Insurance Russian Roulette

By Janet Walgren
I am going on a business trip so I went to the pharmacy to purchase insulin. I will run out of my supply while I’m gone. I need it or I will die. The pharmacist told me that I couldn’t buy my insulin for another 3 days because my insurance company had a rule that prohibited me from buying certain kinds of medications until I was running out. After all, what if I am not covered next week! 

I am furious. They wanted me to transfer my prescription to another state just so that I don’t get my insulin 3 days in advance. I used to wonder why the hurricane victims in New Orleans didn’t have insulin while trapped in the storm. Now I know one reason. What if there was an earthquake, flood or other catastrophic event? If it were you, wouldn’t you want to have the ability to buy at least a month’s supply of medications to keep on hand – especially if your life depended on it?

There are millions of citizens who pay insurance premiums every month, millions who would die without their medications. I don’t pay my insurance premiums just so that some company policy maker can deny me the right to purchase life saving medications and put my life in jeopardy.

This kind of reckless policy should be illegal. Why let Wall Street play Russian Roulette with our lives? Please join me and call your state and national law makers. Ask them to put a stop to this insanity.

Are You Dumber Than Dirt?

By Janet Walgren 
I have always considered myself to be reasonably intelligent. I am educated; I graduated from college with honors. I have common sense and consider myself to be fairly wise. Throughout my life I have encountered friends and associates that have close ties to the soil. Heck, even my own ancestors have farming and gardening backgrounds. There is a peculiar saying these down to earth folk use that has always amused me. It is, “He is dumber than dirt.” Now I can think of a lot of folks that are dumber than I am, but how can you be dumber than dirt?

The speaker at church today was from common stock. His subject was obedience. He told of scriptures that showed how the elements obeyed God’s command. Moses held out his staff and the waters of the Red Sea parted at God’s command. Mountains moved at the Prophet Enoch’s command. The earth moves according to God’s command. The elements obey God’s commands perfectly…even the dirt. As the speaker was winding up his talk, he concluded, “The dirt gets it, we don’t!” It was then that I realized that we (all of us) are dumber than dirt.