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The term is actually HIPAA, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. HIPAA covers several areas but mainly focuses on giving "credit of time" towards what may otherwise be a pre-existing condition, and, it deals with
privacy rulings of medical records protecting you from just anyone calling your doctor or insurance company to get your medical info without your permission. As far as I know the ruling in October is in regards to allowing doctors/health professionals to contact your other doctors and get your records without your permission when needed. For example if you appear in the emergency room one evening they do not have to wait for you to sign a bunch of release of information forms to get your medical history so they can treat you. The new ruling is to speed things up to provide better care. In general, most medical records are kept by SS# for identity as names and birthdates can also belong to someone else. The insurance company I work for does offer "alternative numbers" for those who do not wish to use their SS#. It is rumored in the industry that eventually everyone will have an alternative number that they will use just for medical services, however until then the SS# is the best for identifing records. I cannot speak for the doctor office refusing service, that may just be their policy. If you want more info on HIPAA try the publications link in CMS.gov or hcfa.gov. Insure.com (select the health icons) is also helpful. (sorry but I am not computer savy enough to set up a link for you) I hope this helps.

You say the cat was 14, if your mother had the cat for 14 years I would wait before "replacements" come in.
One needs time to grieve and give honor to the life that
once was. I lost my cat of 14 years in December of 2001 to a coyote and while I have 5 other cats it is still painful, it took me about six months to even begin to get past the loss. (I have no kids so my animals are my fur-children!) If you go on-line to animalnetwork.com there is an article in their Dogfancy library called "Cry If You Want To" that you may find helpful. Tell Dad to first call Animal Control, maybe they will handle the dogs in a humane manner. My thoughts and prayers are with your mother.

I have to agree with you on this one, it just doesn't seem to add up. My theory is that she ran away. First off, you would assume the younger sister would be scared to death, but she waits two hours to tell her parents? Also, what intruder at night wears a "white cap and white jacket" which is what I have heard reported. I believe she was the oldest of the kids (does anyone know this?) and maybe she had too many chores with a family of six children and wasn't getting the attention she needed, so at age 14 decided she would run away, making it look like a kidnapping to see if her parents really cared. I hope the police are checking with her friends at school and any possible boyfriends. I also hope I am right so that she is safe. Prayers being said.

yes, men can be weak, but men are only half of the problem. women are also weak, many get pregnant on purpose thinking that is how they can get/keep a man in their life. or they want a child so they have "someone" that will love them, a selfish reason but in our "me me me" society consequences do not matter. possibly low income women see having children as their only future, with little education and few career opportunities, a child allows them to show they can "produce" something of value, even though that childs life will include many hardships. the taboos being absent are a major contributor as well.

I laughed so hard at the baking soda/baking powder line I scared the cat off the couch! Has anyone else noticed how the narrator seems to dislike the Clunes? She kinda cut into them when they were whining about being so far away from the creek, and when Mr C was complaining about losing so much weight, with a tone she says how Mr C was allowed a modern scale. And then the doctor is brought in and he diagnosis his aches and pains as being mere dehydration. I wonder if the producers were thinking that having one "difficult" family that no one really likes makes it more entertaining. Hum. Could they have been that smart? Is it pledge week??

always appreciate a (_NICE_)

I love frontier stuff too, never can get enough Little House on the Prairie or John Wayne. 30 minutes to go before the show starts here on the West coast!