Asking Alice S1:E8 “Coverage, Kaffe, and Caring”
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Originally Published on September 11th, 2490
Orbital News Network/A MGM HoloNET Production
There's a catchy little intro, the logo, the canned applause that indicates there's a live holo-audience. Alice is a pleasant sounding woman with a smooth genial voice that doesn't seem to have a particular accent. She smiles a lot, and despite the very obvious augmentations, moves and talks very naturally. Throughout the show, and each topic, there's a very non-judgmental quality to her that tends to reinforce the image of an impartial, but compassionate scientist.
Alice discusses the costs of Augmentation and the differences between public Healthcare, Corporate Coverage, and Private Insurance, and the differences between them all. Public Coverage is available to everyone, and covers the basics of staying alive and relatively healthy. Only life-saving augmentations are covered, and then, only those augments that have been approved by the hospital board, which tend to favor saving money over quality of life. Different corporations will have coverage policies ranging from entirely in-house care, suites and coverage to employee cost sharing, where a patient may pay 10% of the cost of services and the corporation covers the remaining 90%. Private insurance is purchased directly from agencies and can be purchased at different levels of coverage. A specific service Alice points out is SNS's publicly available augmentation coverage, and refers interested folks to reach out SNS on Cocoon Station or Luna for more information.
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
At Gigabites on Cocoon Station, Alice talks with the lead barista about the additives in Soykaffe. Not strictly the stimulants, but the nootropics that improve mental performance and acuity. She talks about the side effects of stimulants in general, increased cortisol, heart rate, weight fluctuations, and eventual chemical dependency. And she talks about all the wonderful seasonal flavors Gigabites is serving those nootropics and stimulants up in: Pumpkin Spice, Salted Caramel, and Smoked Cinnamon. There's a discount code for Pumpkin Spice Lattes from MGM shared during the segment. So go get your Soykaffe On!
[COMMERCIAL BREAK]
Dr. Eric Panzarella has been quietly partnering with Kitsune Noodles in Neo Tokyo to deliver meals to the homeless who scrape out their lives in Level Zero. As he's also part of the medical crew that works to provide healthcare to refugees, he's sometimes not able to get those meals delivered while he's off station. Alice explains that he occasionally broadcasts the opportunity to deliver a bowl of noodles to a homeless person, and get paid enough for a bowl of your own. It's a great way to make a little extra money, and help out your fellow man. Alice asks folks to join her next week for product announcements, personal stories, and useful health information.
[EXIT MUSIC AND CREDITS - AN MGM PRODUCTION, SYNDICATED BY ONN]