Do click and read this story...it will wake you up- about How devastating this Situation really is...Please do share this link on Twitter and FB, http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/31/ucla-study-finds-1-in-7-californians-have-medical-debt/.
On Democracy NOW they do a 10 Min segment about Tommy Douglas and the Healthcare Changes he brought to Canada in the 1960s really wonderful explanation of how it could work for us.....
At this time, this blog is only covering Healthcare issues and the Battle that is ongoing. If you need to forward information about Town Hall Meetings ( video or photos) or other articles, please do email me, enigma4everATearthlinkDOTnet. Especially if you are a Blogger or have a Story to share. Do read New Posts Down Below, especially the post About Better Angels and Teddy Care. I also have posted all the Videos from the Weekend of Teddy 's Funeral and Wake. Blog is Updated Every Night.
I am fighting for Healthcare for All. I am an Uninsured Nurse, I am fighting for my neighbors and friends...and you. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scroll Down for Healthcare Events - Organizing for America is having Events for Labor Day...
Here is a Speech he wrote 29 years ago::: "We cannot have a fair prosperity in isolation from a fair society. So I will continue to stand for a national health insurance. We must—we must not surrender—we must not surrender to the relentless medical inflation that can bankrupt almost anyone and that may soon break the budgets of government at every level. Let us insist on real controls over what doctors and hospitals can charge, and let us resolve that the state of a family's health shall never depend on the size of a family's wealth.
The president, the vice-president, the members of Congress have a medical plan that meets their needs in full, and whenever senators and representatives catch a little cold, the Capitol physician will see them immediately, treat them promptly, fill a prescription on the spot. We do not get a bill even if we ask for it, and when do you think was the last time a member of Congress asked for a bill from the federal government? And I say again, as I have before, if health insurance is good enough for the president, the vice-president, the Congress of the United States, then it's good enough for you and every family in America." ~ Ted Kennedy Speech Written 29 YEARS ago. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So for Anyone who asks What is the Rush ? My Question is WHEN is the Time, Haven't we Waited Long Enough ?
The only way to Educate People, and Debunk Myths is to get out there...and explain about Singlepayer and Public Option, and also how 50 Million Americans NEED Heatlhcare...( 50 Million is alot of people,more than the Population of Canada)..and yes, explain this is NOT about Insurance Reform- this is about Healthcare Reform....Do Scroll down- there is plenty here about Issues, Meetings and Info, as well as My Letter About Teddy Care.... (1) Also over the Next week we need to start Nagging the Senate- we need a NEW Lion ( Brown? Feingold? Franken? WHO?) (2) Do Call Media and make sure they Come to the Event- and do blog WHO you called, now if they don't come- we could always start holding events Near TV stations. DO take photos and Video and Post and send out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gotta Laff also is blogging for Healthcare and Teddycare, many know her from Twitterland....she has great posts,please share her blog Political Carnival.In Her Post she mentioned the NYC Rally For Healthcare yesterday,New Yorkers are saying it was over 3000, MSM said 1000, either way many came out on a Saturday to support us all having healthcare.Please see her post and see the post above about the NYC Healthcare Rally ( that should be posted later this afternoon, this is just one photo from yesterdays Rally).
Click the title to this amazing healthcare story....Shannyn Moore is a blogger from Alaska, and she tells this story that needs to be shared, If we begin to understand fully that Real People are a part of the Healthcare picture, it changes how we talk to each other....it becomes real.
Please do read this and share, it is linked to the Title, so just click it and read...it is a story, with photos with a Letter to President Obama...a true story, told in a heartfelt real way about WHY we need to fix our Healthcare system....Told by a dad ( and yes, I have his permission to post here).
Please do click this title and read, this wonderful Blogger illuminates a horrendous statistic that must be shared....and explored..and Solved. I know this story is true, I actually feel that the statistics are worse than we know (scroll down to the Mortality Post below about 18,000- 22,000 dying per year without Healthcare). I do know that two people died on my street this year....and that they did not get the care they needed, and they both died broke and their houses were both claimed by the bank. I walk by those houses everyday, knowing that THAT this is not the way it is supposed to be.
(if you can-do see the Wake on cspan- it was beautiful...full of stories and love...I am working on a post for tomorrow..about the Kennedy Era and Healthcare...but for tonight...gnite..) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Really wonderful Salon post by Joan Walsh.....about Teddy...
