Every day is a new day and with that, a new opportunity.
EVERYONE is welcome and please join us each morning at 7:30 AM PACIFIC
to tell us what you're working on, share your show & tell, vent, whatever you want...
...this is an open thread. Nothing is off topic.
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Have you signed up through an insurance exchange?
Have you or someone you know benefited from the ACA?
Have you been able to help anyone navigate the system and get covered?
Monday, December 23rd is the deadline to sign up for insurance under the ACA
if you want to be covered by January 1st, although you now have until January 10th to make your first payment and open enrollment continues through March 31st. Is there anyone you know who needs insurance who's been procrastinating? Give them a nudge or help them out with the sign-up process.
Follow Brainwrap's diaries on how enrollment is surging like crazy ahead of the deadline.
NOTE: It was brought to my attention that some states, like Oregon, Maryland and Washington have extended their deadlines to December 27th. There may be more states who have added a few extra days.
Of course, everyone has already benefited from Obamacare whether they realize it or not. You can't be denied health insurance any longer even if you had one of those awful
pre-existing conditions which used to render you uninsurable, like acne, or asthma, or being a victim of domestic violence or rape, or pregnancy. I even know someone who was denied insurance because he was over 50 years old and had had two migraines. Junk insurance plans are being phased out, more preventative care is being covered, and kids can stay on their parents' plans until they're 26.
Even senior citizens already on Medicare will benefit in a number of ways.
For weeks now I've been asking my patients about their insurance. Many, of course, are covered by their employers, or on Medicare...in which case, I point out the ways they are already benefiting from the new law. Many of my long term patients know about my brother's cancer death which might have been prevented if he had insurance. Others know about paradise50's cancer ordeal, and how we would have certainly gone bankrupt without even the lousy insurance we had that didn't kick in until we were $10,000 out of pocket (not including medications).
No One Can Be Denied.
This afternoon I asked a woman in her 50's who works for a small local retail business about her coverage. Her employer offers a catastrophic plan with a high deductible and little coverage. I encouraged her to call Covered California and see if she might be able to get better coverage. Even if your employer already offers a plan you might still be able to sign up if your policy is considered "unaffordable" or doesn't offer basic benefits, which hers most certainly did not. She didn't know this or know about the deadline and agreed it was worth a try.
There is a lot of misinformation, disinformation and just plain lack of information out there, and we are the ones who can correct it.
Even though I prefer Single Payer, I fully acknowledge how many people this will help.
Our policy was one of the lousy plans that Anthem Blue Cross canceled. As self-employed people it was all we could afford. In its place we now have a far superior Silver plan through Covered California with lower deductibles that costs $100 less a month. It took us 45 minutes online to sign up for it, and we were then asked for documentation estimating our 2014 income. It was well worth the effort, and unlike in the past when applying for insurance, not a single question was asked about health history. I'm still stunned that one of us has the ultimate pre-existing condition and yet we now have a new policy that covers more and costs less.
I realize that for people outside of California or Kentucky the online experience has been far more difficult. This is where we can each do our part to tell people about the benefits they are already experiencing, even if they do nothing, and to help them get the information they need. So far I've help three people sign up and in each case they were very, very happy with the results.
What's your ACA experience?
(This is my bumpersticker)
Latest Updates on Kossack Regional Meet-Up News Below the New Day sunrise cloud
:: COMMUNITY BUILDING UPDATES ::
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Let's build communities!
Every region needs a meatspace community like SFKossacks.
We take care of each other in real life.
I urge YOU to take the lead and organize one in your region.
Please tell us about it if you do and we're here for advice.
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THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
>>>Instructions on HOW TO FORM A NEW DAILY KOS GROUP
NEW GROUPS IN THE PROCESS OF ORGANIZING:
Send a Kosmail to the organizers and ask for an invitation to the group.
