Online

Online means on the net.Well ,nowadays almost everything  is online  ! Maybe not in the real sense & yet in a virtual sense !

My kid looks up her answers on a tutorial site .She says she finds  her textbooks uninteresting.I had appeared for a legal entrance test.I studied some case laws online.I even gave mock entrance tests online ! I ordered bare acts that I needed for my preparations on the net ! It saved me the commute, in train ,to the book shops at the other end of the city.This meant, that I was fresh after I shopped on the net ...no tiredness of traveling on hot summer day ! I compared prices & opted for the most reasonably priced !

I have taken to online shopping.More than shopping outright,I do a lot of window shopping selecting,comparing ,before I pay up.Payment of bills of services, is so convenient as it is all online now.I stay in a rented flat & I am able to pay power& the internet bill online even without registration ! All without moving any inch from my chair in the comfort of my home !

My teenager has even bookmarked chess game online.She plays it on the laptop, whenever she wants to.She has fallen in love with chess after a friend taught her the basics !

My husband books all our travel tickets online.It is convenient.Moreover ,if carefully planned ,it can lead to big savings !Since my hubby is travelling most of the time,emails are a big comfort.They help us to keep in touch.

Sharing photographs is so easy on the net.Moreover ,photos need not be printed.They can just be shared online.So much saving of paper- green effort.Even recipes can be shared.I hardly knew cooking ,I have become better now all due to looking up tried & tested recipes on the net ! I have learnt baking as well !

You can find answers to most of the queries which arise on. line.Even if you need to look up names for newborns ,the net gives so many options for namkaran !

Even virtual aartis,pujas can be done on the net ! Google maps has made it possible to have virtual views of most the places on the net !

I have met so many friends on the net, while I blogged that they are more than my real friends ! I think ,there is no end to the things we can do online.In this context,I read a quote in the Times of India today ,"I like my new telephone,my computer just works fine,my calculator is perfect ,but  lord,I miss my mind !"...Author unknown.

Now, only, if I could join some weight loss program  online (sitting on my chair in my home   ) which makes me lose weight offline ! And before you feel ,I am going crazy & making you go off your mind,I better stop !

This is my blog post for "O" for the A to Z Blogging Challenge.

Sharing blog posts of fellow bloggers :

Rajrupa Gupta

Swati Nitin Gupta

Deception in Mediclaim

The headlines  in the Times of India dated today said  that many hospitals are off the Mediclaim radar as many are supposedly involved in false claims.There are related reports about increase in consumer cases because of rejected Mediclaims &Hospital  charges being too exorbitant.

The insurance companies have resorted to denial of cashless facility. All this has led to a lot of hardships for the patients .Obviously after the fleecing by hospitals & TPAs,insurance companies have become bereft of cash - so cashless has suddenly got a new meaning ,for the Insurance Industry that is !

It has been reported that Hospitals have indulged in putting up fraud claims in collusion with TPAs ( Third Party Administrators)  to whom processing of  health related claims has been outsourced by the Insurance Companies.Patients are also said to be  a party to the frauds.TPAs are a recent phenomena unlike hospitals which have been in existence much before.TPAs came in, when the Public Sector Insurance Companies announced the VRS ( Voluntary Retirement Scheme) some years back.The staff shortage due to VRS was tackled by outsourcing processing of health related claims to TPAs.

But the Insurance Companies seem to think that TPAs are doing a good job.Hence,the axe has fallen on the Hospitals. This is not to say that Hospitals are clean but to question this blacklisting of Hospitals.The TPAs ought to be taken to task .But instead of that, a TPA has investigated & based on that investigation ,Hospitals have been listed out.This is giving new meaning to the term " natural justice." Natural justice demands that no one should be a judge in his own case.In this instance,a TPA is the investigating agency & based on that ,so many are blacklisted.How can a TPA sit in judgement on other TPAs as also Hospitals ? The report omits to state if any TPAs have been blacklisted but still,this is all an eye wash.

What are the credentials of the TPA which investigated the fraud claims ? The said TPA is a later entrant compared to some  TPAs .As happens sooner than later,the said TPA may be involved in bigger frauds or maybe get involved later.Perhaps, it wants a clean slate to begin.After all,aren't we  too familiar with the brands which worked hard to get the  ISI marks & once,they got it,it has just been downhill ever since.

The report also says that many Hospitals are in the dark about their status & some Hospitals have themselves opted out of the list due to strict norms.The insurance industry will soon inform its decision to the listed Hospitals but " soon" in Public Sector parlance can range from days to months to years ! So ,the stage is set for disputes about Hospitalisation in blacklisted hospitals as neither the TPA,nor the patient or the Hospital knows the current status of the Hospital.

Related reports speak about the rising number of consumer disputes about Mediclaim.About two thirds of all Insurance claims end up in consumer forums.This is a very sorry state of affairs.Claims are rejected for flimsy reasons like pre-existing ailments,excluded diseases,etal.Moreover,in Public Sector,decisions ( if any ) to delay & reject claims are lauded .Such actions also keep the bosses in good books of the audit & vigilance departments.The executives are preventing the drain of wealth thereby protecting the funds.But when the judgement comes,generally interest payment is also a condition But such small things do keep happening in big Public Sector companies.So,no one gets wiser.

