National Health Insurance: A possible solution.... Part 2

Types of Insurance:
Single Payer Health Care: Some countries implement national health insurance through taxation or by legislation requiring compulsory contributions to a national insurance fund operated by the government from which medical expenses are provided by private entities (doctors and hospitals). This is known in the United States as single-payer health care.

Socialized Medicine: Some countries implement national health insurance through taxation and/or by legislation requiring compulsory contributions to a national insurance fund operated by government, but the money can only be spent on health services commissioned by government. This is referred to by some in the United States as socialized medicine. An example of this is the UK's National Health Service.

Equalization Pool: Some countries implement national health insurance funds which must provide a minimum standard of coverage and are not allowed to discriminate between patients by charging different rates according to age, occupation or previous health status. To protect the interest of both patients and insurance companies, the government establishes an equalization pool to spread risks between the various funds. Thus a fund with predominantly younger, healthier patients pays into the pool, and older, sicker patients may receive from the pool. The government may also contribute to the pool as a form of health care subsidy.
Social Health Insurance: countries are largely funded from contributions by employers and employees to sickness funds. Funds do not come from the government, and neither from direct private payments. This system operates in many European countries such as Germany, Belgium and Ireland. These countries have a social health insurance systems which is characterized by the presence of sickness funds, which can be based on professional, regional, religious, or political affiliation.

Here is a little background on the proposal for NHI
Historical Background:
political efforts:Theodore Roosevelt was the first presidential candidate to call for national health insurance in his 1912 third party bid for president. The only major national health insurance proposal introduced in Congress during this period was a House Joint Resolution submitted in 1916 by a Socialist Congressman Meyer London from New York's East Side. Most of the action was at the state level, with universal coverage initiatives discussed in CA, NY and several other states.

Oppositions: Woodrow Wilson, when became the president in his first inaugural address in 1913 had suggested the federal government should safeguard the nation's health but he never seriously pursued this issue during his presidency as he was preoccupied with other issues in his first term such as World War I. In Wilson’s second term as president there was a congressional initiative hearing even though it was never voted on in the committee.
Several groups who had initially supported national health care reforms began to change their position. Health care reform came late in the Progressive era when a more conservative atmosphere was covering the United States. World War one was also a major reason why national health insurance care reform never gained much momentum. The public's attention was taken by the war. Because national health insurance began in Germany, it was seen as unpatriotic during the war to support the movement. Medical profession, labor organizations and businesses groups because of their self interests clashed in ways prevented reform from becoming a reality.

On the state level between 1915 and 1920, eight states (California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) appointed official commissions to investigate health insurance. The "Standard Bill" for health insurance was drafted by the American Association for Labor Legislation in 1915 and introduced in a number of state legislators. In 1919 it was introduced in a bipartisan manner and held strong support from labor groups and civic associations, but no state bill was ever enacted because of growing oppositions. Doctors initially supported the idea of universal coverage at the state level, but ultimately came to the conclusion that government medicine might pose a serious threat to their livelihoods. They were successfully able to organize strong opposition to reform initiatives so that nothing was enacted. Pharmacists opposed the legislation because prescription drugs insurance payments, they feared would destabilize their business. While commercial insurance firms did not offer health insurance during this period, a large part of their business was offering burial insurance to pay funeral costs.

The fact that people generally felt actual health insurance (as opposed to sickness insurance) was unnecessary prior to 1920 also helped to defeat proposals for compulsory, nationalized health insurance in the same period. Although many European nations had adopted some form of compulsory nationalized health insurance by 1920 the proposals sponsored by the American Association for Labor Legislation (AALL) to enact compulsory health insurance in several states were never enacted.

However, later The Social Security Amendments of 1965 created a governmental health insurance program known as Medicare intended primarily for the aged. In 1993 President Bill Clinton introduced a plan for universal health care coverage but a negotiation could not be reached with the opponents in Congress and the bill died.

Single payer as National Health Insurance:
Single payer is one alternative proposed for reforming the U.S. health care system. According to the National Library of Medicine's Medical Subject Heading thesaurus, a Single Payer System is
“An approach to health care financing with only one source of money for paying health care providers. The scope may be national, state-wide, or community based. The payer may be a governmental unit or other entity such as an insurance company. The proposed advantages include administrative simplicity for patients and providers, and resulting significant savings in overhead costs.”

A Single payer system would provide universal coverage with at least the same quality and lower costs. The term single payer is sometimes used in the U.S. to distinguish systems paid from a single (governmental) source with other systems of health care in which the government has a higher degree of control including administering hospitals and employing doctors and staff, though logically these too are single payer systems. When the term single payer is used in this way, doctor’s practices and hospitals may remain private and negotiate with the government for fees.