• Northern Indiana Area: Kosmail Tim Delaney
• Long Island: Kosmail grannycarol
• Northern Michigan: Kosmail JillS
• Nebraska: Kosmail Nebraska68847Dem
• Westburbia Chicago Kossacks: Kosmail Majordomo
• Caprock Kossacks (Panhandle/Caprock/Lubbock/Amarillo area) : Kosmail shesaid
• West Texas Kossacks (including Big Bend Region and El Paso) : Kosmail Yo Bubba
• Las Vegas Kossacks: Kosmail miracle11
• Vermont Kossacks: Kosmail 4Freedom
Note to the above new leaders: Feel free to leave a comment any day reminding readers about your new group. Also, tell us about your progress in gathering members. Kosmail me when you've chosen a good name for your group and have created a the group. Then I'll move you to the NEW GROUPS LIST. When you've planned a date for your first event I'll make a banner for you to highlight your event in our diaries and your diaries.
These are the groups that have started since * NEW DAY * began. Please Kosmail navajo if you have started a group before that.
NEW GROUPS LIST:
• California Central Valley Kossacks - Formed: Jul 29, 2012, Organizer: tgypsy
• New England Kossacks - Formed: Aug 6, 2012, Organizers:
Clytemnestra for Lower New England (Conneticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island)
nhox42 for Upper New England (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont)
• Houston Area Kossacks - Formed: Aug 7, 2012, Organizer: Chrislove
• Kossacks in India - Formed: Aug 14, 2012, Organizer: chandu
• CenTex Kossacks - Formed: Sep 9, 2012, Organizer: papa monzano
• Central Ohio Kossacks - Formed: Sep 26, 2012, Organizer: VetGrl
• Kansas City Kossacks - Formed Oct 15, 2012, Organizer: [Founder stepped down]
• Phoenix Kossacks - Formed Oct 16, 2012, Organizer: arizonablue
• Chicago Kossacks - Formed: Oct 31, 2012, Organizer: figbash
• Koscadia the Pacific Northwest coast from Northern California to Alaska
- Formed Oct 17, 2012, Oganizer: Horace Boothroyd III based in Portland, OR
• Boston Kossacks - Formed: Nov 7, 2012, Organizer: GreyHawk
• Motor City Kossacks South East Michigan (Detroit) Area - Formed: Nov 10, 2012, Organizer: peregrine kate
• Pittsburgh Area Kossacks - Formed: Nov 12, 2012, Organizer: dweb8231
• Salt Lake City Kossacks - Formed: Nov 17, 2012, Organizer: War on Error
• Twin Cities Kossacks - Formed: Nov 17, 2012, Organizer: imonlylurking
• Dallas Kossacks North Texas - Formed: Nov 21, 2012, Admins: Catte Nappe and dalfireplug. Please contact them to join the group. An Event Organizer needed.
• The Southern California Inland Empire Kossacks - Formed: Dec 3, 2012, Organizer: SoCaliana
• Los Angeles Kossacks - Formed: Dec 17, 2012, Organizer: Dave in Northridge
• Northeast Ohio Kossacks - Formed: Jan 16, 2013, Organizer: GenXangster
• Kansas & Missouri Kossacks - Formed: Jan 17, 2013, Organizer: tmservo433
• I-77 Carolina Kossacks who live from Columbia, SC to north of Winston-Salem, NC. - Formed: Jan 30, 2013, Organizers: gulfgal98 and eeff
• Indianapolis Kossacks - Formed: Feb 6, 2013, Organizer: CityLightsLover
• Southwest Ohio Kossacks - Formed: May 10, 2013, Organizer: Dr Erich Bloodaxe RN
• Northern Arizona Kossacks - Formed: Jul 5, 2013, Organizer: Sam Sara
• Mexican Kossacks - Formed: Apr 14, 2013, Organizer: roberb7
• New York Hudson Valley Kossacks - Formed: Oct 27, 2012, Organizer: boran2
• North Carolina Triangle Kosmopolitans - Formed: Aug 2, 2013, Organizer: highacidity
• Silicon Valley Kossacks - Formed: Oct 31, 2013, Organizer: Glen The Plumber
ESTABLISHED GROUPS LIST: (List will grow as we discover them)
• SFKossacks Founded by navajo, Formed: May 2, 2005
• Maryland Kos Founded by timmyc, Formed: Feb 23, 2011. Contact: JamieG from Md for a group invite.
