Where I Stand

I'm self-employed and I don't have health insurance. Anyone out there with me? Basically, it means you're SOL if you need a doctor and aren't stupid enough to go to the emergency room for something that doesn't require the ER, like I hear so many people do. So here's where I stand during the last year or so.

Primary Care Network

Apparently, I'm poor enough to qualify for assistance. PCN opened enrollment and I was accepted. PCN is a state-run, sub-standard version of Medicaid. Every time I tried to find out about Medicaid, the results came up with only PCN, UPP, and CHIP, with only the first showing any chance for my qualification. If there's any kind of Medicaid in Utah not in one of these programs, they don't want you to know about it.

The first thing I learned about PCN is that they have no concept of linear time. I applied March 24th. On May 2nd, I received a letter dated May 4th saying that I was approved beginning on March 24th. In other words, I got a letter from the future telling me that I had coverage in the past.

The second thing I discovered was that with PCN I could go to three clinics in the Salt Lake Valley and they all had about two month waiting lists for appointments. By chance, I found one that had a walk-in clinic during certain hours, so I went there for two walk-ins to try to cure myself of a couple minor things I've dealt with for years, while making an appointment two months out for my new patient check-up. The doctor they sent me to humored me, but everything I told her, she basically ignored or said I needed a specialist. (On PCN, right? There are no specialists. I already stated: sub-standard coverage.) So she humored me with prescriptions twice, but neither cured me of anything.

My third visit was my new patient check-up. I expected, I don't know, a check-up of some kind? She checked my pulse, blood pressure, asked me what else was wrong with me, and sent me to the nurse to draw blood. A week later, I had to pay for another appointment (co-pay was low, but still not worth it at this place) to get the results. I told her to test me for everything and she ran just the basic blood tests and one extra test. Apparently my health is absolutely "perfect" except  that my bad cholesterol is bad (but my good is good).

So after four visits, I wasn't cured of any of the problems I told her about and still hadn't had an actual medical check-up probably since I was about eight. One specialist worked at that clinic and I made an appointment for four months out. They soon called to push it out another month and after  another month or so, cancelled it entirely. Nice.

India Is Better

For the bigger, long-term issue I had, the anti-biotics she prescribed almost cured me, so I ordered more from India and cured myself with a course and a half of them. It's so much easier to cure myself that way than try to go to a doctor. The trick is just knowing which drugs I need.

Before PCN Expired

Almost a year later, I had another problem come back. This is something I had mentioned in previous visits and if she was a good doctor, she would probably have dealt with it. (Then again, maybe PCN just didn't pay her enough to bother.) Possibly the one time she listened to me was when I assumed that this problem was related to or caused by the other one. So I had to go back to the clinic. I went to another doctor, who seemed friendlier and also seemed to listen to me. He prescribed something and insisted on no refills of anti-biotics no matter what even before I had left.

Guess what? I wasn't cured. The pharmacy that day was so busy that my 15 minute wait was closer to an hour and they gave me twice what they were supposed to. So I took a course and a half because that's what it took to cure me of the last problem. I thought it worked, but a week later, it came back and I took two more pills, which lasted a week, then I took two more pills, and a week later I took two more. Then I was out of pills. It came back again the next week. Unlike the other problem which was annoying, this one involved pain. I should have planned ahead because it takes a month to order from India.

Enter Intermountain Health Care

This is when I went to Intermountain Health Care. I know Obama said good things about them during the healthcare reform debates and speeches, though I didn't hear that part myself. There's an IHC Insta-care clinic two miles from my house and they were open late.

I printed out the forms on the web site, filled them out, and brought them in so I wouldn't have to do that. The receptionist had never seen the forms before and gave me more to fill out. Then she asked a lot of questions to type into the computer of which the answers were already filled out on the forms. She told me it would cost $131 or $75 if I applied for financial aid. I took the aid forms and wrote a check for $75. All paid for now, right?

There was no wait; no one else was there. The doctor checked my temperature and blood pressure. Then he listened to my heart, lungs, and a couple other things. So, for this quick visit, I just had more of a check-up than the clinic where I waited two months for such a thing. They were off to a good start. He prescribed two pills, one was for pain (didn't get that at the other clinic either).

I went over to the pharmacy in the building. They told me that both drugs were on the $4 list. But Walmart's pharmacy was closed, so they suggested Walgreens. Guess what? Walgreens doesn't have the $4 drug list and wanted twice what the IHC clinic wanted.

