health insurance » Danine N. Spencer

Conference Call with Sen Jeff Merkley

This afternoon I had the pleasure of participating in a BlogHer conference call on health care reform with Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR). Sen. Merkley gave a brief statement on the goals of health care reform, saying that it will have an exchange to allow individuals and small business to buy health insurance as part of a large pool. In addition, there will be insurance reforms and investments in wellness and prevention.

After that, Sen. Merkley took questions from members of the BlogHer community. I got to ask the first question, which I have to admit was a teensy bit cool. Here’s what I asked, kinda-sorta verbatim to the best of my recollection:

“I had a spinal cord injury in 2005 and was paralyzed from the neck down. I regained my mobility but I still have a lot of health problems. I’ve been on disability and Medicaid since then. I am hoping to work my way to self-employment but I need affordable health insurance in order to do that. My guess is that the public option will be my best bet. We’ve heard Sen. Reid say that they’re talking about talking about the public option. So what is the status of the public option?”

Sen. Merkley told me that my situation is a good example of why we need health care reform. He said I would benefit from insurance reforms, such as not being denied coverage to a pre-existing condition. He explained I would be able to go to the new insurance exchange, where I could choose from a variety of difference insurance plans, including “hopefully a public option.” Sen. Merkley told me he is working very hard for a public option. “I think the odds are very good”, he said, speaking of the likelihood of a public option being in the final bill.

Looking back at my notes now, I wish I would have asked a follow-up question. I wish I would have asked what the public option would actually do. Who would be eligible? How much would co-pays, premiums and deductibles be? Would there be networks of preferred providers?

Oh well. Maybe I’ll get chance to ask another lawmaker that question. I hope so.

On to the next question: Audrey from Maine, asked why tort reform wasn’t a bigger part of the current push for health care reform. Sen. Merkley explained that tort reform, which has already been done in some states, has not substantially reduced the cost to citizens. In fact, it seems to have had about a 1% (yikes!) impact on the cost to citizens. Furthermore, he said tort reform would take away citizens’ fundamental right to sue for gross negligence.

Audrey also asked why there isn’t a bigger emphasis on health care savings accounts in the current debate. Sen. Merkley replied that most working Americans aren’t able to put money into a health care savings account. “It may be a nice addition to reform… It doesn’t get to the heart of the problem,” he said.

Susan, from Madison, WI, noted the lack of bipartisanship in the current debate on health care, particularly on the public option and wondered what issues Democrats and Republicans are able to find some consensus on. Sen. Merkley said there was bipartisan support for investments in wellness and prevention, disease management, growing the health care workforce and providing incentives to employees to stay healthy.

Sen. Merkley said the biggest difference between Democrats and Republicans is over the public option. Republicans believe in a for-profit health care system but “I couldn’t disagree more,” he said. He explained that he wants a system dedicated to healing people not to profits and shareholders.

Susan asked the senator what it would take to bring bipartisanship back to the issue of the public option. Sen. Merkley explained that some of the compromises currently being discussed might help, such as the opt-out idea, where states can opt-out of the public option if their governor or state legislatures decide to do so.

The final question came from Karalee in California (sorry if I got your name wrong, Karalee). Her family is uninsured and her son was just diagnosed with diabetes. Karalee asked if health care reform is passed, what will fill in the gaps for families like hers until the legislation goes into effect in 2013?

In my opinion, this is one of the best questions of the day (besides mine, of course). Sen. Merkley agreed saying, “It’s an excellent question. Unfortunately, I don’t have an excellent answer.” He went on to say that he has been asking these exactly questions on Capitol. He thinks that states should be allowed to set up their public options and insurance exchanges earlier than 2013 if they’re ready. Stay tuned, he said, because debate on this issue is still underway.

With that, the conference call wrapped up. Thank you, BlogHer and Sen. Jeff Merkley!

My Conference Call with Nancy Pelosi

This morning, I was lucky enough to participate in a BlogHer conference call with Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The topic was health care reform and Speaker Pelosi had plenty to say.

