THE current debate over health care reform is more than a bit disconcerting. The constant barrage of media coverage and political mud-slinging has given me chronic headaches — which I’ve just discovered aren’t covered under my existing insurance plan!

I’m hardly an expert in the field of medicine (please don’t repeat that to my kids!) but even with  a law degree, I can’t make much sense of House Bill 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009.

What is clear is that our current health care system is not working at all for the more than 40 million uninsured Americans.

I THINK I may have hit a new low last week. It felt as if I were channeling my parents as I heard myself complaining about how I miss the “good old days” —  when  people actually wrote me letters and cards, rather than texting me on my cell or sending online e-vites to parties and events.

Call me old fashioned, but there’s something nice about opening up a letter and reading a handwritten note from a friend.

Nowadays, the only thing that fills my mailbox are bills and a host of requests for donations from organizations in need of help.

Over the past few years, those requests have grown exponentially, especially in light of the economic crisis that our country has been living through.