One of my best friends just posted this to her facebook page. Note to Space Ghost: She is a school teacher with zero bad habits. Her condition is genetic, but I'm sure you'll still figure out a way to blame the victim. How the Health Care Crisis is Affecting Me Today at 11:45am I have a disability. My diagnosis is Charcot Marie Tooth Disease. I have just had to leave my job, which I cannot do anymore, because of my physical limitations. I have been looking for work, but I have limits because of muscle weakness and tremors. CMT is a degenerative neuro-muscular disorder, which put me on the declinable conditions list. This means that I cannot get I cannot get individual health insurance. Trust me. I have explored it and I have a letter sitting right here beside me, which details this fact. It is from Assurant Health, with whom I supposedly can get insurance as an American Montessori Society member. So don’t tell me to try and go that route. I would love to be able to take better care of myself and better manage my condition by building a freelance career doing parent and teacher education workshops and also continuing my music and theater career. No problem! Just get on your husbands insurance. Right? Wrong. Because of rising health care costs, my husband's employer just dropped its group coverage. He is now on an individual policy. That happened just last week. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time. I am on COBRA for now. Thank goodness. It is costing me more than 400 a month. When that runs out, I will have to pay around 800 a month for coverage, which is not even as good (but the best they offer), through the high risk pool. You may not agree that I should be able to get healthcare for the same cost as you do, but I am hoping that you might at least open yourself up to the fact that this issue causes a lot of stress for families, who do not have easy access. I am not sleeping. The financial fear that comes with losing my job has been compounded greatly by the fear that I will someday not have any healthcare coverage. My husband does not have the resources to support this family alone, nor does he have any resources to get me health insurance. The system is really screwed up when an insurance company makes more profit from denying coverage. I have heard stories of people being denied coverage for cancer treatment because they failed to mention that they had been treated for something like allergies on their applications. This was not deception on their part. Have you filled out on of these applications? They are insane. They want to know every time you have ever been to the doctor and what was the diagnosis. They want exact dates! I could not possible remember that information! And if any of it is incorrect, they can deny your coverage when you really need it. Why? Profit, people. Profit. I am angry. I am sad. I lost a friend, who had no health insurance, a year ago today. Hopefully, I will get a job that has health insurance and accommodates my special needs. Wish me luck. I hope I can find a job that allows me to help people the same way I could in a freelance career helping parents and educators, making music, and making art. I am an atheist, but I still want to ask those of you who aren’t. What would Jesus do? He would care for his neighbor.
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^^^^^ Replace "abortion" with (at least in the vast majority of the cases) "elective procedure" and I think most folks would agree. No tax dollars for "elective procedures".
If we had a public option, particularly if we had a single-payer system, stuff like this wouldn't happen... Here's the building in question...
At the very least the guy should recuse himself. To say a building and land bought for $235K in 99 is now damn near doubled in price is a stretch to put it lightly. I can't believe this stuff goes on Its funny, i was going to start a thread on these "blue dogs". Clinton was arguably the most conservative democrat president, and he is the last one to try and push healthcare reform. ideaologically, why are these guys so conservative on healthcare reform. that doesn't seem to be what conservative democrats should support.
Sorry about your friend Batman... Hopefully things will turn out better for her and she will will find a way.. Not to sound wrong on this topic but if I were in her situation I would just move to Canada? Seriously.... If you have exhausted all your possibilities wouldn't you try a last resort effort? Canada does have a Government Health Care option.. Save up what little money you can obtain for the next 6 months and MOVE... I would do it just to survive..
I called my Congressman (woman) and the offices of my senators today. This conservative independent supports health care reform. Health care reform may cost me my career, but I can always be a teacher. I'd rather be a teacher than hear stories like that.
Thanks, tested911. I think she might consider such a move it it weren't for the fact that she has a stepson here in Houston that wouldn't be allowed to move with her. That, and the fact that she is a working musician and theatre artist and all her collaborators are here. In fact, funny story, she plays with a classical string ensemble that is now recording covers of Ministry songs at the behest of Ministry themselves. Too bad it's not making her wealthy enough to pay for health care.
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This is the downside to being an artist. There needs to be a better way for artists (ie those that provide the less talented among us with wonderful music and theater) to obtain health coverage. A friend of mine who is an actor only works equity shows so he can get the insurance.
Many career choices are deformed by our health care "system". Many folks can't quit their jobs because they would lose their health insurance. I know physicians in private practice who have not had health insurance due to big health issues in their famiies. Their are a few million Americans in their late 50's and early 60's who have enough money to retire, but can't quit because Medicare only kicks in at 65. They continue to work as jobs they don't need that young folks with famiies would love to have. I just read an article that said that folks over 54 have rising incomes while folks under I think it was 35 have declining incomes.
That is a change. When I was in high school and college, the bank that my father had worked for since he was 20 years old was doing their hardest to make him quit. They started that when he was 52. My father, being a stubborn old fella held out (being forced to travel away from home every week and no raises) until they finally caved in and offered him early retirement with his pension fully vested.
I cannot claim credit for this, but it's funny. (This is all besides the point that NOTHING being proposed right now is actually socialism, it's just a trigger word to get the RIGHT all riled up and stifle honest and meaningful debate). But still, funny read.
a very good sign -- Schumer And Rockefeller: We Will Get Public Option I just got off a conference call with Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). They are confident -- very confident -- that health care reform will include a public option. "The health care bill that is signed into law by the President will have a good, strong, robust public option," Schumer said. How that will happen remains an open question. But the Senators assured reporters on the call that we're all going to get a taste of their passion and persuasiveness on this issue at the ongoing Senate Finance Committee hearings on Friday.
that's my senator!-- "I'd like to make a prediction," said Schumer. "The health care bill that will be signed into law by the president will have a good, strong, robust public option." President Obama supports a public option and in the House, conservative Democratic opposition to the public option is fading, leaving the Senate as the remaining obstacle. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/24/public-option-headed-for_n_299232.html
I sure hope that we have a good public option. Since my wife has cadillac health insurance that I partake in, through her employer, I doubt that I will ever be in it, but it is good to know that others will be in it. It is also good to know if the private insurers can't keep up with the public option, which I really doubt, that many who are un or underinsured will be able to benefit from it. It is really hard for me to understand how except for blind anti-government ideology and or selfishness why so many conservatives are against the public option. Realistically no one will ever force them to take it.