I don't think the pain killer drug worked, but the side effect was kind of interesting. The anti-biotics took their time but eventually cured me. It's been well over a month and the problem hasn't come back, so I consider that a good sign. I brought back the financial aid paperwork and the receptionist said I'd get a letter, suggesting they would tell me what kind of coverage they would offer or how much I would have to pay for future IHC visits.

IHC Was Mostly Good Right Up Until Here

Eventually, I got a letter saying that they were waving the remaining $65 fee. That was it. No other indication of what a future visit might cost me. And I had been considering going back there.

Two weeks after the fact, and twice more, I received another bill from them. Apparently the receptionist at the clinic has no idea that other departments at IHC bill anything and they wanted another $75 for lab work. Oh really? I was told it would cost me $75 for the visit. Do they really think I'm going to pay for something when I was given no indication there would even be a bill for it?

Really, when I go to the store to buy something, it has a price, I pay it, and I own it. When I take my car to a mechanic, he tells me how much it will cost, fixes my car, and I pay for it. If I hire someone to do work around my house, he tells me either the fixed rate or hourly rate and I pay him either half up front and half when it's done or when it's all done. None of these businesses or people has the right to randomly send me a bill two weeks later and demand that I pay for something that was never previously mentioned or even hinted would cost me. Why does IHC think they have the right to bill me without advance notice that there would even be a separate bill? I told the receptionist exactly what I was there for. If they were going to bill me separate lab fees, she should have not only known that they would bill me for it, but she should have known how much it would cost and told me.

So why did Obama think IHC was so great? Because it's a network of hospitals and clinics that take health insurance? What's so great about that? Doesn't every city have that? They still try to rip off their customers without insurance just like everyone else. Except they do it in deceptive ways. Only the health care industry thinks they can get away with this kind of thing.

And some people wonder why so many people hate the health care industry in this country.

No, that has nothing to do with the conference, but that's what I did.

I then sat it on Seth Front's The Jewish Zodiac: A Culinary History of Jews in America. I had already spoken to him in the vendor room when he noticed I was the JGS President and from Salt Lake City. After his talk, I told him that my JGS members might not appreciate his talk as much as the synagogue audience probably would.

And that was the end of the conference. I headed out to Junior's to meet my cousin, Howard Miller, then returned to the hotel where I'm writing to my blog. Tomorrow after check-out, I'll go to Hidden Hills to meet Ron and Monica Wolfe and any of their kids who might be around; I'm not sure if there are any right now.

I ended up at a restaurant in the lobby for lunch with Judi and two people she knew from Arizona, only to rush to the next session and still show up late. Hal Bookbinder presented Why Did Our Ancestors Leave a Nice Place Like the Pale? I was tired and couldn't concentrate on his session, though it sounded very interesting. I'll have to listen again to the recording.

I was signed up to meet with someone from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and headed to the Resource Room. I was told they were searching the ITS records, but apparently they weren't or the person I spoke to didn't think of it. It seems unlikely that she'd skip over a source like that. She mentioned a couple things I didn't know but didn't help me with any new information for now.

Having first procrastinated then later forgetting to purchase a ticket, I didn't go to the banquet. Mark Heckman took me to Pink's in Hollywood, as an earlier email from him said, "I'll have to take you". We arrived back in time to see another added showing of Who Cares Who Do You Think You Are? which Mark had missed during the opening session.

Lunch was a repeated restaurant with Bob Wascou and Rochelle Kaplan.

The IAJGS Annual Meeting was not long after lunch. The meeting wasn't as bad as some people let on last year when they told me I should be happy I missed it. (I was supposed to represent Utah, though I wasn't yet the president, but my computer lab was scheduled at the same time.)

I went with Barbara Hershey to Daniel Horowitz's session on How Do We Share and Preserve Memories in a Digital Era? but didn't stay long. It naturally turned into a talk about MyHeritage.com, which neither of us was interested in hearing at the time.

After a quick visit to the concierge lounge, I did a bit of bookkeeping in my room and missed the next presentation, then arrived a few minutes late to Zvi Gitelman's What's in a Name? The Origins and Meanings of Jewish Family Names. There was a fun moment in that one when he mentioned that some Jews bought their names to get good ones. Just as I whispered to Judi sitting next to me that my Rosenthals did that, he listed a few names that were usually purchased and the first one he said was Rosenthal.

I finally made it to the Film Festival room after that (having seen a film earlier in one of the other lecture rooms) where I saw the very end of Yoo Hoo Mrs. Goldberg and Genealogy Goes to the Movies before I headed back to my room to turn in for the night.

