Monday Musings

It's President's Day and Advocacy for Patients is closed today. Then again, I worked enough over the week-end to make up for taking today off.

Read my guest blog on Susan Campbell's Still Small Voice.

And here's the news:

The GOP budget cuts may well mean a government shut-down. Now, the GOP heads home for a week to hear what the voters say. If you disagree with the slashing, the defunding of health reform in particular, contact your members of Congress and especially the Senate and let them know.

At the very least, urge them to adopt Nancy Pelosi's extension of the status quo until the end of March to avert a government shut-down and give Congress more time to negotiate. Some in the GOP seem to be signaling that they would accept this. Some in the Senate are optimistic. Those of us who remember the last shut-down know enough to want to avoid another. But can the parties agree on whether to take Social Security off the table?

What if the government shuts down? Read this for a forecast. And here's another.

The GPO didn't just defund Planned Parenthood -- they defunded the family planning program.

If the government avoids a shut-down, they will face hearings on how health reform came to be.

Advice from Wendell Potter, former insurance industry insider, on how to deal with insurance companies.

Medicine pursues a mind-heart connection -- heart disease and depression.

And that's it for early Monday morning. Hope you get to have the day off, too. Jennifer