For those of us that are Proud to be a Liberal, please share this... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Today Both TIME and Newsweek will have Special Teddy Issues... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ originally posted 8.26.09.....1:30AM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "....the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." - Edward M Kennedy, '32-'09 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What an amazing man....and an amazing life...and Such a fighter....Oh how the Lion will be missed. I am so sad right now I can not write much.All I can say is that I am so grateful that he fought for so many things that matter...and for so many people. I hope he died peacefully....he will be so so missed...in my heart I know he will be with his sister and brothers now. A year ago tonight he shocked us by speaking at the Convention....
Teddy Blasting the GOP for Healthcare...
Teddys' Eulogy for Bobby ....and somehow it fits these times...
And Finally a song for Teddy...Danny Boy...(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jgma--0WYU)...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And yes Uncle Teddy....we will carry President Obama in our Hearts and we will fight for him and pray for him....and yes we will fight like hell and get your Healthcare Bill passed and we will make sure it is named for you.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ HuffingtonPost has really touching tribute page where people are contributing their stories.... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Beautiful slide Show from the White House ... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Vic Zapanta of THINK PROGRESS made a beautiful video tribute...
Take care of each other...be good to each other...We only have so much time to do what is needed to be done...
Thoughts for the Night..... For Those that are grieving about Teddy...something to think on...We now must Fight On For Teddy, and we must get HCR passed for him, and it must be RIGHT, not compromised or diuted, he would not settle for people being excluded, he fought for Healthcare for All since 1960....It is Time.
I like to think of Teddy now in heaven with his brothers....finally.
My grandmother said when my favorite Aunt died...Sometimes we need to Know there are Better Angels above...helping us down here....
I actually twittered the event- and will post that in the Comments.There were people bussed in TeaDeathers we call them, they carry Don't Tread on Me Banners,and wave flags, and yell- their main goal is to Distrupt. I guess we could also call them Disrupters, since they are not there to talk or discuss.This video also clearly shows that the ProPublicOption People were there in huge numbers. The Leader of the group that is there to disrupt was Randall Terry and he was removed, after Moran did handle the situation.7 Minute video captures the Mob mentality and how ugly some of these townhalls can get.It's better to see how to handle it and how having just huge numbers for the Public Option is needed.
This video really shows what happens when Hatemongering Forces join up, the Randall People with NRA and the TeaBaggers and Militia....Best to be vigilant and keep watch...
The Truth is that Our Country has a Healthcare Crisis....as a Nurse of 20 years I know it , I see it everyday, people not getting the Care they need to live.My neighbor joked that our Healthcare has gone to the dogs...and in a way..it's true.And Repugs idea how to fix it is to scare Everyone that has ANY kind of care, ( Today they sent McCain out to scare Old People in a pathetic excuse of a townhall,yelling at elderly white people about What the Dems are taking from Them ). Everyday I try to find as many article and videos and links that Explain OUR Crisis and why we need a Public Plan. So please do click and take links and share far and wide. 50 Million and Countin are Uninsured in this Country, 14,000 are Losing Healthcare per day, that is over 400,000 per month. And yes approximately 22,000 per year die without Healthcare. Email me if you have articles or Video that you want seen....enigma4everATearthlinkDOTnet...thank you.
Sadly More of OUR Papers should be printing the Truth from the Medical Community, We do have a Healthcare Crisis, and it is NOT about Death Panels or About People Dying for Care....Please do read the attached article linked to the title written by Rose Ann De Moro, President of the CNA ( California Nurses Association).
"To residents of all other industrialized countries, terrors over a government role in promoting and protecting the health and safety of its citizenry, and the reluctance of political leaders to effectively respond to these attacks must be especially confounding. Among major nations, only in the U.S. is health care not a fundamental right, but bartered for profit by a maze of health-care corporations. The result is that the U.S. continues to fall far behind other industrial nations in a variety of measurements, from access to care to equality in treatment, and even in the much discussed issue of waiting times for medical care.
While the U.S. spends twice as much as every other nation on per capita health care, there remain more than 45 million Americans with no health coverage and tens of millions more with insurance who are routinely denied medical care because their insurer doesn't want to pay for it.Medical bills account for 62 per cent of personal bankruptcies. Half of all Americans skip doctor visits or immunizations for their children because of high out-of-pocket costs, troubling news indeed with the U.S. already leading the globe in swine flu infections and deaths.