I had a few hours of a break after that and got a few things done unrelated to the conference. I had offered to volunteer some time in the Resource Room, and that was one time I meant to go, but I was tired. Sorry to Barbara Algaze for not finding time in my schedule to hang out and help people. I really did mean to, but this conference just has a lot going on that I'm interested in doing; seems like there's more than some other years have had. I did stop in and sign up for time with the USHMM person and their database. While in there, Steve Luxenberg came in and I bought Annie's Ghosts from him, having previously exited after his session quickly to escape the crowd.

After lunch with Mark, Kathy, Bob, and Michael Goldstein, I headed to Ilene Schneider's Yiddish: A Fun Look at the Language of our Ancestors. I bought her book a couple days ago. The only problem I had with this session was the lack of translation. Most of the audience understood the few things she didn't translate, but I never learned Yiddish and only knew the most basic words. However, I was able to figure out what one of the phrases was by saying it in my head a couple times.

I headed over to You Can Go Home Again: ... Ancestral Visit to Eastern Europe (they must not have had word limits to titles this year) with Sol Sylvan and Alexander Dunai. Sol lost my attention very quickly, did a commercial for a bag they were auctioning, and showed a film. Alex gave a bit of advice for traveling to Europe, and then it was over. I was not impressed. I would have preferred to hear a lot more from Alex.

My second session for the week, Newsletter Editors BOF, was next. Kahlile Mehr was really leading it but had been putting my name on the session so I could help him. This group had also met for the previous two conferences and the discussion had been interesting. This year, I think we accomplished a few things, especially by getting the IAJGS Board more involved.

I skipped the JewishGen presentation for dinner with roommate Judi and six other people, returning for The Bialy Eaters: The Story of Bread and a Lost World. It was interesting, but I was getting tired, so I might have enjoyed it a little more if not for that. However, I now realize I should try a bialy. We were bagel people and I've never had one before.

I initially thought I might do beginner and intermediate levels of the class after last year, but with the small attendance, I won't repeat that lab again without at least one year's break. Mark Heckman gave me a great idea for a lecture for next year and I'm already thinking about what to put in it.

After lunch with Judi, I continued the day at A Different Memory: Poles, Jews, and What We Think We Know About Them with Anna Przybyszewska Drozd. The session didn't quite match up with the title. She had some interesting stories to tell, and convinced a couple other people to tell their stories. I think her presentation could use some improvement. I don't think she was quite confident in her English, but other than asking for help with a few words, it sounded pretty good to me. After all, these people who learn English as a second or more language, no matter how bad they think their English is, it's usually better than most of the rest of can speak any other language.

Steve Luxenerg presented Genealogy From the Inside Out: Pursuing the Elusive and Unknown, sharing the genealogical view of his writing of Annie's Ghosts. I thought he led a great session. It was standing room only.

I volunteered to assist with Daniel Horowitz's computer lab, but found Elise Friedman was there for the same reason. I found a film on the schedule that I wanted to see, but when I went to the room, saw that the schedule was wrong. There have been a few scheduling issues this year.

I sat in for a bit of Lisa Louise Cooke's Solving Family History Mysteries with Google Earth, and visited with Gary Mokotoff briefly, and a few others, in the Vendor Room on my way out with my roommate. We went to the concierge lounge and had a nice dinner snack of hors d'oeuvres.

After setting up briefly in the hallway with my computer before going to that film, a private screening for five people of The Legacy of Jedwabne, I finished the day watching the Jewpardy game, arriving a bit late because the film started late.

Missing the early session that interested me, I visited the Resource Room, the Vendor Room, and the Market Square, which was new this year. I wandered around a bit talking with people. There are always plenty of people at this conference that I know and others that are happy to talk about their genealogy with complete strangers.

I spoke with Eileen Polakoff for a bit where she was sitting at the APG table in the Market Square, along with the people at the Washington DC and France tables, where we spoke about upcoming conferences. I even stopped at one table and bought a book. I had her session marked for another day and I'll likely still go.

I went to lunch with Mark and Kathy and Bob Wascou, who had just arrived to register before we saw him.

A little more schmoozing time and I went to the first IAJGS Management Seminar which was led by Thomas MacEntee teaching about 21st Century Marketing. He went through the usual suspects of Facebook, Twitter, web sites, blogs, newsletters, email marketing. He said a lot of things I knew but also threw in some things I hadn't thought of. Watching the time, he basically skipped over LinkedIn, and that's one site I haven't really used yet but was curious about.

From there, I went to the President's Reception where I schmoozed some more. There's a lot of schmoozing at these conferences.