In her opening remarks, Ms. Pelosi expressed optimism that health care reform legislation will get passed. “I’m very enthusiastic about where we are on this legislation,” she said. She said women have much to gain from health care reform:

Insurance companies won’t be able to charge women more than men. (Women currently pay as much as 48% more)
It will be illegal to count pregnancy, C-sections and domestic violence as pre-existing conditions.
Insurance companies who participate in the health insurance exchange will be required to have maternity care. (It’s unclear to me if all insurance companies will be required to do so.)
There will be assistance to individuals and families who earn up to 400% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) to help buy health insurance.

The first question came from Audrey in Maine, who said her family was facing foreclosure on their home due to huge medical bills. Audrey asked if it was really possible that insurance premiums wouldn’t go up for people in private plans?

Ms. Pelosi explained that there were several provisions in the House bill for Audrey’s situation. There will be no discrimination for pre-existing conditions. Insurance companies couldn’t drop coverage if you get sick. There will be no co-pays for prevention and wellness. There will be yearly and lifetime caps on what you pay out of pocket. If you have a disability or chronic medical condition like Audrey, there will be a cap on what you pay. Ms. Pelosi told Audrey that her case is exactly why the current system needs reform.

The next question came from a woman in Chicago, who happened to be waiting at the DMV. (I didn’t catch her name, sorry DMV lady!) The caller was extremely concerned about the expansion of government into the health care system. “It strikes fear in my heart,” she said, asking Ms. Pelosi to help calm her fears. “We are not doling out health care. We are helping people pay for health insurance,” Ms. Pelosi replied. Ms. Pelosi went on to say that health care reform would be paid for by reducing fraud and waste in the current system. She also insisted the public option has to pay for itself and be “actuarial sound,” which I freely admit is an accounting term that’s way over my head.

Heather from Los Angeles, who has a blood clotting disorder that makes her pregnancies high-risk, asked if there would be any “gray area” on pre-existing conditions. Absolutely not, Ms. Pelosi replied. “There can be no discrimination against people with pre-existing conditions.” She reiterated that all insurance companies who want to participate in the insurance exchange will be required to have maternity care and that insurance companies will want to operate in the exchange because they will have access to millions of new customers.

On the issue of pre-existing conditions, Ms. Pelosi expressed disbelief and disgust at the discrimination women face by insurance companies. “Can you believe that C-sections and domestic violence are pre-existing conditions?” she asked, incredulously.

A caller from St. Louis asked about the proposed cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Ms. Pelosi said they were going to eliminate the waste, fraud and abuse” in Medicare and Medicaid. She said these efficiencies would extend Medicare solvency by another five years. She quoted the AARP as saying the changes to Medicare would make Medicare more efficient.

Throughout the call, Ms. Pelosi talked about the proposed health insurance exchange. “Reform must take place in the exchange… A public option should be in the exchange.” There will be assistance for individuals (and families, I think) making up to 400% FPL and small businesses to purchase health insurance through the exchange.

After nearly every caller, Ms. Pelosi said, “Keep watching what we’re doing. Hold us accountable.” She said the final House bill she be done within a week or two. It will be posted online at least 72 hours before debate begins on the House floor so look for that.

This was a great opportunity to be a part of this conference call so thank you, BlogHer!

Note: This was written off my notes from the conference call. Actual quotes on the transcript on Blogher.com may be slightly different.

Is Health Care a Privilege or a Right?

I recently watched this intriguing video on health care reform (via CrissWrites.com) which raises the question: Is health care a privilege or a right in this country?

If health care is a right, like the right to free speech or the right to bring a loaded firearm to a presidential town hall, then doesn’t the government have an obligation to help every American get access to quality, affordable health care?

If it is a right, is the government obligated to guarantee quality health care for every citizen?

I think so.

There is no reason why an American should die because she cannot afford quality health care, whether that’s a Pap smear, seizure medication, chemotherapy or prenatal care.

On Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama eloquently made the case that health care is a woman’s issue. She’s right, of course. The health care sob stories always seem to be about women: someone with MS who can no longer work and is about to lose her house because she can’t pay the mortgage; a woman with breast cancer who is facing bankruptcy despite working full-time and having insurance; a woman who works two jobs and simply cannot afford insurance.

Sometimes I wonder whether we would still be debating the need for universal health care at all if these stories were about fifty-year-old (white) men not being able to afford their cholesterol medicine.

Or Viagra.

