There have been millions legal American citizens who cannot afford health insurance both before and after ACA but at least with ACA a lot of folks get subsidies. My parents could not afford health insurance for 3 years before ACA and I think blaming it on illegal immigration (which does concern me too) is incorrect IMO. I blame it on the sucky for profit health care system we have. When people lives are at stake as it is with health care then profits really should not be part of the equation and true non-profits without excessive executive salaries should be running the show.

It is also not Obamacare that is driving up costs since premiums have been rising for at least 3 decades. We paid $1300/month for health insurance on the individual market 13 years ago for family coverage which we were lucky to get since 2 companies turned down my son and I even though we have no devastating diseases. Also, the CEO of the hospitals I worked at told us every year that premiums were rising 20 to 50% and that we would have to pay more and get less and less coverage back in the early 1990's. Why do you think Hillary was talking health care reform back then? If anything many congressmen (mostly on the right) hobbled Obamacare by not allowing a public option for all of the marketplaces to compete with health insurance companies. They also did not want to hear anything about any sort of price controls.

Honestly, I would advocate for your son's grade. It is great you had him ask first but now I would intervene and even go as high as the principal. I would gather any evidence like instruction sheets and what she told your other son as well. Since this grade is important I would not let it go especially if the final draft is good.

I am unsure what you mean in reference to ceilings. If you are referring to the lifetime caps on how much an insurance company will pay out for a person's care that was outlawed by Obamacare, then I hope they do not repeal that measure since I have taken care of many folks who easily exceeded lifetime caps that used to be in effect frequently prior to Obamacare.

Yeah this sounds great if you have the money but many folks and I wager most folks do not have the money and therefore will forgo necessary health care since they cannot afford it. Then they will end up in the hospital costing oodles and oodles of more money. I see many people here who scrounge nickels and dimes just to afford a bus ride and who cannot even afford the bus pass which costs $5 but is allows for cheaper bus rides. This is just one example of many that face the poor everyday.

Yes but I heard many on the right use that term to imply that folks are moochers and free loaders:(

Congressmen do have staffers to read and dissect these things for them so I am not buying that they did not read it since at the very least their staff read it and advised them on it. Secondly, the Republicans made many, many amendments to the law and helped squash the public option being offered as a choice on the healthcare markets. Let us not forget that the whole mandate thing was a conservative idea supported by republicans until Obama proposed going with it as a conciliatory gesture. Third, I really think using the term entitlement has negative connotations since it implies that folks feel "entitled" to healthcare instead of people actually deserving health care as a human being. My 2 cents.

Affordable health care has been gradually being taken away from families for the past 3 decades long before Obamacare for the record. It is just that many did not realize how much their premiums went up every year long before Obamacare because our employers picked up most of the tab but are now doing so less so since premiums have been increasing much more than the rate of inflation for the past 3 decades every year. Our family paid 1300/month for health insurance on the individual market 13 years ago in fact. Also, my son and I were turned down for coverage by several companies on the individual market even though we never had a lapse in coverage and have always been covered. Also, you can thank conservative thinkers for high deductible plans since their theory was it would prevent folks from using medical care unnecessarily. Well instead high deductible or catastrophic plans often keep folks from seeking routine preventative care and care for chronic health conditions since they cannot afford it. Then they end up in the hospital with emergency situations costing a heck of a lot more than routine care and ongoing care for chronic conditions. As for $10,000.00 for a castastrophic illness, you figure is way too low. I took care of plenty of previously healthy people who racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in bills 20 years ago. I hate to think of what their bill is now!

Actually all of us have been affected for decades but have been unaware due to employers paying for the bulk of our premiums and due to being too young to remember or not aware of what was happening in the three decades or so. Instead many folks choose to blame the ACA wrongly IMO which was a Republican idea to begin with since Republicans cannot stand the idea of universal healthcare or medicare for all. The CEO's of the hospitals I worked for told us every year that premiums were increasing 20 to 50% every year back in the early 1990's long before Obamacare. Why do you think Hillary proposed healthcare reform back in the early 1990"s and then was vilified ever since then for not acting like a pretty little first lady. The only thing that will solve our problems is medicare for all or some other sort of universal healthcare and giving our public health insurance the power to negotiate for reasonable prices. The republican solution is not a solution at all since allowing for insurance to cross state lines will only result in all insurance companies going to the states where they are allowed to gouge the consumer as much as possible and allowed to cover as little as possible. This has already happened with credit cards which is why most of them are located in Delaware and Nevada from what I recall.

I have had good luck with this company and Amazon for exercise videos: http://www.collagevideo.com/ They have demos and details as to what video entails. I like leslie sansone videos which a re low impact and step videos too. You can also find weight lifting videos too. Look up the The Firm Classic on collage video.

Yes but they can take away the biggest thing that most folks are able to give to their kids which is pretty sad IMHO.