I spent some time talking with Barbara Hershey from Portland, Oregon, until it was time for the opening ceremony.

The conference co-chairs were introduced and it was explained that outside is not fog but the "marine layer". They got very detailed announcing who was already registered, giving counts by country and by US state. Eleven people are here from Utah. I know seven, are they counting the vendors from Ancestry for the rest? So far, 1016 people were registered for this conference.

The winning poster for Jewish Genealogy Month was revealed and it was a nice one. I never much paid attention to those, but I don't think they'd ever been that classy looking.

We were treated to a comedy film that probably ran a little longer than it needed to, a parody called Who Cares Who Do You Think You Are? which added a new episode into the series featuring Jordan Auslander. Eileen Polakoff, Ron Arons, and Karen Franklin also appeared in the episode.

Steven Smith (or Stephen?) introduced himself and then the keynote speaker, Daniel Mendelsohn.

Daniel is the author of two books, the second called The Lost. His speech started out by talking about errors in records while doing genealogy research, but it turned into a story about the difference between family history and genealogy. He didn't call it that, but that's how I refer to it. In genealogy, we collect records to learn the facts about people's lives. In family history, we collect the stories. Unfortunately, some of us can't get any stories, so we are missing the narratives of the lives of the people who came before us. He shared some incredible stories from his family, including the one about a record he found on which he knew everything was a lie except for the person's name. It makes you wonder how much you can rely on some of these records, but most of us have no choice but to believe them since we have nothing to contradict them and no narratives to go along with them.

Then the crowds headed out to the dessert tables. I got out pretty quickly and grabbed something, then went back into the ballroom, where it was less crowded. Pamela Weisberger was working her way out of the room and she introduced me to Daniel. He stood around talking to me and a few others for a few minutes. It's good to know the people in charge. :-)

I eventually talked to a few other people, grabbed a few more snacks, then headed up to my room where I was too tired to blog and went to bed pretty quickly.

And that was just the first and usually slowest day. Today, I present my computer lab just before lunch and I have a few other things in the schedule that I want to attend.

Getting here wasn't as smooth as that registration. I didn't get much sleep so I was tired during the drive.

Registration for the hotel could have gone smoother. I saw a few familiar faces in the lobby while dealing with the front desk. I found my way up to the room with my roommate. The rooms here are quite spacious and I like the decor. It's kind of retro and I really like the look. Usually I think hotel decor is tacky. Our room looks out over the Staples Center.

Roommate Judi Missel went to the pre-conference banquet and I went out to dinner with Mark Heckman and Kathy, Ron Arons, and Jonina Duker. Returning to the hotel and jumping in line for registration, I talked to far too many people to list here.

The day ended on a high note and now it's late am I'm heading to sleep. I think I'll try to blog more this week before midnight.

This Friday morning, I woke up early and packed and cleaned a bit around my house. The garbage had a very late pick-up which I had to wait for, but I wasn't quite ready to leave yet. And then finally, off I went.

An hour later, when I got to the Springville exit, my car died. This car is 19 years old and she's never had something break that actually stopped her from working before. Looks like it was the transmission. But Murphy and his laws didn't get me completely. If I'd gone past two more exits, I would have been in the middle of nowhere and completely stranded. This way, at least I was in Spanish Fork. So I left my car at a repair shop without even asking him to fix her and Enterprise came and picked me up.

And so I was finally on my way again. I must say, cruise control is a wonderful thing and I don't know how I survived so many drives across the country or across multiple states before without it.

And now I'm in Mesquite. I was hoping to make it to Las Vegas for the night. I even got half an invitation from a friend, and I called her, but I didn't really feel like driving anymore and it was already dark. She went online for me and found an obscure little motel with free Internet included and here I am writing this blog entry. In the morning, I'll stop in Las Vegas for breakfast with her and then I'll be in Los Angeles in the afternoon for the IAJGS Conference.

I plan to drive down to Los Angeles in advance of the conference, but the time to get there in advance is shrinking. I want to meet some more of my relatives; I have a few in the area that I've never met.

I'm teaching a computer lab and still need to make preparations for it. I gave the same lab last year, but wanted to improve on what I did and part of that improvement will take me some time working at home.

I will be helping in the Resource Room and introducing a couple of other computer labs that I volunteered for. This will be my first time as introducer. I was just curious about a couple labs and there I went volunteering again.

In the meantime, I've been flattening the weeds in my yard and it's just slightly possible that someone will give them a serious death spray while I'm gone. I also fixed an old leak in my swamp cooler, so I shouldn't have to worry about turning off the water to that while I'm gone.