Socialized Medicine is the Devil's Handiwork

I’m on Medicaid. I have no problems admitting this or talking about it in public. In fact, I’ve done it three times now: in a local TV interview, at an Organizing For America-sponsored health care rally and at Rep. Steve Kagen’s recent town hall on health care.

Medicaid is socialized medicine. A short description from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services:

Medicaid is available only to certain low-income individuals and families who fit into an eligibility group that is recognized by federal and state law. Medicaid does not pay money to you; instead, it sends payments directly to your health care providers.

Depending on state law, you might also have a co-pay. I don’t know how it is in other states but Medicaid in Wisconsin is excellent. It is there for people who need it, like me. Within a few weeks of becoming paralyzed in 2005, I applied for Medicaid. I was approved within a month. Medicaid retroactively covered my hospital expenses from the date of my application. It paid for two full weeks of inpatient rehab more than United Health Care had authorized. Those two weeks may be the reason I am walking today.

United Health Care had said I could have 20 outpatient physical therapy sessions and 20 outpatient occupational therapy sessions. Medicaid didn’t set a limit. I went to occupation therapy twice a week for five months and have regained all function in my hands. At one time, they were completely paralyzed. I went to physical therapy for eleven months and am walking normally again. At one time, I was a quadriplegic.

That’s not to say Medicaid just writes a blank check. The first year I was home from the hospital was a difficult one. My mom, who was my primary caregiver at the time, and I ran into a lot of problems related to my care we didn’t know how to handle, often late at night or on the weekends. After I ended up in the ER more than 10 times in less than a year, I received a letter from the state Medicaid agency saying I had reached my limit for ER visits. They gave me the names and numbers of my doctors (internist, neurologist, rehab specialist) that I should see instead of going to the ER.

I was thinking about all of this this past Monday. The regular clinic I go to is usually booked weeks (sometimes months) in advance so they have set up an urgent care clinic adjacent to the ER. This is a walk-in clinic; first-come, first-served. It is staffed by physicians’ assistants and doctors and I believe they charge the same as a regular clinic visit.

So Monday – I had been sick for a few days. I knew I’d never get an appointment with my regular doctor so I went to the walk-in clinic. I registered at the desk, where they confirmed my personal data, including my insurance, the “Forward card.” (Wisconsin had so many names for Medicaid it’s ridiculous – Medicaid, Medical Assistance, EDS, Forward Card, Title XIX).

The clerk told me I could have a seat. A few minutes later, a nurse called me into the triage area to take my vitals. After that was done, I went back to the waiting area. About five minutes later, they called me to go back to the exam room. Long story short: the entire exercise in socialized medicine, including the PA pulling up my records online, waiting for the lab work to come and having my prescription filled at the pharmacy (co-pay $1) took about an hour and a half.

Medicaid is socialized medicine. It is not evil. There is a place for it in our society. As for “government takeover of health care”, that’s ridiculous. The government had no role in my health care on Monday, except to pay the bill. They didn’t choose the clinic or physician’s assistant I saw. I could have gone to the other clinic in town. They didn’t tell her which drug to prescribe. She chose the one that was most appropriate for me, although the pharmacy did substitute a generic.

Prior to my enrolling in Medicaid, I had been on Blue Cross/Blue Shield or United Health Care plans for most of my life. The insurance chose which networks of doctors I could see. Medicaid does not do that. Doctors may choose not to participate in Medicaid but there aren’t many who do so. The insurance companies also had lists of drugs they would cover or not cover.

Rationing and government takeover on health care? Please. It’s far more likely to happen with private insurance and we all know it. Is this really about health care or is it about a few hundred Republicans’ job security?

When 14,000 people lose their health insurance every day, that seems incredibly selfish.

Kagen Town Hall: The "Illegals" Are Coming!

Rep. Steve Kagen (D-WI) answering questions at town hall in Minocqua, WI, on August 19, 2009

This morning I attended Congressman Steve Kagen’s health care town hall in Minocqua, WI. If you watch MSNBC, you’ve probably heard about Kagen’s first two town halls this summer, which were a little contentious. Since then, he’s had a few more town halls which seem to have gone better. In any case, I haven’t heard about them on Maddow or Countdown so progress, right?