The nation's registered nurses and many doctors continue to press for real change, a national or single-payer system that would look familiar to Canadians and the rest of the industrial world. It is still possible to achieve stronger reform, but time is running out."
Rose Ann DeMoro is executive director of the 86,000-member California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee, the largest U.S. union of nurses.
{Originally posted 8.19.09} Urban Institute, puts number between 18-22,000 per year, past 8 years, 137,000. ( Click the link for the downloaded Research, here, http://www.urban.org/UploadedPDF/411588_uninsured_dying.pdf)
page 1 of Urban Institute Report: Summary "The absence of health insurance creates a range of consequences, including lower quality of life, increased morbidity and mortality, and higher financial burdens. This paper focuses on just one aspect of this harm—namely, greater risk of death—and seeks to illustrate its general order of magnitude. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that 18,000 Americans died in 2000 because they were uninsured. Since then, the number of uninsured has grown. Based on the IOM’s methodology and subsequent Census Bureau estimates of insurance coverage, 137,000 people died from 2000 through 2006 because they lacked health insurance, including 22,000 people in 2006." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Enigma's thoughts on this: In the last two years we have seen massive layoffs and people lose homes and jobs, these numbers above only go to 2006. I would be very curious about what they really are at this point. From another post below, I did tabulate the loss of life under the Bush Years well over 167,000 from lack of Healthcare, and I think it is a horrific statement to our Country, worse yet, that No One has said a word about it...The Guardian did do an article below about people Dying for affordable Care...but MSM has not said a word...
I had heard from people at the LA RAM event that there were more UK reporters there than US....sadly. So I have been waiting for the wonderful writers at The Guardian to write about our Healthcare Crisis....click and read...and share on FB and twitter...( I should send them our Uninsured Mortality Numbers...no one else wants to report them). {reprinted from original post of 8.22.09}
Gottalaff is a creator of the PoiliticalCarnival Blog, and she has a great write up of this amazing showdown with RepWeiner over at FOX, I encourage people to watch him because he really knows how to defend in reasonable terms WHY we need a Public Plan....click the title and get schooled...he is amazing.
And for anyone who doubts Weiner or how persausive he can be , watch this video as well, he totally explains it so well that even Joe Scarborough has a Come to the Maker moment where he can see the light on this Issue....stunning. We all need to Learn these Talking Points
Today I blogged and tweeted and shared so many wonderful posts about Healthcare and what is needed and missing and the Crisis that our Country is experiencing....But this one column haunted me all day, Roger Ebert in his quiet sensible loveable way....makes this all seem so simple, so clear What is Needed and WHY it matters...please do share.
This Snippet alone is Priceless::: ¶" Federal Death panels would decide who lives or dies. This, very frankly, is a lie. The nearest thing we have to a death panel in the United States is an insurance company claims adjuster. Some readers wrote that they or their loved ones were denied tests or treatment by their insurance companies, especially in the case of "pre-existing conditions." One, who had a brain tumor, says he was denied coverage of the treatment by an adjuster, as if he'd known about the tumor at the time he took out his policy some time earlier. Think about this. Unless we die violently or in an accident, we all die of a pre-existing condition. The condition is called "life."
Every day I try to find one post that really gets to the heart of the Matter about WHY we as People...Real People..need Healthcare....Why it matters....Meet Blondetwit, she is from twitter, and this one post says it all, it is called I Was There For You... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scroll Down there is Plenty for the Healthcare Battle Articles and Links and Videos, do share, on Facebook and Myspace and Twitter....you can email me if you need to....50 Million are counting on us.
This amazing list is worth a look, and it is shocking that we were not aware of HOW much Support the Single Payer Option has....this needs to be shared far and wide..please forward and twitter...
Do share this far and wide, click the title to Media Matter guide on the top myths and lies and help debunk them with this information...it is the only way to fight such lunacy- spread the facts...
Click the title to get to the Reform Bill as it is now by the House.And yes it really is 1400 pages long, and yes, if you want to see the Death Panel Page and read for yourself it is pages 431-435, and NO there is Nothing in there about a Death Panel. It does take a while to load- sorry. ( pdf)
I thought this was worth reposting, linked to the title, Keith Olberman's Special Comment on the Public Option....repost, resend,Twitter or put on Facebook.