The United States, Canada and Australia have single payer health insurance programs named Medicare; however, Australia's program provides universal health insurance, while U.S. Medicare is only for senior citizens. Government is increasingly involved in U.S. health care spending, paying about 45 percent of the $2.2 trillion the nation spent on medical care in 2004.

The Veterans Administration is a single payer system and provides excellent quality. In a peer reviewed paper published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers of the RAND Corp. reported that the quality of care received by Veterans Administration patients scored significantly higher overall than did comparable metrics for patients in the rest of the U.S. health system.

Obama Vs McCain Healthcare Reforms in a nutshell

With Presidential elections less than sixty days away here is an overview of both the candidates Health reforms for Americans. Both have their Pros and cons, whoever wins have to fix the 1.6 trillion dollar industry.
OBAMA
Affordable national plan based on Congress's own insurance, available to small businesses and individuals without coverage.
Create national regulator to ensure that private insurance plans are fairly priced and available to all. Medicaid and existing employer plans untouched.
Pay for it by levying a payroll tax on any employer not providing insurance; subsidize some small businesses and exempt the smallest businesses and startups.
Universal coverage mandate for children only.

McCAIN
Make health insurance portable from job to job across state lines; work with states to create guaranteed-access plans.
Offer families without coverage through jobs a $5,000 tax credit ($2,500 for individuals) toward the cost of private insurance.
No universal coverage mandate.

BOTH CANDIDATES
Propose a variety of cost-cutting schemes, such as re importation of generic drugs, investing in information technology to drive efficiency, and medical-liability tort reform.

Remembering 9/11

9/11, a day which will never be forgotten. A day which bought the World's most developed country and superpower on it's knees for a moment. A day which will be remembered by many lovers, wives, sons, husbands and mothers who lost their loved ones. 9/11 will be remembered as a day when many firefighters, volunteers, policemen and United 93 hero's sacrificed their lives for strangers.
This day also holds a very special significance in my life. This was my first day in United States of America. This is the day I will never forget for the rest of my life. I will always remember, what I and people around me had gone through. I can never forget this day as it changed the world around me forever. Although it has been seven long years, the scenes of 9/11 are still fresh in my mind as if it was just yesterday. The day still sends chills down my spine. The horrifying scenes of smoke and bodies still make me depressed.Whenever I look back and remember 9/11 I tremble remembering those images I had witnessed and the world around me which changed forever. And this was reality and not the "land of dreams" making 9/11 the first day and the worst day in US and the most memorable day ever in my life.

National Health Insurance a possible solution to US healthcare crisis

Health care spending continues to rise at the fastest rate in our history. In 2007, total national health expenditures were expected to rise 6.9 percent which is two times the rate of inflation. The total spending was $2.3 trillion in 2007, or $7600 per person. Total health care spending represented 16 percent of the GDP.U.S. Health care spending is expected to increase at similar levels for the next decade reaching $4.2 trillion in 2016, or 20 percent of GDP. The annual premium for an employer health plan covering a family of four averaged nearly $12,100. The annual premium for single coverage averaged over $4,400.

Despite this expenditure, the current U.S. system fails to provide universal health coverage. Nearly 47 million Americans or about 16 percent of the population lacked health insurance in 2006.The lack of universal coverage contributes to another flaw in the current U.S. health care. In dimensions of performance, it under performs relative to other industrialized countries. In a 2007 comparison by the Commonwealth Fund of health care in the U.S. with that of Germany, Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, the U.S. ranked last on measures of quality, access, efficiency, equity, and outcomes.

Policy experts agree that our health care system is puzzled with inefficiencies, excessive administrative expenses, inflated prices, poor management, inappropriate care, waste and fraud. These problems significantly increase the cost of medical care and health insurance for employers and workers and affect families.

To overcome such high costs some policy makers and political representatives have proposed National Health Insurance as a possible solution. National Health Insurance is a government operated or publicly funded system of insurance that provides financial benefits and medical services to persons in need of a treatment or disabled by sickness or accident. Typically, most health care costs are met by the population via compulsory health insurance or taxation, or a combination of both. National health insurance systems are found in many countries, particularly in Europe. In the United States health insurance has been provided by private enterprise on a voluntary basis.

National Health Insurance at political level:
In Congress, Rep. John Conyers has introduced The United States National Health Insurance Act (HR 676). As of January 2008, HR 676 has 88 co sponsors. It was first introduced, with 25 cosponsors in 2003 and since been reintroduced each session. The act calls for the creation of a universal single payer health care system in the United States, in which the government would provide every resident health insurance free of charge. In order to eliminate unequal treatment between richer and poorer Americans the Act would also prohibit private insurers from covering any treatment or procedure already covered by the Act. The bill is currently in the House Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Health. The bill has drawn significant attention beginning in July 2007 because of the release of the Michael Moore documentary Sicko which focuses on the status of health care in the United States.

