Long Covid

According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—CDC.gov), long Covid or post-Covid conditions are “a wide range of new, returning, or ongoing health problems” about four weeks after a Covid 19 infection. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/long-term-effects/index.html [Accessed 06-25-2022]

The CDC has found that people with possible long Covid report the following symptoms:

Tiredness or fatigue that interferes with daily life

Symptoms that get worse after physical or mental effort (post-exertional malaise)

Fever

Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath

Cough

Chest pain

Fast-beating or pounding heart (heart palpitations)

Difficulty thinking or concentrating (brain fog)

Headache

Sleep problems

Dizziness when standing up (lightheadedness)

Pins-and-needles feelings

Change in smell or taste

Depression or anxiety

Diarrhea

Stomach pain

Joint or muscle pain

Rash

Changes in menstrual cycles

“Some people, especially those who had severe COVID-19, experience multiorgan effects or autoimmune conditions with symptoms lasting weeks or months after COVID-19 illness. Multiorgan effects can involve many body systems, including the heart, lung, kidney, skin, and brain. As a result of these effects, people who have had COVID-19 may be more likely to develop new health conditions such as diabetes, heart conditions, or neurological conditions compared with people who have not had COVID-19.”

The CDC states, “for some people, post-COVID conditions may last months, and potentially years, after COVID-19 illness and may sometimes result in disability.”

According to the CDC:

“Estimates of the proportion of people who had COVID-19 that go on to experience post-COVID conditions can vary:

13.3% at one month or longer after infection

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2.5% at three months or longer, based on self-reporting

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More than 30% at 6 months among patients who were hospitalized”

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My new book, Money & Insurance Claims for Injuries & Illnesses: Medical RecordKeeping, is now available at Amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Money+%26+Insurance+claims+for+injuries+%26+illnesses%3A+medical+recordkeeping&crid=N07VIEUHDHUG&sprefix=money+%26+insurance+claims+for+injuries+%26+illnesses+medical+recordkeeping%2Caps%2C61&ref=nb_sb_noss

Money & Insurance Claims for Injuries & Illnesses: Medical RecordKeeping provides a guide for creating a Medical Appointments Book, a Prescription Journal, and a Medical Status Journal. It seeks to respond to three needs of people impaired now, or who may be in the future:

One, it helps to find the words, to describe or explain their symptoms, including pain.

Two, it advocates that people must properly complete “medical” forms and retain copies of completed forms and their own records of their care and treatment.

Three, it recommends that people create medical status diaries to describe their baseline health and/or to record symptoms that may be associated with future illnesses such as Long Covid or fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome.

This book is a guide to creating a Medical Appointments Book, a Prescription Journal, and a Medical Status Journal.

In 2013, Patricia A. Petow, a now retired Massachusetts attorney, published How to Get Social Security Disability & SSI Disability at Amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/How-Get-Social-Security-Disability/dp/1495315045

Chronic Pain

See this article in the Washington Post re chronic pain by Haider Warraich, MD, author of “The Song of Our Scars: The Untold Story of Pain.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/04/30/chronic-pain-relief/

Fight Back Against Scammers Exploiting the Elderly

Many people, especially the elderly, have been victimized by scammers who intimidate them into buying pre-paid gift cards to pay for correcting non-existent problems such as IRS debts, law enforcement action, Social Security or utility shut offs and actual problems such as scammer-installed computer malware and viruses. See https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/gift-card-scams.

I have written to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suggesting that a warning label be placed on each pre-paid gift card, much like the warning labels on cigarette packages.

Because the elderly population is largely composed of people who get their information from reading than video content, a written warning is likely to be effective.

The pre-paid gift card warning label might say: “Government offices, including the IRS and Social Security, are not allowed to accept payment with pre-paid gift cards. No Sheriff, no court, no county, no state, no city, no town is allowed to accept payment with pre-paid gift cards. No legitimate business accepts payment with pre-paid gift cards. If you have a computer problem, call your Internet or cable provider. Only scammers ask for payment with pre-paid gift cards.”

Please join me and contact the FTC to request that it require such warning labels on each pre-paid gift card.

Federal Trade Commission 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580 Telephone: (202) 326-2222

By email to: antitrust@ftc.gov

Pain & Virtual Reality

Interesting article in New York Times Magazine re Chronic pain and Virtual Reality. See https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/26/magazine/virtual-reality-chronic-pain.html?referringSource=articleShare

Disability Stigma

Interesting article:

“The Rise of Disability Stigma: Religion once held sway over how people thought about disability. How did that change with the rise of secularism?”

By Livia Gershon

 

https://daily.jstor.org/the-rise-of-disability-stigma/?utm_term=The%20Rise%20of%20Disability%20Stigma&utm_campaign=jstordaily_10152020&utm_content=email&utm_source=Act-On+Software&utm_medium=email

2021 SOCIAL SECURITY CHANGES

 

2021 SOCIAL SECURITY CHANGES

 

Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA): Based on the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI-W) from the third quarter of 2019 through the third quarter of 2020, Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) beneficiaries will receive a 1.3 percent COLA for 2021.