Cover the uninsured!

[auntAgonist]

http://covertheuninsured.org/


During May 1-7, 2006 thousands of activities will take place across the United States to tell Congress that health coverage for Americans must be their top priority. Find out how you can get involved!

The Problem
Nearly 46 million Americans, including more than 8 million children, are living without health insurance— forced to gamble every day that they won't get sick or injured. That's a risk no one should have to take. Uninsured Americans live sicker and die younger than those with health insurance. Just one serious illness or injury can wipe out an uninsured family's bank account, and the problem is getting worse.

The Response
That's why the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and some of the most influential organizations in the country are again organizing Cover the Uninsured Week. This year's effort will mobilize thousands of individuals and organizations from many sectors of society to plan activities to tell Congress that health care coverage must be their top priority.

Cover the Uninsured Week 2006 will create a groundswell of activities in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, including press conferences, health and enrollment fairs, seminars for small businesses, campus activities, business leader summits, interfaith outreach, and more. These activities are designed to mobilize a diverse mix of business owners, union members, educators, students, patients, hospital staff, physicians, nurses, faith leaders and their congregants, and many others at thousands of events across the country.

The Result
Millions of people will be alerted to the pressing needs of those living without health insurance. These 46 million uninsured Americans need our—and your—help.

It's time to put politics aside and take meaningful steps toward solutions.

[lavenderdiva]

1. Thanks for posting this aA...

we need Universal Healthcare, IMHO. As I've posted before, Mr. LD and I have been living without health insurance for many years. We struggled financially through a serious car accident, where every bone in my left arm was broken, and I now have a steel rod and 11 pins inserted in it. It was our financial undoing. We are still trying to get back on our feet after that. But we can't afford health insurance, and we both don't work for companies that offer it. We are self-employed. Therefore, for us to get insurance, we have to pay the highest rates out there, and that's if we could even get accepted, because of pre-existing conditions!

Today, an article came out in our local paper, (and it has since been posted on DU, in another forum) about how Britain's citizens are much healthier than Americans. I truly believe that this has to do with the fact that they have access to healthcare. They can take preventative measures and have checkups.

link to article here: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/3834560.html

Gentle Giant, just this week, posted a thread here in this forum, about how expensive it was for him to go to the doctor and get his Rx's for his condition. He and Jeanette will soon become eligible for healthcare through their jobs, but until then, they are responsible.

I can't afford to get my cholesterol checked, have yearly checkups for my high blood pressure. I must figure out a way to 'heal myself', as it were, as I suffer with plantars fasciitis (sp?). Mr. LD is a landscaper, who does a lot of physical activity each and every day. I am always worried that he will hurt himself, or that one of his workers will hurt themselves, and then we will be responsible.

I can't tell you how aggravated I become when I hear the stories from my MIL, about her latest Dr's visit. She and her husband have excellent insurance, still subsidized by the company he used to work for, and have Medicare as well. Anything that those 2 don't cover, they pay for themselves. Last week, she told me how her nails were splitting, and she made a Dr's appointment, and got a prescription for that! I almost felt insulted, having to listen to that, when we can't even go get much-needed routine care. She's a repub, and proud of it. Doesn't want to hear about Universal Healthcare (even though she enjoys a form of it- Medicare), as quote: 'her Dr's appointments would be affected, and she'd have to wait too long for them'.

I'll get off my soapbox, but you can see how adamant I am about this issue...

[auntAgonist]

2. It just boils my blood to see the

way people are treated or not treated as the case may be when it comes to medical care. I just can't get over the fact that hard working, tax paying Americans are being left in the dark when it comes to health insurance. I'm from Canada and before that, Scotland. We were always covered. There was no question. Sure there might be some waits for some specialities but for the most part if I had to see a Dr I could. Companies offered prescription drug plans and at one point in a previous life (1st marriage)I could get prescriptions for .20 cents a piece! My ex had great insurance through his work. I hate to think of what we'd do if we didn't have insurance. I even have the nerve to complain about out of pocket expenses :( I'm sobered when I read about a situation like yours and Mr LD. With ALL the money we're spending overseas in Iraq for GW's... well you know, that's my soapbox, we could be covering EVERY person living here in the USA. Please stay well and look after yourselves. A trick I learned for heal spurs was to place my foot on the floor, on a towel and curl and uncurl my toes gathering the towel towards me. It worked and eased the pain for a while.

:hug:
kesha

[lavenderdiva]

3. Thank you aA, for the tip on the plantars fasciitis...

I've read that stretching the muscle is key to helping ease the pain. I will definitely give that tip a try.

I grew up in Australia, waaaayyyyyy back! We had nationalized healthcare, and ANY trip to the doctor cost just $3!!!! This was back in the late 60's-early 70's, so I'm sure that that price has gone up, but even so, most people could afford to go to the doctor and get treated. Preventative care is so important, and I think that's what the article I linked to was pointing out. That we, as Americans, living in the richest country on the face of the earth, are not tops in life expectancy, is incredible!

snip from the article I linked to in previous post:

The study, appearing in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, adds context to the already-known fact that the United States spends more on health care than any other industrialized nation, yet trails in rankings of life expectancy.

The United States spends about $5,200 per person on health care while England spends about half that in adjusted dollars.

"Everybody should be discussing it: Why isn't the richest country in the world the healthiest country in the world?" Marmot said.

snip:
Health experts have known the U.S. population is less healthy than that of other industrialized nations, according to several important measurements. U.S. life expectancy, for example, ranks behind that of about two dozen other countries, according to the World Health Organization.

I think the reason other nations are ahead of us in life expectancy, and overall better health, is because other industrialized nations offer healthcare to ALL their citizens regardless of income. If one is able to have access to preventative care, you will go regularly, and catch conditions early. You will also monitor your health better.

(great: as I am typing this, the commercial for 'cover the uninsured' is coming on. The one where the narrator says the guy gave up his health insurance yesterday because of the cost, and today he gets headaches, and tomorrow he will find that its life-threatening, and he will need the insurance he lost today to cover the medical expenses...)