National health insurance is a priority issue among the presidential candidates for the elections in 2008. Hilary Clinton whose first attempt at a health care overhaul failed 13 years ago, suggests that that she would mandate coverage for 47 million uninsured Americans, provides tax credits for Americans who cannot afford insurance, offer more choices for coverage, end discrimination based on pre-existing conditions and expands Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Obama on the other hand suggests that all children will have health insurance and it will be paid for by rolling back President Bush's tax cuts for households earning over $250,000. Republican candidate John McCain is for free-market, consumer-based system he has pledged affordable health care for every American he says universal health care is possible without a tax increase. Whatever, their plan is the current system needs a fix before the projected health share of GDP crosses 20 percent by 2017.

National Health Insurance at State Level:
Inspired by the increasing number of uninsured Americans, the declining number of employ¬ers offering insurance to their employees and the lack of federal action, states are leading the way in health care reform. States are using market based initiatives, Medicaid and SCHIP expansions, and public-private partnership to increase access and affordability of insurance. Massachusetts is implementing a universal health care system by mandating that residents purchase health insurance .The City of San Francisco is also undertaking a universal health care system for uninsured residents. California, Maine, Vermont and Hawaii are also considering or seeking to implement universal or close to universal systems. Recently, a California State Senate committee voted on a bipartisan basis against a plan to help establish a $14 billion fund to subsidize medical insurance for 5 million uninsured Californians.

Possible Funding Models:
U.S could adopt a mixed model of funding. General taxation revenue is the primary source of funding, but in many countries it is supplemented by charge to the individual and/or an employer or with the option of private payments (either direct or via optional insurance) for services beyond that covered by the public system.
Another solution is a mix of public and private contributions. The majority of universal health care systems are funded primarily by tax revenue (e.g. Portugal). Some nations, such as France and Japan employ a multi payer system in which health care is funded by private and public contributions.

A distinction possibly can be made between municipal and national healthcare funding. For example, one model is that the bulk of the healthcare is funded by the municipality, specialty healthcare is provided and possibly funded by a larger entity, such as a municipal co-operation board or the state, and the medications are paid by a state agency.

Compulsory insurance could be enforced to cover up costs. This is usually enforced via legislation. Sometimes there may be a choice of several funds providing a basic service or sometimes just a single fund.

A risk compensation pool to equalize the risks between funds can be used. A fund with a predominantly healthy, younger population has to pay into a compensation pool and a fund with an older and predominantly less healthy population would receive funds from the pool. In this way, sickness funds compete on price and there is no advantage to eliminate people with higher risks because they are compensated for by means of risk-adjusted capitation payments. Funds are not allowed to pick and choose their policyholders or deny coverage, but then mainly compete on price and service. In some countries the basic coverage level is set by the government and cannot be modified.

Opponents of government mandates or programs for universal health care argue that people should be free to opt out of health insurance and that government programs would require higher taxes, increase utilization, and reduce health care quality. Opponents also claim that the absence of a market mechanism may slow innovation in treatment and research.

Possible Solutions:
National health care costs would be lower than the current US system due to lower administrative costs. By lowering these administrative costs the United States would have the ability to provide universal health care, without managed care, increase benefits and still save money.

The US denies access to health care based on the ability to pay. Under a universal health care system all would access care. There would be no lines as in other industrialized countries due to the oversupply in our providers and infrastructure, and the willingness/ability of the United States to spend more on health care than other industrialized nations.

National health care administered by a state public health system would be much more democratic and much less intrusive than our current system. Consumers and providers would have a voice in determining benefits, rates and taxes. Problems with free choice, confidentiality and medical decision making would be resolved.

For profit, managed care cannot solve the US health care problems because health care is not a commodity that people shop for, and quality of care must always be compromised when the motivating factor for corporations is to save money through denial of care and decreasing provider costs. In addition managed care has introduced problems of patient confidentiality and disrupted the continuity of care through having limited provider networks.

Insurance industry with some change in government mandates has the expertise to make universal health insurance possible by simply redesigning some insurance products and better utilizing the dollars we already have available. For example, every employer in this country is required by law to purchase workers' compensation. Most employers offer health insurance to some degree. However, job-related sickness or injury must be covered by workers' compensation. Off-the-job sickness or injury must be covered by health insurance. This has the employer paying out of two different pockets for one common end health insurance. By mandating universal health insurance and shifting the part of the workers' compensation premium that covers health issues to universal health insurance, these premium dollars will be better utilized.

Federal government along with state and local government in partnership and on a mandatory basis provide National health insurance by adopting as single type or a mix and match of multiple types of healthcare funding models and provide health coverage for all including the uninsured.