Speaking of the divine Ms. Rachel, Dick Armey must still be smarting from the smackdown he got on Meet the Press last weekend. From what I could tell, most people attending were local; FreedomWorks had skipped this party. There were a few people from out of town but Minocqua is a popular tourist destination so that makes sense.

The “tone” was pretty subdued, quiet and respectful. I think this is partly due to the location. The event was held at the Campanile Center, which used to be a Catholic Church. It was kind of neat; on the quarter hour, somehow they got the bell-player-music-people to play patriotic music instead of the regular chimes. Coolio. (I can’t pull that off, can I? Shucks.)

The church (once a Catholic church, always a Catholic church) was about 75% full and rough half and half men and women, although probably a few more men than women. 90% were over 60 years old. I think I was the youngest person there. The town hall lasted for about an hour and 45 minutes and old men dominated the conversation. Only four men under 60 and five women (including me) total got to ask questions.

The great majority of the old men, except one or two, were opposed to health care reform. Strangely enough, they seemed to be more worried about the “illegals” getting free health care rather than the rising costs of health care, the millions who are uninsured or even the national debt.

One of my favorite questions/comments came from a gentleman who said “illegals” are 40% of the 47 million people without health insurance. He mistakenly believed the “illegals” would be covered under health care reform. “How can you support that?” he asked the congressman. Kagen replied, “I disagree with your numbers.” He said 2/3 of the uninsured are working families. When the man said health care reform is “going to raise our taxes,” Kagen had a very simple answer for him: “That’s not true.”

Another man said, “The government says we can’t round up all the illegals… When they come [for free care] why can’t they get picked up right then and there?”

A third attributed all the problems in our prisons, schools and health care systems to the “illegals”. A recurring theme was that if we just get rid of the ‘”illegals” problem, America would be hunky-dory. I had to laugh when I heard the guy behind me mutter, “If you deport everybody, you’ll have to pick your own tomatoes.”

Many people were upset about the “government takeover” of health care. As one guy (probably in his 30s) put it, “No matter [what you call it], it’s still socialized medicine.” Kagen tried to make the case for health care, but he wasn’t especially convincing. If I had been against health care reform, I don’t think he would have changed my mind. This may be due to his personality and demeanor. He seems to be quiet, polite and respectful, but I can’t see him doing the big stump speeches, rallying the crowds in a “Yes, we can” style.

Kagen said health care-related debt contributes to 2/3 of bankruptcies in northeastern Wisconsin, his district. A constituent disputed Kagen’s statistics. Instead, the man attributed a significant portion of bankruptcies to predatory lending by mortgage giants like AIG. Kagen’s reply? “I got my numbers from the (local) courthouse.”

(Genius. This is Wisconsin, not New Jersey. Except for Madison and Milwaukee, we all live in relatively smaller communities and most of us probably know someone who works for the state or local government. It’s much harder to say government is corrupt when it has a human face: your family, friends, neighbors, etc. So that knocked the wind out of the bankruptcy argument.)

After a particularly boneheaded rant against socialized medicine, I walked up to the front of the church, introduced myself and said,

“With Governor Doyle not running for re-election, we don’t know who the next governor will be and we don’t know what their priorities will be. We don’t know if they’ll keep funding BadgerCare and Medicaid at the current levels. So my question for you is, do you support the public option?”

And then Kagen hedged. He wouldn’t commit to the public option. Here’s the bottom line on Steve Kagen: He wants health care and health insurance reform. That doesn’t necessarily mean a public option. He repeatedly referred to a plan “whether you call it a public option or a co-op or something else”. He wants more investments in prevention. He wants medical providers to openly disclosure fees for all services.

My sense is that he wants a non-profit insurance plan that would be able to put patients’ needs ahead of profit. I don’t think Kagen really cares if it’s the public option, co-op or something like the Wyden-Bennett bill (if that had the necessary protections for patients).

I left feeling like Steve Kagen is an incredibly decent man. I briefly told my story and his eyes kind of popped out. (I had a spinal cord injury 4 years ago and I’ve recovered for the most part). He repeatedly told people he appreciated their comments or questions, even when they were belligerent or stupid. (Those are my words, not his.) He was assertive enough to correct people when they were wrong. By my count, this was his fifth town hall this month. If today’s event was one of the “good” ones, he must really be committed to communicating with his constituents about health care. In contrast, Dave Obey has yet to schedule a single town hall.

