Tuesday Tidbits

Today's my mom's birthday. She's been gone awhile now, but she is never forgotten. And she'd be as disgusted as I am by what's going on in the world.

Stocks in Europe and Asia are down this morning, signaling that yesterday was not a one-day sell-off. Of course, this kind of thing feeds on itself as people are too scared to put money into the market rather than taking it out. What will stop the drop? The only good news is that mortgage interest rates also are falling.

I have to say that this really makes me mad. Sarah Palin says this is Barack Obama's fault because he doesn't know how to deal with the debt. So does Mitt Romney. Meanwhile S & P already said it downgraded our credit rating because we didn't take a balanced approach at resolving the debt -- something we can attribute directly to the GOP, who refuse to look at raising revenue. The fact that the Tea Party was willing to take us to the brink of default scared everyone. Not that President Obama has no responsibility. He's still trying to reassure investors but he's not convincing them. But the GOP leadership is still urging members to stand strong on tax reform.

And who will serve on the super-committee? Leadership has to decide soon. The list is being narrowed down. Here's one list of possibles. Meanwhile, President Obama rightly says that the political posturing has to end so we can work this out. Sadly, nobody is prepared to compromise. But here's a menu of health care cuts -- mostly to Medicare -- that will be on the table. Read it and weep, people.

A group of Medicaid beneficiaries in California sued to stop the state from cutting reimbursement rates to providers. Yesterday, high ranking Dems filed a "friend of the court" brief in support of the beneficiaries and against the Obama Administration. The issue is whether beneficiaries can sue for cuts to provider rates. The beneficiaries say it makes their access to care more difficult when fewer providers participate in the program.

Although 98 percent of people in Massachusetts have health insurance, they still use safety net clinics and hospitals, which bodes well for community health centers and nonprofit hospitals when health reform kicks in starting in 2014.

Have you ever been told your medical problems are all in your head? Well, I have -- when I first got Crohn's disease when I was 19 years old. Well, it's still happening today -- physical illnesses are being mistaken for mental health problems, thereby delaying diagnosis and treatment.

Feeling stressed? Go for a serious work-out. Improve your health and get rid of stress at the same time.

Seniors getting plastic surgery? You heard me!

The demand to give birth at home is growing.

And that's it for this morning. Have a great day. Jennifer