(Palm-Print
Photo by Edward F. Palm)

About Me

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Forest, Virginia, United States
A long time ago, my sophomore English teacher, Father William Campbell, saw something in my writing and predicted that I would someday become a newspaper columnist. He suggested the perfect title for my column--"Leaves of the Palm." Now that I have a little extra time on my hands I've decided to put Father Campbell's prediction to the test. I'm going to start using this blog site not just to reprint opinion pieces I've published elsewhere but to try to get more of my ideas and opinions out there. Feedback is welcome. To find out more about me, please check out my Web site: www.EdwardFPalm.com (Click on any of the photos below for an enlarged view.)

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A Postscript--Mother's Cloudy Crystal Ball




Mother was actually quite progressive.  (Just kidding.  This young entrepreneur was charging to pose for pictures at the Pike Place Market in Seattle.  I gave her $1.00.)


Apropos to today's discussion of health care reform, I can't resist sharing a bit of advice my mother once gave me.  It was the early sixties, at the latest, when my mother, who was paying bills at the time, looked up and told me that I should never be without health insurance.  Mother had "Blue Cross/Blue Shield."  She went on to tell me that "it's cheap enough and you could lose everything if you have to go into the hospital and have no health insurance."
     I should add that Mother, at the time, was a divorced single parent working as a bookkeeper for a small electronics supply firm in Wilmington, Delaware.  That firm did not subsidize her Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and she never made very much money, yet she could afford the premium to cover both of us.  How did we get from there to here?  --EFP

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It was cheaper then. Now doctors have boats,condos,mercedes,big houses and insurance ceo's get millions of dollars in pay and bonus. Profit is the name of the game. Ever met a poor doctor or ceo? I do believe in capitalism but with some government oversite as to ripping off the average person. Talk about doctor patient relationship. I have requested and my doctor agrees that procedure is necessary, but states your insurance carrier will not allow for that procedure to be done. Talk about control over doctors and patients. Semper Fi Sarge