The Washington Post Reports: With spending bills apparently stalled, 54 senators have sent an appeal to the Senate leadership asking that the Social Security Administration receive adequate funding to avert workplace disruptions.

The senators — 42 Democrats and 12 Republicans — called for a fiscal 2007 appropriation that would add $401 million to the agency’s administrative account. Without the money, Social Security would be forced to send employees home without pay and shut offices for 10 days next year, the senators said. See Full Article Here:

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More than half of the Senate signed a letter urging leaders to reject proposed funding cuts to the Social Security Administration that agency officials have said could result in serious service cutbacks and a staff furlough.. Agency officials have said that SSA already is only able to hire one new staffer for every three who retire, and any budget level below the president’s proposal will lead to some service cuts. But Lassiter said funding the agency at the more generous House level would avoid furloughs. See complete article here:

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Utah’s Deseret News reports that although occurrence of dementia-causing diseases such as Alzheimer’s grows along with the population, local and even regional insurers typically do not cover testing needed to properly diagnose or evaluate how well someone responds to treatment.
Medicare does, but people with symptoms of dementia younger than 65 fall into a giant hole. That early diagnosis and treatment can alter the course of a disease like Alzheimer’s both financially and in terms of quality of life.
Younger patients may be able to get coverage under Social Security Disability, but that process typically takes a year or more and the coverage for imaging and neurological testing doesn’t kick in for another two years after that. Meanwhile, the disease progresses.
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This excellent site has detailed articles about childhood disabilities, including this one on ADD:
Attention Deficit Disorder, commonly known as ADD, is a psychosomatic condition which is normally characterized by learning and behavioral disorders. ADD is generally diagnosed in children and it affects the male infant population more than girls. Attention deficit disorder not only occurs in childhood, but also continues till adulthood in many cases. Anti-social behaviors are common with adult ADD individuals, but may not be seen in children with ADD…See Full article and more under this link:

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From Yahoo News:

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday the healthy economy creates an ideal chance to address concerns about the long-term financing concerns of the Social Security government retirement program and pledged to engage both political parties in debate.

“It’s a good time to deal with it just because our economy’s so strong and economic policies are working well, and we’re better off dealing with this at a time of strength,” he said in answers to questions after speaking to the Economic Club of New York.

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This TV station broadcast a story on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a piece that has gotten unprecedented reaction. It was a story about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, both the reporter’s battle with it and how the CDC is now launching a public awareness campaign. This article updates the original story:

Jennifer became sick in 1994, going from a very competitive high school athlete and honors student, to a 16-year who felt more like she was ninety. She soon became too sick to go to school, suffering from flu-like symptoms for five years. Jennifer was one of the lucky ones who had a doctor who believed CFS was real and was diagnosed early-on, but a diagnosis doesn’t makes these symptoms go away.

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The St. Louis Post Dispatch presents a fascinating discourse about our current system:

Our current system is irrational. We concentrate on work at a time in our lives when we are having children and our children need us the most. We tend to leave or be eased out of the workplace when we have completed the child-rearing tasks — about age 50 — and now have time and energy to devote to work. And in our later decades, we are stereotyped as useless.

See Full Story here:http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/lifestyle/stories.nsf/healthfitness/story/ABFF9EB59BA7F8868625721C000A14A4?OpenDocument

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