It has been stated in the  report that one can choose the TPA.But this is easier said than done.Many compnaies have only some TPAs on their rolls.So this may not be economical .Moreover,if I want a particular TPA,it may be taken to mean that I want to conspire with the TPA to defraud the Insurance Company.Moreover,how does one know if any TPA is good ,bad or ugly ? Many will tell you that all TPAs are chips of the same block.

Mediclaim is a drain & has been so for a long time.With the TPAs in it now,it has started burning huge holes in the pockets of the  Insurance Companies. So what is the way out ?

One way is to start in house TPA cells manned by the employees of the Insurance Companies .Some private sector companies have set up such cells for processing Mediclaims.The TPAs should be strictly monitored as well, as before the TPAs came in,there were no such blatant attempts at cheating.Unfortunately,the TOI report seems to suggest that TPAs or rather the investigator TPA is calling the shots ! The said TPA Manager has spoken to the press & the Insurance Companies have no spokesperson to tell about their version /s  ! One really wonders " Who is the boss -the TPA /s or the Insurance Companies ? The more things change,the more they remain the same or perhaps change for the worse.On second thoughts,we haven't yet hit the pits ,not yet !

The net.

I think the net has revolutionised the way we communicate with each other in the last ten years or maybe longer.I said last ten years because I understood this phenomena quite late & have got hooked ever since.

I email to all on my list without discrimination & also chat .I have signed up for twitter as also facebook.I have also started blogging.All this networking has helped me to fight loneliness & boredom.It has opened new doors for me ( not windows !).Like,I have started taking snaps of rangolis which I draw & created various albums with rangolis as a theme.Further,I have started inserting images of Rangolis on to my blog as well.This has also helped me in updating my soft skills.

I also keep searching for recipes needed on the net.This has led to discovering some very good blogs on cooking.This in turn has encouraged me also to try at being a blogger on cooking.I am really amazed that so many people  invest enormous amounts of time &  labor on their blogs.The cookery blogs are so vibrant with wonderful photos as an accompaniment.

I have formed a loop in which all my cousins & relatives get to see photos of extended family.I also update them about promotions,births,marriages in the extended family.In this age when ,we can no longer meet each other physically,this is the best way to keep in touch.

I was able to take part in an online novel writing contest last year as I read about it in the Times of India.Though,initially,I was unsure about the story,my  efforts, my perseverance lasting till the end,I was able to complete it . I even received a certificate from the organizers of the contest for successful participation & completion.All this has endeared the net to me.

I also read about an Indian site wherein,I had to upload my novel & I did that.The site is under repair now but till it worked,I pestered all my e-mates ( all on my email list ) to post their comments on the site.I  strongly suspect that my emates have a hand in the site undergoing repairs !I am sure that more than me,they want my book to be published so that I will get busy.Then,I will be tied up & there will be no bombardments from me.

But then I am   incorrigible ! Now,I have started posting my comments on  various sites.Then,I email all to inform them that my comment has gone live on the site.My e mates are fed up,I am sure of that.They are praying for  my computer to crash or maybe that  I go on a holiday etcetc.But then ,my addiction has reached such  a situation that I went to  cyber cafe  when my system was down.So there is no reprieve.

My brother insists, that we talk on the computer only as this is cheaper.With the web cam on,we can even look at each other as we talk.It is as good as meeting each other -of course, separated by screens.

Now,there is talk of email also disappearing as youngsters find it too be too slow.They are in favour of texting,messaging etal.That is why,even I have signed up on social networking sites.So,those of you,who thought that my mail will meet a slow end,beware! I am earnestly preparing for the next onslaught !

Self -regulation.

On 16thSeptember,2009,one of the headlines in the Times of India read that the government expects the pharma companies to do self -regulation.This is real news !

The article went on to state that most of the pharma companies in India are the MNCs which have been fined for gross improper conduct by courts in the US ,UK & Europe.The fine runs into several million dollars as they bribed doctors to change medicines & sent them on foreign jaunts for recommending their products et al.When in the west,the pharma companies can behave so blatantly in violation of all laws which are much more stringent ,how does the State expect that there will self -policing ?Moreover most of the pharma MNCs are at loggerheads with Indian pharma companies as Indian pharma companies make cheaper versions of drugs available to the Indian public.This is a huge loss for the MNCs in the Indian pharma market.There are many court battles being fought about patents & trademarks between the Indian companies & the MNCs over such matters.

With the elections around,it is understandable, that a lot of money has changed hands from the MNCs to the political parties.No political party seems to oppose self regulation in the pharmaceutical industry.This means that the MNcs have cultivated all of them without discrimination !

The Times report stated that the MNCs account for nearly 70% of the Indian drug market.With our rulers allowing the pharmaceutical industry to discipline themselves,this share of the Indian drug market will very soon become 100% !On second thoughts,if there is self -regulation allowed for all -industries,individuals,etc,is there any need for governance ? Obviously,there won't be, as that would be Utopia !