Another possible solution instead of providing NHI is enacting a standard health insurance deduction, expanding health savings accounts and deregulating insurance markets that could truly expand coverage, improve quality and make care more affordable

In establishing universal health care the best remedy for countries health care crises is not increasing government power, but increasing patient power instead. Affordable, high quality health cares a right of all Americans irrespective of age, race, income and residency differences in our society Any National payer system should have these two characteristics:
1) A defined set of benefits guaranteed to all citizens; and,
2) A global budget to pay for the health services provided (the fixed total amount of money that will be spent for one year on a given set of benefits offered to the entire population).

Health care Card In India for the poor

Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana which was formally launched on the 1st of October last year to help provide smart card based cashless health insurance cover up to Rs.30,000 or $700 to the Below poverty Line or BPL families in the next five years under the Health Insurance Scheme. An estimated six crore BPL workers in all 600 districts in the country at one lakh workers per district would be covered for 120 district per year starting from this financial year. The Central Government has already issued Guidelines and a Draft Tender Document has been prepared and sent to all the States.
This is how it works, total sum insured would be Rs. 30,000/- per family, per annum, on a family floater basis. It would operate through cashless transactions and would cover hospitalization expenses, taking care of most of the illnesses with as least exclusions as possible. An initial allocation of Rs.250 crore has been made in the budget 2008-09. The Centre would contribute 75% of the annual premium whereas the States would be contributing the remaining 25%.
The use of smart card will make this project totally cashless and provide interoperability to facilitate use by migrant labor and use of IT applications for the poorest of the poor make this scheme unique in nature. The Scheme would use both public and private service providers for delivering the insurance package. It would also seek the contribution of Rs.30, by way of Registration fee, from the BPL beneficiary with a view to inculcating a sense of ownership in them. Fifteen States (Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Haryana, Bihar, Uttrakhand, Kerala, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal) have been approved. States of Orissa and Himachal Pradesh are likely to start very soon. All States, except the States in the North-East and J&K, have formally communicated their participation in this program. The Enrolment software has, by and large, stabilized but the real challenge would be the operation of Transaction software which will be used in the hospitals. The specifications for Transaction Software have been approved and released. A Certification System has also been put in place. A couple of Service Providers have submitted the software for certification.

The card is works at both public and private hospitals that have pre-enrolled in the program. The card system functions like a health savings accounts with s consumer-driven incentives to manage costs wisely. The program launched in April has already drawn 1.5 million enrollees. The government hopes 60 million more will join buy the 1st anniversary of the program.

The challenges are many; the back-end data base management which would ultimately make the scheme paperless can lead to fraud and insecurity. This is a long term exercise which will take a few months. If a person is not present in his home state he is not eligible he has to return to his home state to qualify. Not all private practices and hospitals will be willing to allocate discount rate for such a system and until now there are just few enrollees. This type of card should not lead to the market distortions that occurred in the United States after Medicaid and Medicare came into existence. Another challenge is that it only covers medication to a certain extent which would eat a large chunk of money. This is a good move by the government to help the underprivileged yet deserving population, we have to wait and watch how far this scheme is successful. While the use of the card is limited to care at hospitals, it still goes a long way to reduce the chance that medical debt will financially crush already-impoverished families. And with one-third of the world's poor living within its borders, India is right to address its health care challenge the budget provides for Rs.10 billion for the Aam Admi Bima Yojana that provides insurance cover to poor households. This will cover 10 million poor households in addition to the 10 million likely to be covered by Sep 30 this year.

Curtain goes down for the World in Olympics 2008

The greatest show on Earth is now over and Phew!! we can catch some sleep. Although Olympics were full of controversies.It lived upto expectations. It was one of the most expensive games of modern times which China leaving no minute deatils left and spending more than 42 billion dollars. Chinese government even defied rain gods with them firing anti rain chemicals to avoid rains in main events.But, the main winners were any army of one million volunteers always smiling and won many a hearts.

Shortly after China was awarded these Games seven years ago, its sports leaders devised Project 119, an initiative to help boost their country to the top of the Beijing medal standings. One-one-nine refers to the number of golds given out at the 2000 Games in the medal-rich sports of track and field, swimming, rowing, sailing and canoe/kayak. In Sydney, China won only one medal, total, in those sports. Although the host country just won four medals in those sports they manage to grap the most golds a total of 51 and second to U.S in total medal tally. Most by any country in a single olympic games after USSR and US. China simply dominated in some events such as diving.

The surprise came from underdogs UK which was placed fourth in the medal tally with 19 golds after many dissaponted performances in previous Olympics. This came at the right time as UK will be hosting the next olympics and what better time than this to show the world they are ready for the world. Even Canada hit the gas after a sluggish start in Beijing to produce one of the country's best performances at a Summer Olympiad.