There’s lots more to tell about the town hall but it’ll have to wait for tomorrow when I can think clearly again.

Re: public option – I'm so mad I could spit

I woke up this morning at 5:00 AM, two hours before my alarm was set to go off and couldn’t fall back asleep. Why? I am so furious about the supposed demise of the public option I could spit, or scream or both. I don’t care if it’s not lady-like. It’s true.

Why the hell is the public option even up for negotiation? How many times have we heard President Obama say he wants a “uniquely American solution” to the health care crisis? I understand not wanting to dismantle the health insurance industry, if only because of the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people it employs. Still, the health insurance industry is currently failing at least 46 million people who don’t have insurance. Those are the ones we know about. Then there are the underinsured. Don’t forget the illegal immigrants who emergency, stabilizing treatment in emergency rooms, which hospitals are required to do and adds to all of our health care bills. (Not mine, obviously. I’m one of those “socialized medicine” Medicaid leeches. Yes, I’m that furious today. The sarcasm meter has been broken it’s so high. It’s either that or just have this entire post be a string of @#%&*(!)

Her’s what Howard Fineman had to say about Obama appearing to back away from the public option last night on Countdown:

“My sense of it is, and it has been for a long time, even going back to the rhetoric on the campaign, that Barack Obama has been much more interested in the idea of universality and in making history that way than in the public option, per se”

Thankfully, the fight doesn’t appear to be over. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senators Russ Feingold and Jay Rockefeller all pushed back in a Washington Post article this morning. Rep. Anthony Weiner has been on the offensive over the last 24 hours. Finally, this morning, the White House seems to gotten their act together – sort of. From Thehill.com:

Gibbs reiterated that the president’s preference to create competition and quality in health insurance is through a public option, but Obama is willing to listen to other ideas that would achieve the same outcome.

I’m not asking for a handout. In fact, just the opposite. I’m asking for help in getting off Medicaid, off the government programs. I want to be self-sufficient. I want to buy my own insurance.

Why is this so @#$!@%! difficult?

Seriously? No Public Option?

Today is one of those days where my body is laughing at me saying, “Ha! You really think you could ever work a normal full-time job? Seriously? Are you out of your blooming mind?!” I won’t go into the details but suffice it to say that mobility returned to the extremities but not all of the internal organs. You figure it out. In any case, my full-time job over the last few days has simply been taking care of my physical needs.

I guess that’s why I’m on disability. I really wish I weren’t and I am working hard towards the day when I won’t be. As I’ve said before, I need low-cost health insurance (and a living wage) to get off SSI and Medicaid. That’s why I’m in favor of the public option.

But what the heck, President Obama? Over the past 48 hours, the Obama administration appears to be backing away from the public option. At Saturday’s town hall, President Obama gave a long-winded, three-point answer in response to one question on the public option. Later, while discussing whether or not a private plans could compete with a public option, he said:

This is a legitimate debate to have. All I’m saying is, though, that the public option, whether we have it or we don’t have it, is not the entirety of health care reform. This is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it.

Then, yesterday HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told John King on CNN that the public option is “not essential.” Watch:

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was on CBS’ Face the Nation, where he where he said, “the bottom line for this for the president is, what we have to have is choice and competition in the insurance market.” He did say that the president favored the public option “thus far.” Watch:

On the one hand, I can live without a public option. My only main objective is that health insurance is affordable for low-income people like me. On the hand, seriously?! What the hell have we gone through all of this crazy B.S. for if there won’t be a public option. I’ve shed tears over this. Last week, I stood on a picnic table in front of strangers and briefly told my story. I let Sen. Russ Feingold tell the entire world my story on the Senate floor, all the freakin’ hope that maybe someday I will be financially independent again.

If Obama was going to cave on the public option, why bother even talking about it in the first place? This country has been torn even further apart because the Fox News crowd is using “socialized medicine” to stir up racial tensions. Members of Congress have gotten death threats. In my personal life, I fear I have lost or damaged at least one relationship with a loved one over this issue.

If Obama was going to cave on the public option, why did any of us even bother? Why did we elect him in the first place? I voted for Hillary Clinton in the primary and I’m really proud I did. Where is my fierce advocate in the White House?