I think they should consider COL too as well as for many folks there home is there home. Plus they should consider the age-I will be close to 60 and dh 55 when he is going to college so we really do not want to use our home as a piggy bank. Plus the fact that we are essentially priced out of our area even with the equity already built up. Plus it incenses me that they are expecting folks to use their homes as piggy banks since that is a big factor in the last housing crash. Now perhaps if someone live in a Mcmansion, then maybe I can see them doing this. But not all folks whi have equity live in Mcmansions. Our home is a 750 sq ft 2 bed 2 bath apartment!

I totally agree on the exercise thing but we are having a hard time squeezing it in due to the long school day and tons of homework. I have been walking him to school most days but that is only a 35 minute walk and he has no gym class. I really think he needs more exercise to help with focusing and stress. It is one of the reasons I am thinking of homeschooling. I did read Dereksurfs thread on his ds spending too much time with school work even though homeschooling which gives me pause. I also get the ramping up part for high school but his school has been ramped up since 5th grade really with his having completed 6 high school classes before high school and one of the being an AP class. It is that nationally known charter whose schools make the top ten lists and it does so by being an AP test factory and excessive acceleration IMHO. Unfortunately this school is really are only option that is acceptable here besides homeschooling. As for high school and college work loads I think that is an interesting discussion on having realistic expectations. I may start another thread on that:)

Do you mean 128 hours a week or 128 credits to graduate? I recall labs of 3 to 4 hours a week, is that about right? I guess my reasoning is that he spends over 6 hours a day in classes and then another 3 to 4 hours a night and 10- to 14 hours on the weekend for a total of 60 to 70 hours a week on his current school which makes me nuts:( I do think he is prepared for the rigor of college but at the rate he is going since 5th grade I think he will be burned out:( I really believe if he had less class time it would be easier. OTOH I have read threads here where homeschool kids have very little free time too!

I see your point but I am still thinking the fewer hours in class will help make a difference. He already spends 3-4 hours a night and at least 10-14 hours on the weekend with homework but is in school all day. Perhaps my memory of college is faint since it has been 30 years and I majored in nursing which was difficult but I am sure is not as difficult as other majors. What is the average time spent in actual class time in college?

I agree with this generally but I honestly think college will be easier than this school since he will have less actual class time and more time for homework and hopefully free time. His school goes from 845 am till 4pm daily with no study halls and piles on the homework since it is an AP test factory starting in 5th grade:( You are correct though that he should not disparage the work load at his current school since that sounds negative. I still worry that mentioning health reasons will be seen as a negative too which makes me want him to emphasize time for exploring his interests. Hopefully it does not matter that this exploration is not top of the line stuff though:)

I like that wording of pursuing his interests. Does it matter that it is his 5th year at this school with multiple highschool credits already obtained prior to 9th? Perhaps that makes it better?

In can see your point but the transcripts from this school would be used since he has already acquired high school credit for Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2 and one year Pre-Calculus as well as high school Economics and AP World History with score of 4 prior to 9th grade. So this schools records would be in the mix. Wanted to add that I do tend to overthink and hope that I am just doing that:)

He is in 9th grade. I do want him to be able to explore his interests more which he has very limited time to do so now:( I am unsure if he will do college courses though which look impressive but we will definitely do AP courses and some online courses. I looked at Maryland University but it is pricey since we are not residents. There are several community colleges in the tri-state area where he could take some classes but I worry whether they will actually be rigorous due to open admisssions and the influence of potential classmates (please forgive me here). I guess I worry that he will be seen as a quitter when in fact he is a very hard worker and I am unsure whether to mention the health issues since I am afraid some will see that negatively too:(

Thinking of pulling son out of high school either mid year or end of year-not sure yet. What does one say to college interviewers about this. We would be pulling him due to excessive work load and excessively long school day at current school coupled with health issues (frequent bouts of bronchitis). I also feel like remaining in this school robs him of any free time to explore his interests and his childhood. But I am not sure if a prospective college needs to know all of this. Any thoughts?

Have you seen a pulmonologist for an evaluation and pulmonary lung function testing? It is possible you may needs meds to resolve this air hunger. I am sorry if I am redundant but meds can really make a difference in many cases.

I am not sure if I would cut breast milk without talking to a docyor who you really need advice from. I was just suggesting cow's milk but again I would want to talk to a doctor for advice on this.

When did you see the doctor last? I would want to see a doctor again today honestly if it has been a few days or if the doctor does not know about the whitish stools since that alone warrants a doctor visit asap. I would ask about the possibility of lactose intolerance too. I developed that after food poisoning. Is there a lactose free milk substitute or similac toddler drink or ensure like drink for toddlers that is lactose free you could give? I would still want to talk to doctor asap.

Prior to the Intro to Rhetoric course, did you son do any of the WWS levels? Is this the crash course one that he took?

Modified subject since really all highschool homeschool stories are helpful:)