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(Westover, MD) – The Somerset County Health Department has announced its COVID-19 testing schedule for the month of January. All events will be at the Health Department campus, 8928 Sign Post Road, Westover, MD. Testing will be every Tuesday on January 3, 10, 17, 24 and 31 from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. No appointment is needed. Face masks are required. The test is a short nasal swab.
For questions related to this event, please call 443-523-1920 during regular business hours (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m). For information on COVID-19, visit the Somerset County Health Department’s website at www.somersethealth.org . Follow the health department’s social media on Facebook (@somersethealth), Instagram (Somersethealthmd) and Twitter (@somersethdmd).
Edwards, 61, the estranged wife of former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, was briefly hospitalized recently, but she is now at home, where her family and friends, including John Edwards, are lending their support.
"I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces – my family, my friends and a faith in the power of resilience and hope," Edwards wrote in a message posted Monday on her Facebook page. "These graces have carried me through difficult times, and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined. The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that."
Edwards was first diagnosed with cancer in the final weeks of the 2004 presidential campaign, when her husband, who was at the time a U.S. senator from North Carolina, was the Democratic nominee for vice president. The couple didn't disclose her illness until after the election.
The cancer went into remission after months of treatment, but it resurfaced in early 2007, as John Edwards was mounting a second run at the White House. The Edwardses agreed at the time that they wouldn't allow the cancer to derail his candidacy.
Because the cancer had moved into her bones in 2007, her doctors said at that time that it was no longer curable but could be treated.
Doctors now have recommended she not receive further treatment, according to the statement from her family.
Elizabeth Edwards has written two books about how she has overcome adversity in her life, "Resilience" and "Saving Graces."
She and her husband separated about a year ago after more than 30 years of marriage. The split followed John Edwards' affair with a campaign staffer.
The couple has four children: Wade, who died in a vehicle wreck in 1996; Cate, a lawyer in Washington, D.C.; and Emma Claire, 12, and Jack, 10, who both live in Chapel Hill with their mother.
The US Senate will be voting again in the next few days on the pending health care "reform" bill and, despite what you may hear, little has changed.
The bottom line is that we are still looking at a government takeover of an estimated one-sixth of the US economy.
We still have no prohibition of any of your tax-dollars being used to fund abortions under the bill.
We still have no legal protections for the religious convictions of doctors and nurses who would refuse to participate in abortions or euthanasia.
We know that it creates a huge bureaucracy with over a hundred new federal boards and commissions that will make decisions about our health care.
We know that it will add untold amounts to our national debt.
And we know that it does nothing to provide more choice for consumers or eliminate the junk lawsuits that drive up our health care costs.
To put it simply, we must stop the bill.
Time is growing short, but we can still be heard.
Please do your part and speak out to your members of Congress today:
Also, please be sure to visit our Health Care Action Center and get other key facts and information to stay informed throughout the ongoing debate.
It is critical that conservatives stand together and let our elected officials feel the heat on this issue!
SALISBURY — The Wicomico County Health Department plans to hold a free, walk-in H1N1 vaccination clinic Saturday.
Appointments are available and walk-ins can fill in between appointments.
Intranasal and injectable vaccines will be available to pregnant women, persons who live or provide care for infants under six months of age, any individuals age six months to 24 years and individuals age 25 to 64 with underlying medical conditions.
The clinic is scheduled from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the William C. Fritz building on West Carroll Street.
To make an appointment, call 410-543-6943
VIA DelMarVaNow.com
By Dick Morris and Eileen McGann
The more the fiscal details of the healthcare bills emerge, the more appalling they seem. The Senate Finance Committee bill includes a broad provision taxing all manner of medical devices. This tax includes such frivolous luxuries as pacemakers, stents, artificial heart valves, defibrillators, automated wheelchairs, mechanized artificial limbs, replacement hips and knees, surgical gurneys, laparoscopic equipment and the like.
President Obama is planning to reduce the cost of medical care by taxing it!
The most recent Gallup Poll reflected that 49 percent of respondents said they believed that the ObamaCare plan will increase their healthcare costs. Only about 20 percent said it would lower them. It is taxes like these that substantiate this kind of concern.
The origins of this new medical device tax are troubling as well.
The medical device industry had its day at the White House, as did the insurance industry, the drug makers, the nurses and the doctors. In turn, each group heard the White House request that it come up with voluntary cuts in its healthcare costs and support Obama’s proposed changes in return for assurances that Congress would not impose deeper cuts (or, in the case of the doctors, that it would actually rescind cuts already scheduled under current statutes).