Progressives, if you believe in the public option, now is the time to get busy. Call, write, email, fax or tweet your representative and senators. (Find your representative here and your senators here. See top of page on both websites.) Last night on Twitter, Melissa Harris-Lacewell (@harrislacewell) suggested that everyone contact the White House demanding they support the public option. You can do that here.

The time is now. We need health care reform. We need a public option.

About Last Night('s Health Care Rally)

Last night, I went to a pro-health care rally organized by Organizing for America. When I got there, there were lots of people holding signs and the crowd was mixed fairly evenly, half pro-reform, half against. Some of the anti-reform signs were hideous so I took lots of pictures. I had to laugh to myself as the pro-reform crowd tended to congregate on the left side of the grassy square while the antis were on the right. I don’t think this was intentional but it was still amusing, nonetheless.

When the rally got started, one of the first speakers was a woman in her sixties or seventies (I’m horrible about guessing ages). She talked about the thousands of dollars of debt she and her husband incurred when he had a lengthy stay at a long-term care facility. In addition to Medicare, they have a supplemental health insurance policy, which was supposed to reimburse them for their upfront costs, but of course, the insurance company never did.

While the woman was speaking, I heard a lot of murmurs and mumbling and grumbling behind me. I was pretty obvious the anti-reformers didn’t understand the moral of this woman’s story: the need to reform the insurance industry.

Another woman spoke who was a former mayor (or high ranking official) from De Pere, WI, which is by Green Bay. I thought she was pretty antagonistic towards the anti-reformers. She kept saying, “If you’re happy with the status quo…” and then throwing out statistics like, “In the last nine years, insurance premiums have gone up 90% for the average Wisconsin family.” I have no idea where she got her information from, as she didn’t tell us. It’s become a pet peeve of mine that people in positions of authority throw these fancy figures around to impress us and then expect us to believe them without batting an eye. Unfortunately, that happens far too often.

I digress. My apologies.

Back to the woman from De Pere. She wasn’t giving a speech. She was giving a lecture to the anti-reformers. It wasn’t effective because it didn’t open up the dialogue. When you talk down to people, they’re not going to listen to you. I’m fairly certain she did not change a single person’s mind about health care reform last night.

A local dental hygienist who is a breast cancer survivor also spoke. She and her husband, a veterinarian, buy private insurance at considerable cost to them. It’s very expensive but at least she has insurance. She was grateful she was able to receive treatment for her breast cancer. A friend of hers wasn’t so lucky. When she found a lump, she had to save for two months in order to have enough money to go to the doctor. The friend had to save money for another couple months to go back to have testing done.

The dental hygienist also told us about another friend who died several years ago because she couldn’t afford her seizure medicine.

Dr. Tom Gabert, an internist in Minocqua, WI, was the keynote speaker. (I looked up his name, heh. I apologize for not knowing the others.) He talked about reforming health care to make medicine more patient-centric not money-centric. He said money is always the number one topic of discussion when it comes to health care, not prevention or wellness. He told us about the countless patients who have asked him to lie about pre-existing conditions so they can get health insurance.

Dr. Gabert said many of his colleagues have left medicine because dealing with health insurance is so difficult. He added, “which is a form of rationing, by the way.” He went on to explain that the health care industry is driven far more by profit than by actual health care. For example, they (clinics and hospitals) make the least amount of money on women and children but they spend a lot of time wooing that demographic anyways. Why? So moms and kids convince Grandpa to come to their hospitals and clinics for hip replacements (and other old man stuff), which is profitable. Another example: the fancy helicopter services and heart care clinics being advertised on billboards, in newspapers and on television. The health industry spends big bucks trying to impress consumers to come to their clinics and hospitals based on their shiny new toys and pretty new facilities (sarcasm is mine) rather than spend money on keeping people healthy.

Dr. Gabert also spoke of the need for malpractice reform, which got big applause from the anti-reform crowd. They apparently think limiting the amount a doctor can be sued for medical malpractice is the magic panacea to the health care crisis. Good grief.

Another local physician, a pediatrician whose name I didn’t catch, spoke briefly about how important it is for kids to have health insurance. He said he believes Medicaid and S-CHIP are very good programs but unsustainable. He advocated a “Medicare for all” type of system.