There also many first's. It was the first most non Bycotted games with 204 countries participating in 35 Olympic disiples. Afghanistan,Bahrain,Mauritius,Sudan,Tajikistan and Togo won their first Olympic medals. Bahrain, Mongolia and Panama won their first gold medals. Serbia won its first medal as an independent NOC, having previously won medals as part of Yugoslavia. It was the First games with least number of Positive Doping tests. India One it's first individual gold medal. It was also the most watched event both online and on TV.

Phelps dominance in the swimming pool, Bolts lightening performance on the tracks, and Walsh and May's countineous winnng streak made it even more exciting.

It was a mix of China's rich and thousands of years of traditions and modern china. The Bird's nest and watercube have registered themselves in the most amazing modern structures in the world. I am simply impressed.

Olympic Heroes and Villians

Heroes and villains of the Beijing Olympics
THE HEROES:

Natalie Du Toit: This 24 year old South African swimmer became the first female amputee swimmer ever to qualify for the Olympics, and placed a very commendable 16th in a field of 24 in the 10,000m swim. Du Toit first started competing internationally at the age of 14, but in 2001, her left leg was amputated at the knee after a car accident. The traumatic experience not only did not stop her from competitive swimming, but made her all the more resolved to be part of the Olympics —a dream she fulfilled this year, without the aid of her prosthetic limb! Read all about her inspiring story here.

Oksana Chusovitina: A mother's love knows no bounds and this is fully exemplified in the life story of Oksana Chusovitina, only one of a handful of women to stay in competitive gymnastics after motherhood. She formerly represented the Soviet Union and her native Uzbekistan and has competed for Germany since 2006. When her son Alisher was diagnosed in 2002 with leukemia and doctors in Moscow could not guarantee quality care, Chusovitina accepted an offer of help from the head coaches of the Toyota Cologne club and moved to Germany. With her competition prize money and funds raised by members of the international gymnastics community, she was able to secure treatment for her son at the University of Cologne's hospital while training with the German team. Chusovitina is the only female gymnast ever to compete in five Olympic Games, and won a silver in the vault final at the Beijing Games.

Dara Torres: This 41 year old Olympian has defied logic and stereotype to become the first woman in history to swim in the Olympics past the age of 40. At the Beijing Olympics, Torres took part in the 50 meter freestyle, 4×100 medley relay, and 4×100 freestyle relay and won the silver medal in all three events — beating competitors less than half her age. Last year, she twice broke her own American record in the 50m freestyle, 26 years after she first wrote the US record at 15 years of age.

Sheila Taormina: First person to compete in 4 Olympics in 3 different sports. ESPN suggests she could very well be the best athlete in the world. Taormina won a gold medal in swimming as a member of the 4x200 relay team at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, transitioned to triathlon in 2000 and was a part of the pentathlon team in Beijing at the age of 39 years.

Eric Shanteau: Just a week before the US Olympic trials, this 24 year old swimmer learnt from his doctor that he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Instead of abandoning his Olympic dream, Shanteau chose to delay surgery, swam in the trials, and won himself a spot in the US team with an upset second-place finish. More here.

Matthias Steiner: This hulk of a weightlifter stole the hearts of Germans all week for crying like a baby holding a picture of his late wife as he was presented with his gold medal. Their bitter sweet love story goes somewhat like this — one day, Susann was channel-flicking on TV and happened to chance upon Steiner in a weightlifting contest. Instantly smitten, she e-mailed him and after establishing contact took the train to Austria to meet him. The two fell madly in love and it was not long before Steiner applied for German citizenship. They were looking forward to come to Beijing together for the Olympics but a car crash before Susann's 23rd birthday ended her life. At her deathbed, Steiner pledged he would make their Olympic dream come true.

Shawn Johonson: She did it at a very young age of 16. Her parents had to mortgage their home to pay for her expenses.At the 2008 Summer Olympics Johnson competed in all four events during the team competition,in which the United States won the silver medal.However, since new information regarding the ages of some suspect Chinese gymnasts has surfaced, the United States women will receive the gold medal if any Chinese participants are found to be in violation of the 16-year-old age requirement.Johnson also won the silver medal in the individual all-around competition, receiving a score of 62.725.Johnson's teammate Nastia Liukin won the gold medal, receiving a score of 63.325.With Liukin taking gold and Johnson silver, this competition was the first time that the United States Women's Gymnastics team took both the gold and silver medals in the individual all-around competition; this competition also marks only the fourth time any country has won both the gold and silver medals in the individual all-around competition.She won the silver medal in floor exercise, with teammate Liukin taking bronze. She did, however, win a gold medal on the balance beam apparatus

Usain Bolt: Olympic chief Jacques Rogge does not think Usain Bolt is a hero and has even reprimanded him for his signature lightning bolt guesture, and not showing "more respect for his fellow athletes" nor shaking their hands. But we definitely think Bolt deserves a place in this list. After all, the Jamaican sprinter is the first man in history to set records for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m sprint at a single Olympics. And he has certainly charmed the world with his antics.

