All is going well with dad's treatments

Dad had his 4th treatment last week, and we made sure he got lots of rest for a few days afterwards - so it didn't hit him like it did on the previous treatment. Followup bloodwork was good, and he also had a CT Scan yesterday to "re-stage" and send results to the oncologist in St Louis, at the Barnes Jewish cancer center. We are working on getting a referral to a well-reputed surgeon there, Steven Strasberg.

This week is also the deadline for medicare open enrollment and we still haven't decided on part D medicine coverage. Today we're meeting with the pharmacist for his recommendation.  Yikes, what an ordeal; it is a huge decision with enormous financial implications for seniors.  It is a complex and convoluted process.  I have spent many hours online pricing mom and dad's specific drugs - I can't imagine most seniors are doing this!

Plus, my understanding is that Part D (as it was modified about 5-6 years ago), is costing us much more than other government spending people are griping about (wars, bailouts, recovery act, ear marks) - Part D being a huge government handout to the pharmaceutical companies. Imagine you're a huge company like Walmart, or uh.....Medicare....with an incredible amount of negotiating power... normally you use your buying power to arrange better prices for your organization so you can provide better prices to your customers (ie., be more competitive, or in Walmart's case, make incredible profits).  Yet, our elected officials in their infinite wisdom, signed this deal with the drug companies agreeing that Medicare could NOT negotiate for better prices....ie., the drug companies can sell at whatever price they choose...  Would they have signed that deal if it were their credit, their name, their hard-earned money?

Hmmmm... I wonder if this has something to do with the healthcare meltdown we are seeing? Healthcare costs exploding exponentially? Drug commercials all day, every day? Drug companies showing HUGE profits in this terrible economy while most people are struggling? The cost of the silly little bailout is nothing compared to the billions we are handing to drug companies right now. The whole thing will eventually collapse, but I'm afraid it's gonna take us all down with it.