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First do read the article by Ed Schultz about the Free Clinics that Our Elected should Attend...
This week Ed Schultz attended the Free Clinic in Kansas that provided medical care to over 2200 people, as MSNBC and it viewed donated and promoted this Clinic Ed came to see it and report it and he did a fine job.It is to be noted that the MSM has sorefully neglected this Story and the Need and Horrific Plight of Millions. On HuffingtonPost he shared his thoughts and concerns, as well as said that the Senators and Reps should come and hear the stories of real Americans.
Again more than 80% of these folks are Working People who pay taxes and work very hard, but can not afford or have access to Healthcare or Insurance. Our Country has a crisis, and these Free Clinics show how severe the problem is.People going 5,8 and ten years without Medical and Dental care in a developed Country is something we should all be ashamed of. ( I have also linked his post to the Title,as an UnInsured RN I am always grateful when people report the true extent of this HealthCare Crisis.)
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THE FREE CLINIC WEBSITE if you wish to donate or volunteer or find a clinic in your area for care.
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Basic Update of the past 10 days
The Concern all along was that the Health Care Discussions and planning would end up in a BackRoom and forget the agony and pain and reality of real working families. Well, it has happened. as this Huffington Post article shows the talks now have started to focus on Rationing and Caps- yet NONE of the previous bills that were a part of this process even touched on these issues. Watching the Senate trash this process has been eye opening and worrisome.
I have not blogged much on the actual HCR process in last two weeks as it has slipped further and further into Secrecy and confusion. Even the BuyIn Expanded Medicare Program that would only be available to 55 and older would only benefit approximately 3 Million of 51 Million of Uninsured. It would not help over 6.6 Million that are unemployed and under 55, including young people, college people and working families or small business or self employed or Part Time Employees.
It is estimated to cost 400-600 per person/MONTH not counting deductibles and this is not affordable for many struggling and unemployed families in this Economic Climate.Further it STILL does not provide Access to ANY Healthcare for those Under 55 who have been cancelled or denied care due to Prep-existing Conditions.Millions of people are at risk due to this process, and with a known 47,000 people dying per year without Healthcare, we have a Crisis and we need REAL problemsolving that addresses the Needs of these people.
The Public Option is on Life Support with the plug dangling from the wall from what we can tell, and all that is being focused on is the is a Possible NON Profit Co-op program,and the 55 BuyIN Program ( Expanded Medicare). So there is NO Public Plan for People under 55 to access to buy affordable care. NONE,not at this time.
{{ Disclaimer:: As a Nurse, an UnInsured Nurse, who does need medical care for two chronic health conditions that are physically effecting me, and in my 40's, I am more than frustrated, and am not objective enough to really fully be able to predict where we go from here and yes, I am worried about the fate of HCR and am clinging to last threads of hope for this bill and needed care for Millions. }}
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Another Healthcare Story that must be Shared as another family grapples with a Insurance Induced Health Care Crisis.
Please do share this story of a Journalist that is facing a Medical Emergency within the next 45 days as he is about to be denied much needed care and treatment.
Please do share his story and forward to MSNBC as he needs the public to hear his situation to save his life. I will post the entire article in the Comments as well. Once you hear Micheal Steinbecks Story you will see that he has NO options and that the NEW Senate plan would not offer him access to any care as well, this is a situation Millions of Americans ( some newly UNEmployed) are facing daily.
3 comments:
Micheal Steinbeck's HealthCare Story Part One:
Robert Steinback
Matter of life, death
By Robert Steinback, Special to the Times
In Print: Wednesday, December 9, 2009
I am scheduled to begin dying on Feb. 1, 2010.
Although I have been an insulin-dependent Type 1 diabetic for 22 years, my health has always been very good. My condition has never impaired my enjoyment of life; I've never had a diabetic emergency.
Luck, of course, has played a part, as has educating myself about diabetes management. By far, though, the single most critical element of my vitality has been excellent health insurance coverage.
That will end on Jan. 31, the day my COBRA insurance benefits run out.
