Pneumonia is often a secondary infection, by an organ-!sm that takes advantage of the environment created by a prior lung insult.
IMO, there’s now a backlash AGAINST diagnosing COVID.
Add to that that some people believe that revealing “details” is somehow an invasion of their privacy.
ralph
The AI don’t like that ism word for a microbe.
I highly doubt a story like this could be fabricated. It would be too easy to fact check the details. That said, she may have lost all of her money from her career, in which case she would be eligible for inexpensive or free Obamacare. If she didn’t lose her money, then Obamacare should have been easily affordable.
Although we can’t know her motivations for sure, Mary Lou has been know to support “Freedom Tribe” candidates and policies. Many of the Freedom Tribe reject Obamacare on principle.
Similarly, some have speculated she may have COVID. Although again we don’t know for sure, many of the “Freedom Tribe” proudly eschew vaccines in favor of discredited crackpot remedies like hydroxyquinone. That would explain a lot.
Who or what is ‘Freedom Tribe’ - my Google-skills do not seem to give any obvious results.
Thanks,
JimA
Sorry, it is just a term I made up. Politics is forbidden on METAR (for good reason) however, sometimes it is impossible to discuss current events without at least mentioning political parties.
In the early days of COVID, many leaders (both inside and outside of elected office) of a particular political party tried to downplay the seriousness of COVID in order to hopefully avoid an economic slowdown. Examples include, false comparisons to flu, rejection of social distancing and mask mandates, and embracing false remedies like hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin. This also meant rejecting and discrediting scientific experts like Fauci who was advocating against hydroxychloroquine and for social distancing. Fauci was in favor of vaccines, so they rejected those too. For example, last month a faction leader and current presidential candidate rejected recommending COVID boosters for those under 65 in his state because he didn’t want his states’ citizens to be “Guinee pigs.” At this point, literally billions of doses of COVID vaccines have been administered. We’d know if it was harmful or not. It is an absurd statement. But tribalism dictates he must oppose vaccines, regardless of how idiotic he sounds to normal people.
I dubbed this faction of the country and their leaders as the “Freedom Tribe” as a shorthand so the post doesn’t get pulled. Mary Lou Retton is known to belong to this faction, which would explain a few things. But that is speculation on my part.
I can’t resist. I found this on the goog by typing in your dog whistle phrase. 
<-has no idea what the above images actually stand for other than jingoistic, gun-totin’ points of view.
Thanks for the explanation; much appreciated. Sadly, it makes perfect sense!
JimA
I dunno, I just do not like this story at all. Something does not add up…
d fb
Then a miracle occurred:
Olympic champion Mary Lou Retton making ‘remarkable’ progress - ESPN
I think people are at odds with going to work or social situations if they have COVID. The truth is for most of us it is cold now. To be told not to come to work is just wrong. But the mix of do not get me sick etc…stay home.
People get angry when someone with a cold comes into work. Now people simply wear a mask and work with their coughs.
Most of us just do not care we need freedom after the lockdown.
This is hard news for readers here because most are older and worry still.
As of 2024, the estimated net worth of Mary Lou Retton, the former American gymnast and Olympic medalist, varies according to different sources. One estimate places her net worth at around $8 million, acknowledging her achievements in gymnastics, commercial endorsements, and motivational speaking engagements. Another source reports her net worth to be $5.8 million.
Mary Lou Retton reemerges and explains lack of health insurance.
Says, “I couldn’t afford it after 50 orthopedic operations, COVID, and my divorce”
Perhaps she was just poorly advised, or believed the lies she heard on Fox News? She could have gotten an Obamacare policy with a premium based on her current income (even “free” if she was only making $40,000 or 50,000/yr). Then it wouldn’t have been necessary to suffer the embarrassment of grifting her fans with the Go Fund Me account.
intercst
It bothers me when sloppy journalists don’t challenge well known facts like pre-existing conditions have no impact on the cost of your insurance.
Hopefully that will get challenged during the full interview.
I did not know that. I thought that was part of the screening process. I know you could get a policy that excludes existing conditions. Her ortho stuff would not have precluded pneumonia coverage.
Or are you talking about ACA policies?
The [new] law applies to all health insurance policies. Essentially under the law, there is no such thing as a pre-existing condition for the purposes of insurance or insurance pricing.
https://www.hhs.gov/healthcare/about-the-aca/pre-existing-conditions/index.html
I’m not sure that applies to the short-term, limited benefit health insurance policies that Trump was promoting as a cost savings measure to people who were priced out of Obamacare because they had too much income to qualify for a tax credit subsidy.
and of course, those Christian health care sharing plans popular with evangelicals had all kinds of pre-existing conditions, (smoking, drinking, history of STD’s, etc.)
It’s quite possible Mary Lou thought these were preferable to Obamacare.
intercst
High rates of inbreeding…
Of course she did. The clue is in the first five letters.