Nancy Snyderman is on MSNBC right now, pretending to have a legitimate discussion and "debate" about the "Death Panel "issue...So instead I am suggesting that people watch the Jon Stewart Video attached to this Post...( I have no idea WHY CNN and MSNBC during the day seem to perpetuate and enable this foolishness....)
Betsy MacCaughy was on Jon Stewart and she is the person who looked at HR3200 and decided that it was full of things to Fear. And somehow she misinterpreted one section to mean that Doctors would decide who lives and dies ? And hence the birth of the "Death Panel " Crapola that has now been spread across the country like fresh manure. The part of the bill that she is talking about ? There is a section of the Bill that is allowing Physicians and Medical People the provision and the ability to discuss End Of Life issues with patients and families, and that it be compensated as a necessary part of care.
( if anyone is interested, it is page 425 of the Bill and if Betsy had spent less on time on her hair she would have had time to put a Post IT on the page, It starts in Line 1 about Advance Directives and goes through to goes through "Advance Care Consultations", the bill in ONE page is very clear and concise in WHAT is being offered.)
As a Nurse that has worked ER, PICU and Hospice, I never even batted an eye at this part of the bill. I recognized that it is an issue that has never been fully addressed and or compensated. Most of the time if a family has a family member that is suddenly ill or in critical condition it requires meetings with the doctor to address these issues, and often the Doctor does this Pro Bono meeting and talking with the family and explaining things like, NO CODE status, or even Living Wills. The concept that this would be added to the bill and paid for as a plan of care, frankly I thought was brilliant, Proactive thoughtful Compassionate Care.
Anyways, Jon has a conversation with this well dressed misguided well pearled Simpleton....Do Watch the video that is part of the Huffington Post article. If you have trouble loading the video at the Huffpost site linked to the title, the Video Links are below ( thanks Jill for finding working links). ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ VIDEO Part Two :::: Part Two
8.8 Children are still facing a problem. Obama keeps saying that 85 % of the Country has Private Insurance, I have not found that stat to be true in ANY state yet, Not one. At most 65% is the hight, and the average is 23-28% of most states have UnInsured people- and that does not include Medicare or Medicaid. Please click title to get to information of Children, it is a fascinating study of what healthcare for children looks like....it is called " Children Left Behind".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have two posts I am working on for this afternoon. I am trying to write one post analyzing the Hate Mongering that is going on at the Town Hall Meetings. Yesterday my son 6-6 and I watched the Barney Franks town hall meeting from this week, and it was quite a display of rudeness and anger, that I am still trying to decipher and put into some kind of context. And then am still trying to review Statistics, and on another level a part of me even wonders if Anyone even Cares about Statistics, am I the only one that sees they truly measure the Human Condtion ? And in the middle of sitting here writing I noticed that MSNBC is running a story that the Recession is over ? Really ??? Where ? Boy, that is not the America I am seeing in my hood.....
I have thought alot about the Obama Forum , the pep talk from yesterday. That we should be working and fighting for Healthcare for everyone. And I am still trying to ponder how do we organize people that are sick and can not go door to door. And on another level, does anyone want to go door to door in this Era of Hate that has been unleashed ? When Hate Packs Heat haven't we entered a whole new realm ? ...it 's alot to wrap one's head around...
Anyways, so please be patient- there will be new posts up this afternoon. On another level, I wonder if at this point if we are conditioned to August being a Month of Strange....so for now some Bill Maher. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The horrible part of looking at these numbers, that is so worrisome is that it does address the 6 Million People that have undergone job changes in the past 18 monthes, or the 14,000 a day that are losing Health Insurance and Healthcare. As much as no one wants to admit this, Dems and Repugs are Losing Jobs and Healthcare, and the Numbers are already bad and now they are getting worse. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More Stats,of UnInsured and how bad is the Situation, More from NCHC that will make you see how grim the picture really is......
