Coming Up…Cal Props 30 and 32 Decoded, Naked in the Nursing Home and Airline-Style Medical Billing

Co-Host Emeritus, Maggie McDermott and Host Casey Hobbs when Nurse Talk was a baby.

As we continue to celebrate Nurse Talk’s 4th birthday we, of course, had to drag out yet another blast from the beginning days of Nurse Talk with then co-host Maggie McDermott and one of our favorite callers Muriel. And for those of you who might be concerned about Muriel — we recently contacted her and she has completely recovered from her “chortling” disorder. She is remarried and has started a new career as a minister—a woman of the cloth. Well, it’s always nice to find a happy ending. You can listen to Muriel’s call at the Nurse Talk Comedy Pharm.

Michael Lighty

And speaking of politics — -oh,  I don’t think we were speaking of politics — BUT let’s. Our guest this week is Michael Lighty. Michael is the Director of Public Policy for the California Nurses Association. He talks with us about the upcoming election and the high stakes in California with Propositions 30 and 32. Often times these propositions are written in such a way that they are very difficult to understand — or shall we say interpret.  Michael helps decode and tells us why voting yes on 30 and no on 32 is important for nurses and patients. For more  California voting information or a national voting guide visit nationalnursesunited.org.

Do you ever have one of those nagging recurring nightmares — NAKED IN THE NURSING HOME? Well, Naked In The Nursing Home, The Women’s Guide to Paying for Long-Term Care Without Going Broke written by Harold L Lustig might help reduce the frequency of that dream. Mr. Lustig is a financial adviser who specializes in working with the elderly and their families. So important, and the book is fun to read as well. Here are some of the things you can check out in the book: Tricks and Traps of Medicaid, including mistakes to avoid and secrets to navigating the system; why you may be eligible for free long-term care if you’re a wartime veteran, or the spouse or surviving spouse of one. All worth the price of admission — figuratively speaking!

AND watch out when you go to your doctor for your annual visit. Check the bill because “airline-style” billing is alive and well in the medical profession. Check this out.  One woman found extra charges for asking a question about a pain in her back — cha ching — $50! And another for asking about a foot sprain — cha ching, $65.

You can listen and laugh every week on Saturday at 11 am in the San Francisco Bay area on KNEW 960AM or live stream at www.960knew.com. Check out our favorite apps featuring Nurse Talk for custom radio on your  listening devices: Progressive Voices, TuneIn and iHeartRadio. You can also download and listen to any show anytime here at NurseTalkSite.com or on iTunes. Like us on Facebook, and you can listen there too.