• New York City Founded by Eddie C - Contact the group organizer for meet-up events: sidnora
• Baja Arizona Kossacks, Event Organizer: Azazello
• Three Star Kossacks Tennessee, Founded by maryKK, Formed: Apr 8, 2011
• Nashville KosKats, Founded by ZenTrainer Formed: Jan 30, 2012
• Virginia Kos Founded by JamieG from Md, Formed: May 3, 2011
• Kos Georgia Founded by pat208, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
• Colorado COmmunity Founded by Leftcandid, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
• New Mexico Kossaks Founded by claude
• Philly Kos Founded by mconvente Formed: Aug 29, 2011
• DKos Florida Founded by ThirstyGator, Formed: Feb 14, 2011, Currently organizing: Kosmail Vetwife to be included in next event.
• Oklahoma Roundup Founded by BigOkie, Formed: Feb 13, 2011, Currently organizing: Kosmail peacearena to be included.
• DKos Asheville Founded by davehouck, Formed: Feb 13, 2011 - Organizing Assist by: randallt
• San Diego Kossacks Founded by La Gitane, Formed: Nov 18, 2011
• Massachusetts Kosmopolitans Founded by mem from somerville, Formed: Feb 13, 2011
by ColoTim ♥ for COLORADO COMMUNITY
Seven Kossacks from the Denver area got together to enjoy each other's company. Casual conversation included: "...various past elections, various upcoming elections, interactions people have had with elected and/or government officials, discussions of various parts of the Denver metro area, showing some pictures of [ColoTim's] new woozle, past and future gatherings, food and drink and fantasy football."
Good times in Colorado!
L-R: ACPA, ColoTim, whoknu, RockyMtnLib, Leftcandid & Phoenix Rising
Please visit ColoTim's diary for obligatory food shots. Enjoy, there's pie! You can join COLORADO COMMUNITY by sending a Kosmail to ColoTim.
by Dave in Northridge ♥ for Los Angeles Kossacks
Nice turnout for the lastest gathering:
L-R, Front: jakedog42, flowingone, deniserobb, mvanier and son,
San FernandoValleyMom, MugWumpBlues, Dave in Northridge,
susans, joemarkowitz, optimistic pizza.
Rear: Shockwave, Gay CA Democrat, otoelbc, Lisa, Richard (Mr. Lisa)
~Photo Courtesy of SanFernandoValleyMom
Please visit Dave in Northridge's diary for MORE photos! Enjoy! You can join Los Angeles Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to Dave in Northridge.
by CityLightsLover ♥ for Indianapolis Kossacks
CityLightsLover pulled together another Indianapolis Kossack event. This time at a Mexican restaurant complete with her orangey Daily Kos tablescapes and schwag she produced herself.
Here's their group photo:
L-R: maryabein, MKDAWUSS, Tim DeLaney, CityLightsLover, im2004Lurker, Mrs. Mokurai, Furbabies2013, Dragon5616, Mokurai and mithra666
Please visit CityLightsLover's diary for many MORE photos of those Daily Kos tablescapes and food pr0n! Enjoy! You can join Indianapolis Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to CityLightsLover.
by randallt ♥ for DKos Asheville
Asheville, NC gets out the vote!
The following is a brief roundup of the DKos Asheville Voter Registration Project's fifth outing. We've been setting up every Tuesday for the last five weeks at Earth Fare, a natural food store at Westgate Shopping Center in Asheville. We have a nice spot on the patio outside the store. This week with no icy wind and much more moderate temps. Oh it was cold alright, just not stupid cold. Back to having three of us was great. LamontCranston, David and Myself received many thumbs up and "thank you's" from passers by and shoppers and more than a few questions as to why we were doing this now. "Didn't we just have an election?". We officially re-registered one voter and took advantage of the interaction to do some Daily Kos evangelism. And here is a tease for next week. It involves llamas!