Michael Phelps: With eight golds won at the Beijing Games, US swimmer Michael Phelps brings his total number of Olympic golds to 14, making him the greatest Olympian ever. As a child, Phelps was diagnosed with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and started swimming at age seven as an outlet for his energy. He excelled in it and was soon breaking one national age-group record after another. Today he holds holds seven world records and still manages to charm journalists and fans with his perceived humility, sincerity and killer smile.

Hugh McCutcheon: This coach of the US men's volleyball overcame news of the shocking on attack on the parents of his wife, former Olympian Elisabeth Bachman, which left his father-in-law dead and his mother-in-law seriously injured to lead his team to the gold medal.

Hiroshi Hoketsu: Hiroshi Hoketsu was 22 years old when he competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. Even though he placed a disappointing 40th in the show jumping event, his zeal for riding was not extinguished. He switched to dressage and made time for training despite a demanding career in the pharmaceutical industry. He was an alternate in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles and qualified for the Seoul Olympics four years later, but had to drop out because his horse did not pass a quarantine exam. But in 2008, at 66 years old, he placed first at the Pan-Asian Olympic qualifiers, helping Japan secure a team slot in the equestrian events.

Abhinav Bindra: At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Abhinav Bindra won the gold for the Men's 10m Air Rifle final after shooting a total of 700.5.This was India's first individual gold medal at the Olympics, and the first gold in 28 years, since the Men's Field Hockey team won the gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics.Bindra was rewarded by various Indian state governments and private organizations for his achievement.He is a affluent businessman. His group has a turnover of Rs. 300 crores (US $75 million) with interests in agro and dogfood-processing, computer gaming, livestock genetics and pharmaceuticals.Bindra is a fifth generation descendant of legendary Sikh warrior Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa on his mother's side.

Rohullah Nikpai: Nikpai started his training in Kabul, Afghanistan, at the age of 10During the bloody conflict over the capital city, his family left the city and settled in one of Iran's many Afghan refugee camps. He soon became a member of the Afghan refugee Taekwondo team. He returned to Kabul in 2004 and continued his training at the government provided Olympic training facility. Nikpai competed in the 58 kg category at the 2008 Summer Olympics, defeating two-time world champion Juan Antonio Ramos of Spain to win the bronze medal, making him Afghanistan's first Olympic medalist in any event.
THE VILLAINS:

Angel Valodia Matos: This Cuban taekwondo competitor was banned for life together with his coach after kicking the Swedish judge in the men’s +80kg bronze medal match. Enough said.

Ara Abrahamian: This Armenian-born Swedish Greco-Roman wrestler threw his bronze medal down on the wrestling mat after the medal ceremony and stormed from the podium, saying: "I don't care about this medal. I wanted gold." His behaviour won him loud boos from Swedish fans who were present at the ceremony and the IOC subsequently slapped him with an Olympic ban for "violating the spirit of fair play".

CAUGHT FOR DOPING: North Korean shooter Kim Jong Su was stripped of his silver and bronze medals taken away for doping. Also expelled for doping violations were Spanish cyclist Maria Isabel Moreno and Vietnamese gymnast Thi Ngan Thuong Do.

POOR THING:
Matt Emmons: At the final rifle shooting event in the Athens Games four years ago, this New Jersey shooter threw away his gold medal that he was favoured to win by cross-firing. At an event afterwards, Czech shooter Kate?ina K?rková came to console him afterwards for his blunder, telling him he was the real winner. They ended up falling in love and coming back to this year's Olympics as man and wife. While Kate Emmons won the first gold medal awarded at the Beijing Olympics, Matt threw away another gold by scoring 4.4 in his 10-shot final round, the lowest by anybody in the competition. A 6.7 was all he needed to win gold, and nobody in the finals scored worse than 7.7 for any shot.

Shortcomings of Iphone

 No 3g video calls over 3g n/w
 Bluetooth is only limited to headset use (no file transfer)
 NO camera settings what so ever
 NO autofocus NO flash
 You cannot forward a SMS message, you have to retype it
 NO copy paste function
 Mediocre camera (only2MP)
 Plastic casing (Earlier it was metallic casing)
 NO FM RADIO
 NO video recording
 Safari web browser does not support flash & java
 No sync between notes & to do's
 No office document editor.
 No AD2P on the Bluetooth
 No removable battery. (You cannot change battery. Have to send it to apple
outlet
 Cannot send MMS
 Can’t share ANY (mp3, images, videos....) files via Bluetooth
 Can’t receive MMS messages
 It lacks proper support for Flash websites.
 No songs as ring tones!!!
 It only allows for a maximum of 1 picture to be attached to each e-mail you
send
 You cannot save documents on it: documents can only be viewed as attachments
when they are sent to your email messages
 No Voice Dialing
 You can’t send your contacts as business card.
 It’s not finger print resistant- as iPhone is a touch screen phone so it is bound to get your finger print every time you touch so it will get dirty very easily.
 You can’t pair it with stereo Bluetooth headset.
 It doesn’t have a file browser/organizer