"Several studies estimate the number of uninsured Americans. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, nearly 46 million Americans, or 18 percent of the population under the age of 65, were without health insurance in 2007, their latest data available.1 The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, using the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) estimated that the percentage of uninsured Americans under age 65 represented 27 percent of the population. According to the MEPS data, nearly 54 million Americans under the age of 65 were uninsured in the first-half of 2007. 2 A recent study shows that based on the effects of the recession alone (not job loss), it is projected that nearly seven (7) million Americans will lose their health insurance coverage between 2008 and 2010. 3 Urban Institute researchers estimate that if unemployment reaches 10 percent, another six (6) million Americans will lose their health insurance coverage. Taking these numbers together, it is conceivable that by next year, 57 to 60 million Americans will be uninsured. The Urban Institute estimates that under a worse case scenario, 66 million Americans will be uninsured by 2019. 4 Nearly 90 million people – about one-third of the population below the age of 65 spent a portion of either 2007 or 2008 without health coverage." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ More from the CDC, correlates with this data, but is from 2004/2005
This Town Hall Meeting was on cspan yesterday the 20th, I sat down to watch with my son, 6-6,and I was stunned, it was not what I expected at all. On the cable stations all week they have been running a clip of a girl with an Obama Hitler poster asking really strange questions, which frankly I had ruled out as a random crazy moment. I also have always viewed New England as reasonable, calm and sensible. This meeting was none of those, it was a meeting filled with Misplaced Anger and Bad Manners and made no sense. People yelling out at odd moments and asking questions out of context and others full or rage and hate....If you can I reccomend that you take a look at it...and tell me WHO are these people ? and also tell me are you seeing this where you live ? And why is it that we are having to Struggle to have a sane civil discussion about Health Care ?
Cspan is now going to have the Town Hall Meetings on their Channels and archived as well, also Citizen Tube on Youtube is going to have the Town hall Meetings and Footage.
1000's getting Free Needed Medical Care at the RAM Medical Event this week in LA at the Forum. The RAM Medical Event at the Forum shows WHY a Public Option is Essential....Do you need to know WHO to call about the Public Option? ALL Contact Info linked in the Post in the Title. ( LA Times great article about the RAM event) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I will continue these Healthcare Battle Updates Daily, and this will be the main focus here at Watergate Summer. So please do scroll down if you need to see what went on yesterday. So Tuesday was a wild and wooly night, 8PM it was all over the Internet and Twitter that Robert Reich was calling for a September 13th March On CD for the Public Option ( and no he has never organized such a thing before, but he was willing and ready, read more here about his efforts and his concerns.) ( and for anyone who did not know this, Robert is a blogger, and this is his latest post on this mess...) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So finally at 10 PM last night some definite progress was being made This NYT article has more about the DEMS going the Health Care Reform alone....finally. And even the WSJ is reporting it, Saying that Obama will shift focus to the Moral Imperative... And at 10 PM CNN with Breaking News on AC 360 Ed Henry came on and said that the Whitehouse and the Dems are ready to go it alone on Health Care Reform. ( Video is not on CNN site,but it is on Daily KosTV site, Here, and was working at 3AM)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dems rally at Caucus meeting, Suddenly behind the Public Option full force....Finally. And yesterday I reported that Pelosi finally came out strongly pushing for the Public Option in a meaningful way. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you have not seen this, you need to, during a particularly strange Town Hall Meeting Barney does a great job confronting a absurd nutjob,
Barney Franks Town Hall:
CDC data is here, from 2004/2005, compiled 2006, still researching this, as it is not matching the numbers in the Health Care Proposals Per State, Here is the link. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please do follow me on twitter as "watergatesummer" and do email me if you have updates,enigma4everATearthlinkDOTnet,Thank you for all that you do, keep calling and emailing etc. It is helping this battle . I am still compiling the data from the RAM Medical Event, if anyone has more on that please do contact me, the Final RAM LA Medical event update will be up later tonight. Thanks for all that you do. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Pray for the dead, but Fight like hell for the Living." Mother Jones. 50 Million People are worth Fighting for.....
( My thought is that if Obama and his people saw that Grassley Town Hall From last Wed in Afton where he called Obama's Plan is "Dangerous", then they should stop compromising with these Obstructionists).
Photo from President Obama's event in AZ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Click Here to tell the President The Public Option is NOT Optional ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We now truly appreciate that we are in for a battle, please do keep calling DC and your reps at home offices while they are on recess. Please do keep writing letters and do share the responses that you get. Do work FB, Twitter, and other social networks.It matters that we stay informed and spread information. Over the weekend the Public Option almost got snatched away on a sleepy summer Sunday afternoon, it was internet vigilance that resuscitated it. Do share these articles below, I will update during the day.