LamontCranston, our new Salvation Army bell ringer friend, randallt and davehouck
You can join DKos Asheville by sending a Kosmail to randallt.
by tmservo433 ♥ for Kansas & Missouri Kossacks
Organizer tmservo433
~Photo Courtesy of Michael Bersin
tmservo433 delivered a great event. Almost 30 people attended what tmservo433 calls the first session of the evening that lasted until 11:30 P.M. The second session of the evening included about ten more people lurking outside the door and some working as hotel staff inside the room. So after the meet-up ended, on-lookers from the hall and hotel service people wanted to talk about what they overheard coming out of the ballroom. For example, the round table discussion about the importance of increasing the minimum wage resonated with the waitstaff and they chimed in about that with strong opinons. A ballroom dancing couple applauded the progressive discussion they could hear on the other side of the partition. This event united progressives within its reach!
Please visit tmservo433's diary for written details on this terrific event! You can join Kansas & Missouri Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to tmservo433.
by tmservo433 ♥ for Kansas & Missouri Kossacks
L-R: Some where in this photo are Kossacks Glitterscale, Man Oh Man and tmservo433.
Please visit tmservo433's diary for a description of the rest of the attendees which were mostly non-Kossacks, but folks who should be there, such as, State Legislator John Wright. tmservo433 gathered a great group of Progressives and hopefully we can get a few more of them to join us at DKos. Kudos to tmservo433 for reaching out and uniting like-minded folk in Missouri!
You can join Kansas & Missouri Kossacks by sending a Kosmail to tmservo433.
by navajo ♥ for SFKossacks
L-R: SFKossacks meeting at the home of Andrew McGuire in the Wine Country
You can join the SFKossacks by sending a Kosmail to navajo.
:: Events Currently on the Books for ALL Kossacks ::
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Saturday, December 21st
SFKossacks Holiday Luncheon in the City!
TIME: 1:00 PM
LOCATION: Limon Rotisserie
524 Valencia Street • San Francisco
Near 16th & Mission BART
ORGANIZER: Send navajo a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. navajo
2. dharmasyd
3. ceebee7
4. sfbob
5. side pocket
6. Lusty
7. remembrance
8. Glen The Plumber
9. TLO™
10. maggiejean
11. citisven
12.
13.
14.
15.
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Maybees:
Trapper
Mrs. side pocket
PatG
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Sunday, January 12th
NYC Kossacks Meet-up
TIME: Noon
LOCATION: Spitzer's Corner
101 Rivington Street (Ludlow) • NYC
Meet in the back room. This venue is wheelchair accessible.
ORGANIZER: Send sidnora a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. sidnora
2. blue jersey mom
3.
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Maybees:
mconvente
Ian Reifowitz |
Latest diary: Coming In From The Cold: January 12, A NYC Meetup!
Date Moving to January 2014
Connecticut Kossacks Meet-up!
TIME: TBD
LOCATION: The Shamrock Pub & Grill
210 Meadow St. • Waterbury
The Shamrock is a short walk from the MTA Metro North Station. If anyone wants to take Amtrak, thankgodforairamerica can pick you up in Meriden and drive you to the event.
ORGANIZER: Send thankgodforairamerica a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. thankgodforairamerica
2. gchaucer2
3.
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Maybees:
annieli
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Latest diary: [Waiting for linked diary]
Sunday, January 26th
SFKossacks Welcome matching mole to San Francisco!
TIME: TBD, daytime car trip to the Delta for birding with lineatus
LOCATION: Grizzly Island Wildlife Area
2548 Grizzly Island Road • Suisun City
lineatus will have a spotting scope and a few spare pairs of binoculars, so novices can have something to use.
ORGANIZER: Send lineatus a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. lineatus
2. matching mole
3. navajo
4. tgypsy
5.
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Maybees: |
TIME: TBD, evening event for city folk and to celebrate dharmasyd's and kimoconnor's birthdays!
LOCATION: TBD
[Address] • [City]
ORGANIZER: Send lineatus a kosmail to attend.
RSVPs:
1. lineatus
2. matching mole
3. navajo
4. dharmasyd
5. side pocket
6. norm
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Maybees: |
Latest diary: [Waiting for linked diary]
Send navajo a kosmail if you post a diary about an event so we can update our round-up.
Okay. Floor's open.
Tell us what you are doing on this NEW DAY?
10:07 AM PT: I checked with Brainwrap about the deadlines.
Cover Oregon has changed their deadline to December 27th
http://www.statesmanjournal.com/...
So has Maryland: http://www.wjla.com/...