But, unlike all these other groups, the medical device industry refused the deal. This posture enraged the tyrants in the White House, who vowed to punish the industry with cuts imposed by Congress. The result was a decision by the revenue-hungry Senate Finance Committee to extract billions in funds from the industry.
The legislation does not work like a sales or excise tax. Rather, it follows the model of the punitive tobacco settlement imposed on cigarette companies in the '90s. It assesses an industry-wide payment that firms must make in proportion to their market share. It bars the them from passing along the cost of the assessment by charging more for certain basic products, but allows them to raise the price of others to raise the funds for the fee.
The result will be that virtually every piece of advanced surgical equipment will be subject to a price increase to meet the levy from Washington. No matter that these devices often make the difference between life and death and that, in effect, taxing them raises the cost of vital treatments. The vengeful White House will have its pound of flesh from the medical device industry for daring to be independent and to refuse to knuckle down to administration pressure.
This tax, imposed in a spirit of haughty arrogance, falls on totally inappropriate objects. Valves, prosthetic limbs, pacemakers, hearing aids and such are essential therapies that make life longer, better and less painful. To tax them makes no sense. Except in the world of sharp elbows and interest group politics that grips this take-no-prisoners and show-no-mercy White House.
Get in shape or pay a price.
That's a message more Americans could hear if the health care reform bills passed by the Senate Finance and Health committees become law.
By more than doubling the maximum rewards and penalties that companies can apply to employees who flunk medical evaluations, the bills could put workers under intense financial pressure to lose weight, stop smoking or even lower their cholesterol.
The initiative, largely eclipsed in the health care debate, builds on a trend that is already in play among some corporations and that more workers will see in the packages they bring home during this month's open enrollment. Some employers offer lower premiums to people who complete personal health assessments; others offer only limited benefit packages to smokers.
The current legislative effort takes the trend a step further. It is backed by major employer groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers. It is opposed by labor unions and groups devoted to combating serious illnesses, such as the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society, and the American Diabetes Association.
Read More HERE
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I have never been to Kratovil's website, signed-up for any emails etc.
Now I get this from;
frank.kratovil@congressnewsletter.netThis is an attempt from Kartovil to look like a conservative democrat, too late Frank you have shown your true colors at the town halls, and by supporting cap and tax. This is not old school politics anymore Frank, people are educated, they plant seeds in their memories, seeds like telling a small child that our returning vets commit suicide.
Sorry Frank, looks like you're a one termer......
Here's the email;
Dear Friends, October 13, 2009
As the health care reform debate continues in Washington, it is more important than ever for Congress to listen to the concerns of our constituents and craft a reform package that works for all Americans. Over the past few months, I’ve spoken with thousands of constituents at Town Hall meetings, one-on-one conversations, and telephone town hall forums. While opinions on the current legislation were varied, I’ve heard strong agreement that we ought to look for common sense ideas that protect the parts of health care system that work and fix the parts that don’t.
In order to get my vote, any health care reform bill must protect and expand patient choice, rein in skyrocketing costs for consumers and businesses, and break down the barriers that prevent millions of Americans from accessing coverage. These are goals that cross party lines, and the debate over how to achieve these goals should focus not on partisan rhetoric but on a discussion of common-sense solutions that will improve health care and reduce costs for all Americans.
Last week, I led a group of my fellow Freshman Representatives in sending a letter to House Leadership urging them to take a step back and address a number of the concerns that our constituents have raised. The letter highlights many of the common sense proposals we have heard in our town hall meetings: fostering competition across state lines, reducing malpractice suits and defensive medicine, protecting small businesses, and ensuring that health care reform does not increase the deficit. The letter is available on my website if you’d like to read more about the reforms for which I am fighting.
The message I have heard from my constituents is clear: We need reform, but legitimate concerns remain about the current legislation. In my view the current House bill does not do enough to accomplish the critical goals discussed above. However, I am hopeful that we can develop a proposal that will cut costs, preserve consumer choice, protect small businesses, and increase competition. We cannot afford to let obstructionists derail this debate, but nor should we be afraid to acknowledge that many of the concerns being raised are real and legitimate.
With warm regards,
Rep. Frank M. Kratovil, Jr.
P.S – While the health care debate continues to draw most of the headlines, I want to touch on another issue that is affecting our district. Our national economy is starting to show some glimmers of a turnaround, but many homeowners here in Maryland and across the country continue to face the prospect of foreclosure due to a lost job, an unexpected medical emergency, or other economic hardships. On September 26th, I held a foreclosure prevention workshop in Cambridge where over 150 constituents attended and spoke privately with housing counselors, got free legal advice from experienced foreclosure attorneys, and met directly with representatives from major lenders. I will be holding similar workshops in other areas of the district in the months ahead, but if you or someone you know is facing a foreclosure, then please do not wait. Please contact my office at (410) 334-3072 to learn more about the resources available to help you stay in your home.