Today Russ Feingold: "I am not interested in passing health care reform in name only. Without a public option, I don't see how we will bring real change to a system that has made good health care a privilege for those who can afford it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is an indication of What started this Fracas, apparently Sebelius did mis-represent or mis-speak about the Public Option and spoke of the Co-op issue ( I have seen her do this 3 times in recent weeks- I was thinking it was a mistake- but now it continues, and it has caused major issues and raised concerns about the Public Option. ) Please do read the NYT article ( that did get reported by CNN, CBS and AP), this NYT article definently is concerning....
Dear President Obama, This weekend we heard rumors that the Public Option was to be abandoned by the White House.I, as an UnInsured Nurse, hope and pray that this is not true, but it was reported by CBS, CNN and the AP. Atleast 52 Million Americans are without ANY Healthcare or Insurance. There are another estimated 14,000 people per day losing Healthcare. It is estimated that Millions more are UnderInsured with their present Insurance refusing care and treatments, or denying coverage.It is also estimated that 72% of ALL Bankruptcies are related to Medical Bills and hardship, when Insurance refused or capped out and people were left destitute. No One should be losing their home for Health.
We the People do not need Insurance Reform, we need Health Care Reform, because we are in a Healthcare Crisis ( created by the Insurance Industry).Tax Credits will do most Lower Middle Class and Working Poor no good when they have No Insurance and No healthcare and have already been denied and cancelled. What No One is saying is that Millions of people are Without Options, and have NO Healthcare, that is why we need the Public Option or Single Payer.
Part of the Rumors stem from Secretary Sebellius stating in interviews and on the road that the Co-Op Option is being pursued and would provide affordable care,I have never heard her on cspan tape or interviews speak forcefully for the Public Option. I did hear her on CNN say that the "Public Option is Not Essential", and speak about the Co-op Idea that only TWO Senators have casually talked about. She spoke out of turn, she spoke about how the "consumers deserved competition" and "new rules". None of this addresses what has happened to millions being over-charged, losing homes, denied care and coverage and already denied care, we deserve a Public Option , not another chance to be denied or cancelled or lied to or over charged.If she is to lead DHHS she must support your lead on this issue and also support the Public Option, and in Public do so, yet she has been consistently speaking out of turn and incorrectly. As an RN, I am thinking she has not a clue what is at stake with people Medically and is causing more harm than good on this issue. Linda Douglas has spoken better to the health issues on Media Interviews and for that I am grateful. ( You did have a Doctor from your Advisory Team speak on a couple of Interviews, but I have not seen her in recent interviews).
This past week RAM Medical Team held a Public Event in LA and it is estimated that thousands stood out in the huge lines waiting for basic medical care, and that when all is said and done 10,000 People will be seen by this team at the LA Forum. If you speak to the RAM Director and Founder Ken Brock, he will tell you many were insured or recently unemployed and could not afford basic medical care or Cobra at all. ( Photo is from that event).
I am asking you please to stay strong on the Issue of True Healthcare Reform, Supporting the Public Option or the Single Player Option. My son and I supported you and your campaign because we believed in you and saw you speak twice, and we believed that you would help Fix This Healthcare Mess. We still have faith in you.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ (Originally posted Aug.13th, updated daily,do click title to read the twitter feeds) RAM is the Remote Medical Team that is working in LA this week providing care to those in need. They provide Medical Care (full physicals, pap smears, mammograms and basic care), and also vision and dental care for all ages. I am working on a Post on this, but am waiting to do Interviews when Event is over. If you worked it please do email me or find me at Twitter as "watergatesummer". If you read the thread on the Comment section and you can see how great the need is for working people and people with no healthcare to have Medical Care, thousands waited in the dark the first night, waiting for care...heartbreaking.