Iphone in India

After much speculations and wait Iphone has finally been launched in India.Pretty sweet as it is one of the best mobile communication device i have seen so far.You can use it as a regular phone, browse internet, listen to music take pictures in low resolution and browse mutiple applications such as gps, yputube etc. There is a lot of cry that Iphone is very expensive more expensive than it is in the U.S. It cost's around an exorbitant Rs 31,000 for the 8 GB version and Rs 36,100 for the 16 GB one which is out of reach of a common mobile user and with no 3G yet in India browsing is going to be slow. If you compare the price Iphone costs more in the U.S.For instance an average user like me will spend around Rs. 700 a month in talktime.Airtel offers 1.5gb of internet usage at Rs 700 so the monthly charge comes out to be around 1400 now if you use it for 2 years it is around 33,600 for usage and 31,000 for the hardware which together equals 65,000 approx.Now in US the equipment cost is almost Rs. 8360 and billed at Rs 3360 per month, again if you use it for two years your total together with the equipment comes out to be a whooping Rs 89,000 which is almost Rs 14,000 higer or to breakdown monthly you will spend approx Rs 583 per month more in US. It has been available in the grey market for quiet some time in India and starting september unlocked model of iphone is going to be avaible around Rs. 25,000 in the US. So why cry enjoy your iphone in India and ask for 3G to be launched.

Sports in India Review

According to a recent article the economic and social dominance in the world is weighed by their progress in sports and i guess it is somewhat true. According to the article countries with Higher GDP growth should have more medals and better athletes as they have the political and economical upper hand over poorer countries also people are better nourished in such countries. The highest is the U.S. with china, japan and India following the lead.But India is nowhere near the top Ten in fact it has managed to perform a little better and ranks forty fifth as off now. The poor performance of India in international sports other than cricket is attributed to many factors.

Sports and games are largely financed and administered by government authorities. This leads to divisive political interference.
The government does not spare enough financial resources to promote and encourage sports and games
Indian schools and universities do not have adequate facilities for sports and games
Our society is ridden with communal, caste and class divisions
Another view is that Indians lack team spirit and strategical analysis
Some say it's the genes but It is doubtful whether Indians have the stamina and the nutrition required for sports and games.
Do Indians lack the killer instinct?
Due to political reasons India does not allow foreign coaches or players to come in and train our athletes.
Our media exploits the sportsmen so much after winning small events and the athletes have to perform above expectations that they perform inconsistently and finally decline.
We need to reform such issues and explore our strengths and weaknesses and come out with a winning strategy.But for now we must celebrate the three medals earned in Olympics 2008 and start working for the next Olympics

Phelpsomania

Phelps needs no introduction.He is not only the greatest swimmer but the greatest Olympians of all times. His winning streak of eight gold medals was a treat to watch and got me hooked to the TV set no matter what. He not only won all of his races but broke world records ex pet in 100m butterfly, his best event where he broke the Olympic record, but still he was unstoppable.
Irony is that he was diagnosed with ADHD at an early age and that's when he started swimming and learned to stay focus.His motto for the Olympics was eat, sleep and race. One can only achieve such a fate if they stay focused on their goal and nobody can even think that he had ADHD. I hope he continues in the same style in 2012 but still it's too early to predict. For now lets enjoy the Olympics 2008

61st India Day Parade NYC

The Indian American community celebrated India’s 61st Independence Day with official flag hoistings at the Indian Consulate, cultural meets and a grand parade in Manhattan, New York.At the India Day parade in Manhattan, which is the largest parade held outside India, thousands of people lined up across the street and waved Indian flags.Deepika Padukone was the Grand Marshal of the parade, which began at 1:30 p.m. from the 41st street on Madison Avenue.There were more than 10,000 Indians gathered for the parade. It was like a herd of people bumping into each other. There was lot of Indian food and promotional stalls from various businesses targeting the Indian community.
It was a day to show your support for the motherland but to a lot of people it was just another fair where they could eat some Indian food ( which was of the lowest grade).
I was in charge of one of the stalls to distribute some promotional materials for a cable channel. I was thrilled to be a part of such a celebration and to meet fellow Indians. Well, it turned out to be a nightmare for me and some of my friends. I believe that we all are ambassadors of our country and we represent India.We at our stall were giving out free stuff as a goodwill gesture and the trouble started their, the crowd simply flocked and jumped on us just to get some free stuff. The crowd was like a bunch of hooligans. It was sheer madness all around. There was no respect or discipline i could hear people cursing and howling like wolves. Even the educated people were misbehaving. The way they were acting could leave a very bad image of India and loosing the respect Indian community is credited for as Indians are considered to be the most educated and well mannered community and also one of the highest earning minority group in America. I was upset to see such a picture being displayed by those people and wondered "mera baharat kahan"