A respected medical specialist has carefully reviewed the healthcare reform bill in the U.S. House, and he declares that it would amount to a virtual "draft" of doctors into the government's "public option" health insurance program.
Dr. Russell Blaylock, a renowned neurosurgeon, book author and editor of the Blaylock Wellness Report published by Newsmax, also warns that "death panels" could lead to the rationing of medical care to the elderly and a "violation of the Hippocratic Oath."
See Video: Dr. Russell Blaylock discusses the threats to quality medical care under Obamacare - Click Here Now
Michael Connelly of Carrollton, Texas is a Constitutional lawyer and has read the entire health care bill and
has some comments, not about the bill, but about the effects on our Constitution. It's a broader picture than just
health care reform.
It's time we sit up and pay attention; once this sort of thing happens, it will be irreversible. We have reason to be
very afraid of what is happening.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE HEALTH CARE BILLS
Well, I have done it! I have read the entire text of proposed House Bill 3200:
The Affordable Health Care Choices Act of 2009. I studied it with particular emphasis from my area of expertise,
constitutional law. I was frankly concerned that parts of the proposed law that were being discussed might be
unconstitutional.
What I found was far worse than what I had heard or expected.
To begin with, much of what has been said about the law and its implications is in fact true,
despite what the Democrats and the media are saying.
The law does provide for rationing of health care, particularly where
senior citizens and other classes of citizens are involved,
free health care for illegal immigrants, free abortion services, and
probably forced participation in abortions by members of the medical profession.
The Bill will also eventually force private insurance companies out of business and
put everyone into a government run system. All decisions about personal health care will ultimately
be made by federal bureaucrats and most of them will not be health care professionals.
Hospital admissions, payments to physicians, and allocations of necessary medical devices
will be strictly controlled.
However, as scary as all of that is, it just scratches the surface. In fact, I have
concluded that this legislation really has no intention of providing affordable health
care choices. Instead, it is a convenient cover for the most massive transfer of power to the
Executive Branch of government that has ever occurred, or even been contemplated.
If this law or a similar one is adopted, major portions of the Constitution of the United
States will effectively have been destroyed.
The first thing to go will be the masterfully crafted balance of power between the
Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of the U.S. Government. The
Congress will be transferring to the Obama Administration authority
in a number of different areas over the lives of the American people
and the businesses they own. The irony is that the Congress doesn't have any authority
to legislate in most of those areas to begin with.
I defy anyone to read the text of the U.S. Constitution and find any authority granted to the
members of Congress to regulate health care.
This legislation also provides for access by the appointees of the Obama
administration to all of your personal healthcare information,
your personal financial information, and the information of your
employer, physician, and hospital. All of this is a direct violation of the
specific provisions of the 4th Amendment to the Constitution
protecting against unreasonable searches and seizures.
You can also forget about the right to privacy. That will have been legislated into
oblivion regardless of what the 3rd and 4th Amendments may provide.
If you decide not to have healthcare insurance or if you have private insurance that
is not deemed "acceptable" to the "Health Choices Administrator" appointed by Obama
there will be a tax imposed on you. It is called a "tax" instead of a fine because of the
intent to avoid application of the due process clause of the 5th Amendment.
However, that doesn't work because since there is nothing in the law that allows
you to contest or appeal the imposition of the tax, it is definitely depriving someone of
property without the "due process of law.
So, there are three of those pesky amendments that the far left hate so much out of the original
ten in the Bill of Rights that are effectively nullified by this law. It doesn't stop there though. The 9th
Amendment that provides: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed
to deny or disparage others retained by the people." The 10th Amendment states:
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited
by it to the States, are preserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
Under the provisions of this piece of Congressional handiwork neither the people nor the
states are going to have any rights or powers at all in many areas that once were theirs to control.
I could write many more pages about this legislation, but I think you get the idea.
This is not about health care; it is about seizing power and limiting rights.
Article 6 of the Constitution requires the members of both houses of Congress to "be bound by oath or
affirmation" to support the Constitution. If I were a member of Congress, I would not be able to vote for
this legislation or anything like it without feeling I was violating that sacred oath or affirmation. If I voted
for it anyway, I would hope the American people would hold me accountable.
For those who might doubt the nature of this threat I suggest they consult the source.
Here is a link to the Constitution:
And another to the Bill of Rights:
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html
There you can see exactly what we are about to have taken from us.
Michael Connelly
Retired Attorney,
Constitutional Law Instructor
Carrollton, Texas
http://michaelconnelly.viviti.com/
Hat Tip; Plainsman
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