inside the beltway believe as they start to see these numbers come out.

The poll shows there is strong support for providing insurance for all Americans, but little for increasing taxes to pay for it. Increasing cigarette taxes was favored by 50 percent of respondents, the only tax option favored by at least half of respondents. Less than 20 percent favored increased co-pays and deductibles, rationing care, eliminating Medicare Advantage plans and decreasing home care reimbursement.

Does anyone really think that this will all be done by the August recess? As usual, the strategy is to push something through the House, something through the Senate, and the real bill be decided behind closed doors in conference committee. It worked with the so-called "stimulus" bill. But reading the quotes coming out of the Senate, a lot of people, on both sides of the isle are uneasy with this timeframe. Each day gets more interesting, and not in a good way.

The Solution to Health Care

This is the House Republican interpretation of what the House Democrat proposal is for Health Care reform. At minimum, this graphic is amusing. The sad part is that as the debate continues in both the House and the Senate, I see this graphic getting more and more complicated. What will it look like in the end? It's anyone's guess.

Ohio Budget Cuts Mental Health Funding

July 1st was a very important day at the state house in Columbus. It was the day that a balanced state budget had to be passed. As usual, politics got in the way of that and they subsequently passed a 7-day budget as negotiations continued. During week one, the impasse continued, and a second 7-day state budget passed. Negotiations continued....

Since I have been in Boston for the past few days, I've been curious to see what was going to happen to the state budget. When I checked the Columbus Dispatch website yesterday, I was surprised that an agreement was reached. In reading the quotes from the politicians, it was a budget that "no one" was happy with." Then, why did you pass it? That confuses me.

The big winner was not the citizens of Ohio, but the racetracks of Ohio. Yes, the racetracks - and probably the Governor (when is he up for re-election again?) According to the article "Budget Plan, Keeping Score," "The state's seven horse tracks will get up to 2,500 video lottery terminals each and half of the gross profits."

Meanwhile, the mental-health funding of the patients that I treat in this great state of Ohio will be cut (in addition to assisted living/assisted living care while nursing homes and hospitals having to pay "fees")

• Mental-health services: Chopped 34 percent for local, non-Medicaid funding. In addition, funding for mental-health community group homes was slashed 42 percent

• Nursing homes: Will pay $184 million more in fees to the state than they will receive in reimbursements, essentially a 5 percent cut

• Home care/assisted living: Cut $30 million over the biennium, a move that advocates say will create waiting lists of up to 10,000 for PASSPORT and other services aimed at allowing people to remain in their homes or less-restrictive settings than a nursing home

• Hospitals: Will pay $145 million more in franchise fees in the two-year budget period

Thanks politicians in Columbus for standing up for the citizens of Ohio and passing a responsible state budget for the next two years. What's going to happen next? Will I be required to go to those race tracks to gamble so that I can help balance the budget? Probably not. You'll just raise my taxes. Thanks a lot!