Amazing Shawn

Shawn Johnson is an amazing gymnast. Although she is second to Nastia but her charisma, her sportsmen spirit and her amazing acrobatics styles put her at the top.You could always see her smiling. Outside the floor she is just a normal sixteen year old kid but when she is competing she is like a tigress. Unlike most elite gymnasts who train approximately 40 hours a week and have private tutors, Johnson trains 20-25 hours a week and attends a public high school where she is currently on the “A” Honor Roll and takes part in numerous extra-curricular activities. A well all rounder. She believes her parents as her greatest fans and why nit they mortgaged their house twice just to help Shawn live her dreams and her dedication paid off with one gold and three silver. Simply amazing!

SHAWN JOHNSON

Phelps 5 down 3 to go

The Quest for gold for the greatest swimming sensation in history continues.Phelps have already won Five golds, and he has not only won but done it in style by not only winning but breaking world records in all of them. Even during the race he looked calm and always smiling. He is one of the greatest Olypians in history.

Meanwhile, the U.S women gymnasts dissapointed a bit by not performing the fullest and fall of Sacramoney at the barbut they pulled silver and kuddos to little chinese girls( some say they are not even 16) who appeared in their first olympics and snatched the world championship title from the U.S. Well the chinese are trained in a strict regime away from home. Some of the girls haven't been home for past many years, I am not even sure if this ethical or human thing to do

Congrats Abhinav Bindra

Finally some one did it winning India’s first ever individual Olympic gold medal on Monday with a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the men’s 10m air rifle.He ended a 18 year drought of winning a gold since 1980 by our hockey team,which couldn't even qualify this year. He has made the nation proud. Congrats to him. I hope the quest for medal doesn't stop here Bhupati and Paes look in form.

Phelps all the way

Phelps winning streak continues and he has passsed the most difficult obstacle the 400m relays not only did the team won gold but broke a World record. Phelps secound consecutive gold and world record. It was a treat watching him go for GOLD. I hope he wins the rest other six medals and create history

Olympics 2008

After much criticism and boycott the games are finally here. I love Olympics but still Protests against China's human rights abuses which have continued in various parts of the world against Tibet rule, their one child preferably male policy and death penalty policy is still questionable. Going back to Olympics the opening ceremony was amazing and out of this world. The show they had put up was simply the best I had ever seen in my life.

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony reveals Chinese historical wonders. A portray of ancient china and its transformation into modern china. The views were breathtaking with thousands of performers synchronizing movements without a single glitch. Kudos to an amazing $300 million spectacle. Zhang Yimou acclaimed director of cinematographic masterpieces such as Hero and curse of the golden flower had put a nice show.

I was also impressed with the harmony of parade of the nations and how every athlete was so cheerful and exited to be under one roof greeting each other and giving a feeling of ONE WORLD without borders.

Lightening up the cauldron was breathtaking it wasn’t visible until it was lighted up an amazing feat

On IPL

IPL or Indian premier league is a new form of cricket. To me it's just watching another reality show out of soo many, there is no spirit of sportsmanship.There is no patriotism as people don't care who looses or wins unlike a country playing another cricket might loose its pride. The spirit of cricket is missing. This IPL is all about money and bollywood. A teammate slapping another. IPL is just rivalry of ICL. These types of tournaments might also loose some key players from their national squads and might lead to less of international cricket as IPL will also try to crunch between these international matches.

On healthcare as a imperfect market

Healthcare is an imperfect market in healthcare it is difficult to compare sellers such as Doctors quality and prices and the buyers requirements in other words there is asymmetric information flow as according to the text. In healthcare the seller (doctors) control all the information about health care and the consumer (patients) tend to avoid medical services until they need them. Even if payer (insurers) or consumers try hard to compare sellers (doctors) and their products, data are expensive to collect and complex to interpret. Doctors can set up monopolies or oligopolies in which neither purchasers nor consumers can shop or even easily negotiate services or prices.

Its a Leap Year

Ah! Today I should be happy everyone should be happy, today is 29th feb a day which is very rare and will be remembered for the next four years. I feel like doing something good and productive. I don't want to waste this day. I don't know what to do though, maybe go out but it's too cold out there. Maybe I should read a book, or study. I should do something which haven't done for a while.