It is so odd that we have Town Hall Meetings with Disrupters yelling and angry about Many Things, including that they don't want People getting a "free ride" or "free care ". I can not help but wonder if those yelling such negative thoughtless comments would feel the same way if they were to meet any of these souls standing in the dark for hours waiting for care outside the Forum. Many had not had "care" for years, and they truly do need Someone To Care for them now. And the sad reality is that because RAM does not have enough doctors, people will be turned away. If you do live in the area, and would like to help, please do go to the Twitter page linked to the title and find out how you can assist. (2nd photo by Latina Nurse)
Sunday Update for how many have been served ( this includes medical care, dental and vision, is more than 8000 per day, and might actually hit 10,000 at the end of the 7 days. They now have started distributing wristbands so people don't have to wait in the dark night after night. The Director has explained that the only reason they have had to limit care is because they did not have enough doctors and dentists. They also need optometrists. So if you live in the area pease do get involved. All volunteers are put to work. It is estimated that there are 3 Million UnInsured in California.IT is estimated that most of those that are coming to the LA Event are from LA County. Here are the statistics of California:As of 2008 Los Angeles had an estimated population of 4,010,000 people.Los Angeles County: 11,000,000 (2008) Los Angeles ,Metropolitan Area 18,000,000 as of 2008 ,Los Angeles Business College.But that 100,000 people would turn up needing basic Medical Care and that people were turned away, it is a stunning statistic. We as a Country need to start looking at the Number of People UnderInsured and Cared for, as well as People getting No Healthcare for years. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here is more on the Event Now being reported in the UK, by the Independent, fully examining our Healthcare Crisis.... Snippet:: "The packed bleachers in the LA Forum tell a different story. The mobile clinic has been organised by the remarkable Remote Area Medical. The charity usually focuses on the rural poor, although they worked in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Now they are moving into more urban venues, this week's event in Los Angeles is believed to be the largest free healthcare operation in the country.Doctors, dentists and therapists volunteer their time, and resources to the organisation. To many US medical professionals, it offers a rare opportunity to plug into the public service ethos on which their trade was supposedly founded. "People come here who haven't seen a doctor for years. And we're able to say 'Hey, you have this, you have this, you have this'," said Dr Vincent Anthony, a kidney specialist volunteering five days of his team's time. "It's hard work, but incredibly rewarding. Healthcare needs reform, obviously. There are so many people falling through the cracks, who don't get care. That's why so many are here."
Ironically, given this week's transatlantic spat over the NHS, Remote Area Medical was founded by an Englishman: Stan Brock. The 72-year-old former public schoolboy, Taekwondo black belt, and one-time presenter of Wild Kingdom, one of America's most popular animal TV shows, left the celebrity gravy train in 1985 to, as he puts it, "make people better"."
I am still collecting data on this event, if anyone has anything to contribute please contact me....I find it troubling and disturbing that NO MSM or large publications are covering this story, thousands line in the cold , even though they are sick or have rotting teeth or need glasses for their child and NO Major US Papers Cover it ? There is Shame in admitting that. The LA Times did a beautiful job, in the Sunday Paper explaining how RAM came to LA, great article.
Dana does the ultimate video expose, the Town Hall Meetings vs. the RAM Medical Event in LA....and asks some really Good Questions.
(( If you scroll down you can learn about the RAM Medical Event in LA , barely Covered by National Media in America, and yet covered in the UK, Down Under and in Canada. Thousands cared for at the LA Forum by the Remote Area Medical Team and it has been ongoing all week. A stark reminder of What is at stake here....Lives are at stake )) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CNN has interviews and feedback and it turns out the Brits are not happy at all at how their healthcare system has been MIS-portrayed and lied about here in the States.
Email me- I am very curious - where is all the footage- because we know people filmed - are they having trouble posting to Youtube ? What is going on ? Something is fishy....
And while we listen to the Drivel about Death Panels heat the Airwaves the Battle has gone off course. We are supposed to be fighting for People that are being denied Healthcare or are having care rationed to them. And the "price" of the care is costing Lives.Healthcare Reform would improve the quality of life for millions making sure they have affordable access to NEEDED care. Does anyone remember the case of Natalie Sarkaysian , she died a little over 2 years ago waiting for her Insurance Company to APPROVE her liver transplant. And the company ruthlessly denied her care, it was a decision fueled by greed. She was 17 and she died waiting for Bean Counters to approve Medical Care that she needed to survive.Insurance Companies are dictating what doctors can provide for their patients.It is estimated that 30,000 a year are dying without Insurance, what we need to ask is how many are dying WITH Insurance ? How Many Natalies are out there ? And ask yourself are there Death Panels at Insurance Companies, read the links below and I think you will have the Answer.
Fight the Dying, Fight for the Living. Fight for what matters. This battle is about asking for Americans , ALL Americans to be able to get the Healthcare they need. IT is that simple.
Connected to the Title is the Actual town Hall Meeting on tape cspan, I am forwarding to appropriate people as there is some very concerning language and misleading statements. ( Some of the meeting is blogged in the comments as I watched).
(Poster by Kevin Broulliette use for signs and shirts etc) Below are helpful articales and video to help you get ready to go to a Town Hall Meeting, as well as the FDL site that has information and links and Meeting List.