I worked for 24 years for the Miami Herald. We parted ways in July 2008 during a staff-reduction effort. I have been unable to find work since.
I continued my insurance coverage under COBRA, paying the entire $579 monthly premium.
Aetna has notified me that when my COBRA eligibility expires, it will not insure me for any price. Why not? The company didn't say, but the answer is obvious: my "pre-existing condition" isn't profitable. I wear a $5,000 insulin pump — the third one insurance has paid for since 1999. The pump's insulin-delivery kits, which must be changed every three days, cost $199 a month at market rates; insurance pays the full cost now. The insulin itself costs $338 a month (my current co-payment is $54). The test strips used in my blood-glucose testing monitor cost more than $200 a month over the counter (my current co-payment is $48).
I have had expensive laser eye treatments to stanch the blood leakage associated with diabetic retinopathy. The treatments have been successful; my eye health is stable and my vision perfect — but there is always a chance I will need further treatments.
Additionally, I'm sure Aetna has tables predicting my chances of organ deterioration or other complications and what that will cost. No matter how you examine it, I'm a bad bet for profit-based health care.
The health insurance industry, thus, has issued to me its solution for how it can maintain its profitability: Die, Mr. Steinback. You're too expensive to keep alive.
I am a beneficiary of the best medical science the world knows, much of it generated by the profit-based medical research industry. But I am also a victim of a system that resists covering the cost of those miraculous discoveries for the very people who need them.
It's hard not to notice the irony of the debate in Washington over health insurance reform. Some politicians and their supporters say they will work to defeat the bills because they cost too much and might raise taxes. Too bad I can't offer those people a choice: Would you rather have a higher tax burden, or Type 1 diabetes? I'd gladly trade, if I could.
Some who describe themselves as prolife say they will oppose the bills if there is even a hint of funding support for abortion rights. The American Journal of Public Health estimates that 45,000 people die in the United States each year for lack of health insurance coverage. Failure to pass health care reform is going to kill a lot of people like me — so how exactly does defeating health insurance reform qualify as prolife?
Some say they won't accept a so-called government-option health insurance plan. I don't understand people who fear government bureaucrats — who have no profit motive and ultimately must answer to the people — yet feel fully at ease with corporate bureaucrats whose sole interest is the bottom line and answer only to shareholders.
Part 2 of Micheals Story:::
Thirty-nine U.S. senators voted to kill the reform bills without so much as a debate. All but one House Republican opposed the bills. Additionally, many provisions in the bills won't kick in for years, and the Obama administration insists that reform be revenue neutral. I'm scheduled to begin dying in two months. One of America's political parties doesn't want to talk about it, and the other fears taxes and is in no apparent hurry to solve the matter.
Without health insurance reform, what are my options? Working for a small company or for myself is ruled out because I could not get health coverage. I am limited to seeking work for a large corporation with a group health plan — and few are hiring these days.
I could try to get a government job, which would offer excellent health insurance — but an expanding public sector frightens so many people.
Maybe I could arrange a marriage of convenience to someone who has a good health plan. But then I really should look in France, Canada, Japan or any other developed nation, since, unlike in the United States, all of their citizens are covered.
It all seems a tad un-American to me. I believe a nation is best defined by what I call "shared destiny": the goals we collectively embrace, the burdens we collectively share. Is the cost of good health for every American a burden that should be shared by all Americans? Should it matter to all of us when any of us dies a preventable death?
If you have an answer, please let your elected officials know soon. I'm on the clock.
Robert Steinback is a freelance writer living in Miami. He can be reached at robert@robertsteinback.com.
Go Ed!
e4e, thanks for the Steinback article. I can't begin to imagine what he is going through. My COBRA ran out ten years ago right when I was experiencing symptoms that were thought to be MS. (Luckily, they weren't.) In Washington state, the insurer was required to offer me insurance, so I've never had to go without. It's criminal that an accident of geography keeps one person safe and destroys another.
You might all enjoy this article from The New Yorker.
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