Book Board Chat

Greetings from sunny and cool Penn's Woods,

Helen ~ ah yes, the vastness of the place . How many European countries would fit into the US? LOL Americans are always knocked for not being fluent in a second language but there are plenty of Euoperans who are fluent in only one and they have the advantage of being able to visit countries near-by and immerse themselves in another language and culture. For them driving to the next country is often on-par with us driving to the next state.

June Kamm (dupo) ~ That is a great story! It also illustrates that while many Americans are often knocked for not knowing much geography of other countries, the same is true with the flip of a coin. I have to admit that I have been trying to figure out if they could do the 3 sites in 3 days - only way is stay in the airplane and look out the window!

Diane I am surprised about the comments by that couple who were from Australia, which is the world's sixth-largest country by total area. I would have told him that it is a good farming practice to let land lay fallow. I know Australia, like the US, has a lot of land that is not arable but I didn't realize how little arable land they had. According to a World Bank report, arable land (% of land area) in Australia was 6.14 in 2009. Arable land includes land defined by the FAO as land under temporary crops (double-cropped areas are counted once), temporary meadows for mowing or for pasture, land under market or kitchen gardens, and land temporarily fallow. Permanent cropland (% of land area) in Australia is only .1 and arable land (hectares per person) in Australia is 2.1 (5 acres) Your 17 acres (6 hectors) of arable land wasn't far off the mark of what was for one person in his country.

bookbase/Sandy Oh these last weeks of summer are such a delightful time to be oceanside. DH and I were thinking of taking a trip to Ocean City Md next month but the best week to do it would be next week already! After that it is a week with book sales and then a down week but that following week will be going in the opposite direction for a camp-out with my two brothers and a couple of cousins. Instead of tent camping this year, we rented several cute new cabins with porches overlooking the lake. Some of my aunts and uncles who live in the area will then be coming over for a mini-reunion cookout.

Beth Wow, what a great price your son pays for medical coverage and bookbase/Sandy , the $200 isn't bad compared to what Swifty pays for his Cobra. When he was doing his budget prior to leaving his job, he used a Cobra calculator that gave an estimate of $293 which he didn't think was too bad, but when he got the first bill is was for $363! Yes, it may have only been an estimate but one would think it would be been a bit closer. The other co-founder gets his coverage as a cohabitant under his girlfriend's plan and it is also several hundred dollars. I am blown away by what he would have to pay if not for the cobra and when that runs out even the reduced rates that are to take effect are still high.

Health insurance in New York is more expensive than in much of the rest of the country and there are 2.7 million uninsured people in New York. IMO not only is more affordable health care a good thing but with the new law care (aka Obamacare) pre-existing conditions are covered. And I don't care if my tax dollars have to be used to support the plan - in the end we always pay one way or another for the health care for those who can not afford it. Be it higher hospital and doctor bills to cover those who can't pay and in turn pass those higher costs on to the insurers who then raise our premiums and co-pays. Or those who can't afford to go to the doctor end up getting sicker and sicker until they are in the hospital needing more expensive treatment. Other examples too such as work force productively.

I looked up the Howard Dean re: Ted Cruz 'Doesn't Know Anything About Health Care'. One of the comments left was that Dean was being nice to limit that comment to the health care!

There are 2.7 million uninsured people in New York.

Obamacare To Cut Cost Of Health Coverage By Half For Many New Yorkers

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The average premium of the most comprehensive health insurance plans in New York, known as "platinum" and "gold" plans, will fall 53 percent, the date released by Cuomo showed. The figure is based on rates approved for plans from 17 insurers, including the nation's largest, like UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc.

When compared with the other less-expensive plans, such as the "silver" and "bronze" plans expected to make up most of the exchange market nationwide, the average decline in price from current rates in the individual market is even higher.

New York's future pricing is largely influenced by its current market for individual plans, with health insurance more expensive than in much of the rest of the country. Only about 17,000 people buy insurance in New York's direct-pay market, a New York Department of Financial Services spokesman said.

That number is expected to grow by 615,000 over the next few years and more than half are expected to receive government subsidies, according to Donna Frescatore, executive director of the New York Health Benefit Exchange. Another 450,000 people are expected to sign up for insurance on the exchange through small businesses, she said.

There are 2.7 million uninsured people in New York.

Starting in 2014, average premium prices for a mid-tier "silver" plan will range from $359 per month to $691 per month in New York City, according to information on the governor's website. Currently, premiums for individual health insurance in the city run from about $1,000 to $1,500 a month, according to the state insurance website.

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Source and rest of article:

http://tinyurl.com/n7rmbwm

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