Mennonite Measles in Texas

[Southerner]

I didn’t know we made fun of people for disabilities around here.

He has a rare neurological condition (not caused by heroin use). He is otherwise in stunningly good health for a man his age.

How do you know the heroin didn't affect him??? He had a worm in his brain.

It is pretty common knowledge that his voice disorder is caused by spasmodic dysphonia which is a rare neurological disorder.

His history of all manner of drug abuse and sexual promiscuity goes more to his character and fitness for high office, than his voice.

Ok, I didn't realize.

[Pelerin]

Mennonites as a whole don’t have a stance on measles or vaccines. In my denomination it is left up to each family’s personal choice.

Generally more plain Mennonites prefer home remedies etc. I actually frequently counsel people to consider going to good specialists instead of just questionable home remedies.

That was dumb of me to ask it in such a way as to assume some sort of monolith. Is there anyway to get at a general feel for overall health of the culture?

We might want to clarify (if no one has yet) that the Mennonites having the measles outbreak in Texas are Old Colony Mennonites and I don’t think anyone here has that background. For that matter I don’t think there are many with a Russian Mennonite background at all. I don’t think that matters a whole lot in regard to measles but it’s just something to keep in mind.

[Ken]

Yeah, I dunno what our dental insurance is actually costing as it comes out of my wife's paycheck and is subsidized by her employer. But ordinary checkups have a $5 co-pay and fillings cost about $20. If you get expensive work done like crowns or implants it is more of course. But still nothing close to paying cash.

Could you please find out what your dental insurance is costing you a year? I am curious. Thanks.

I'll have to wait until I get home then look at one of my wife's pay stubs. She works for a big HMO that has in-house dental clinics so that may make the insurance cheaper than it would otherwise be for a different employer.

OK, if you are still around on this thread I see from her pay stub that we are paying $50.71 per month for dental coverage and the employer contribution is $76.07 per month. This is family coverage for a family of five. Well, I guess now four since our oldest daughter turned 26 and is now on her own.

Ordinary preventative visits (checkups, cleanings, and X-rays) have a $5 co-pay and we get one custom bite guard every 4-5 years free. Fillings and other remedial work cost about $20 each. For expensive work like crowns and implants I think there is about a 20% co-pay.

[Southerner]

Could you please find out what your dental insurance is costing you a year? I am curious. Thanks.

I'll have to wait until I get home then look at one of my wife's pay stubs. She works for a big HMO that has in-house dental clinics so that may make the insurance cheaper than it would otherwise be for a different employer.

OK, if you are still around on this thread I see from her pay stub that we are paying $50.71 per month for dental coverage and the employer contribution is $76.07 per month. This is family coverage for a family of five. Well, I guess now four since our oldest daughter turned 26 and is now on her own.

Ordinary preventative visits (checkups, cleanings, and X-rays) have a $5 co-pay and we get one custom bite guard every 4-5 years free. Fillings and other remedial work cost about $20 each. For expensive work like crowns and implants I think there is about a 20% co-pay.

Thank you. I will pencil it out tomorrow but the rates seem fairly reasonable.

[JohnH]

Could you please find out what your dental insurance is costing you a year? I am curious. Thanks.

I'll have to wait until I get home then look at one of my wife's pay stubs. She works for a big HMO that has in-house dental clinics so that may make the insurance cheaper than it would otherwise be for a different employer.

OK, if you are still around on this thread I see from her pay stub that we are paying $50.71 per month for dental coverage and the employer contribution is $76.07 per month. This is family coverage for a family of five. Well, I guess now four since our oldest daughter turned 26 and is now on her own.

Ordinary preventative visits (checkups, cleanings, and X-rays) have a $5 co-pay and we get one custom bite guard every 4-5 years free. Fillings and other remedial work cost about $20 each. For expensive work like crowns and implants I think there is about a 20% co-pay.

In my experience, dental insurance often finds all manner of excuses to get out of paying a root canal or crowns. When they do pay, you find out they have lifetime limits often of just a few thousand.

We used to have a dental plan but it just didn’t make sense to pay for it for what we were getting. One worker still has it and spends $30 a month since he figured out how to actually get the value out of it. So we just kick him enough extra money to pay for it (around $35 a month extra after payroll etc taxes).

[Southerner]

Got my son his MMR today! There was a measles case found in Montgomery County, PA. Best Wishes, RFK.

[Thomas_muntzer]

Was prolonging life the reason the child was killed? I would oppose an abortion committed for that purpose.

The key issue in my opinion is how months had the baby before 16 weeks i think there is room for a serious debate. After 16 weeks is just a murder

[JohnH]

Got my son his MMR today! There was a measles case found in Montgomery County, PA. Best Wishes, RFK.

Odd. Why didn’t you do it when the recommended schedule was?

[Southerner]

Got my son his MMR today! There was a measles case found in Montgomery County, PA. Best Wishes, RFK.

Odd. Why didn’t you do it when the recommended schedule was?

My wife leans your direction!

[Judas Maccabeus]

In all seriousness, the issue is associated with specific groups of plain Mennonites who have intermarried for generations at this point, maybe centuries. It is a real and very challenging problem.

Easily remedied, however. I just learned about the Byler disease...children born with defective livers and the children have to get a liver transplant at very young ages.

Some are, some not. For example, we have acquaintances whose children have a rare genetic disease that shows up around a certain age, and the child slowly loses the ability to walk. However, some sort of stem cell treatment has been discovered that reverses the problem, so their younger children are able to function normally, while the older ones are disabled.

Those seem to be less common in Moderate Conservative communities, we have lots of “Auslanders” and hence a wider gene pool. Old Colony has a list that includes a number of unfortunate entries.