The Anti-Health Care Rally

After the rally was over, the anti-reformers gathered on the right side of the square. I had been about to leave but I waited to see what was about to happen. Who doesn’t like a good train wreck, you know?

The first speaker was a middle-aged woman (I probably shouldn’t say that as she wasn’t that much older than I am). I couldn’t hear everything she said, but what I did hear alarmed, to say the least. A sampling:

“I don’t like Obama” after which somebody called out, “Where’s the birth certificate?” I only heard that once, though. Kudos to my fellow Hodags for (mostly) staying classy.
“I’m not against reform.” She continued on to say that she has worked all her life and put into the system. At this point, things got a little noisy and I honestly don’t know what she said next. I think she said she was entitled to her Social Security and Medicare but I can’t be sure.
She asked if anyone watched Fox News and Glenn Beck. She said she learned from watching Glenn Beck that if health care passes, Obama won’t cover babies up to two years of age. Yes, you read that right.
She brought up the “death panel” concept, saying that people over 65 wouldn’t have health insurance anymore. At this point, I raised my hand. All night, the need for civility and respect had been mentioned over and over. I didn’t want to be rude and heckle her so like a first grader, I raised my hand to ask a question. Since she brought up the “Obama wants to kill Grandma” idea that originates with the living will provision, I wanted to ask her if she had a living will. Of course, she never called on me.

The next person to speak was a man who said he worked with employers all over the country. He said employers were very concerned about health care reform, to which the anti-reformers cheered.

I couldn’t figure out why. Why did these people care more about employers and businesses need than what we the patients need? Aren’t we all patients and human beings first? When you get laid off, your employer doesn’t give a flying fig if you have a migraine and need Imitrex or that you still have cancer and need radiation. They just don’t care. What the heck are these people thinking?

Well, by then I’d had it. When the gentleman was done speaking, I saw my opportunity and took it. These people needed to know what the stakes were. They needed to know that socialized medicine wasn’t evil, that human lives, indeed, my life was more important than all of this insanity that’s been going on lately.

I walked up to the picnic table and stood up on one of the benches. I don’t have great balance so there was no way I was going on top of the picnic table. The lady who spoke first at the anti-rally saw I was wobbly and came to give me a hand. (I appreciate it. ) Everyone looked at me expectantly.

Here’s what I said:

Four years ago, I was paralyzed from the neck down. I was four months away from being kicked off my parents’ health insurance so I was eligible for BadgerCare and Medicaid. This is the face of Medicaid. (I whipped my sunglasses off, hoping it was very dramatic.) I understand the budget and financial concerns, but this is about real people. This is the face of Medicaid.

Without my prescription sunglasses on, I couldn’t see anything. I could hear some murmurs and grumbling, though. I hadn’t planned on saying anything so after I spit out those few sentences on impulse, I had no idea what came next. I got down from the picnic tables and left the rally. By the time I got to my car, I was in tears. I was angry at the anti-reformers and at myself.

I was angry at the anti-reformers for allowing their racist and paranoid thinking to get in the way of my life and death need for health insurance. Instead of just listening to Glenn Beck and Fox News, they should be doing their own research. Read the damn bills and proposals, particularly the parts that controversial or confusing. Try and understand why we need health care reform. Contact your congressional delegation, express your concerns and ask them to handle this responsibly.

Please.

Please don’t tell me we don’t need anything to change.

I was also angry with myself. I had the bully pulpit for a few brief moments and I felt like I wasted it. I could have used it to advance the conversation but I don’t think I did. I wish I would have said,

This happened to me. Medicaid paid for services private insurance would not have and kept me out of bankruptcy at 25. As I try to work my way off disability and towards self-employment, I need low-cost health insurance. I think a public option would be a good idea, in addition to employer-sponsored policies, private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and the like. I understand there are concerns about the budget and debt but simply saying no is not an option for people like me. Can we come up with another answer?

In the end, I don’t know what good will come of any of this. I wonder if I’m just needlessly stirring the pot by writing about my interpretation of last night’s events. I wonder if any of this is worth it.

This morning I had a doctor’s appointment in Wausau. It was a check-up and relatively minor. On the ride in and while I was at the doctor’s office, I was filled with a profound sense of gratitude that I do have Medicaid, that I am able to go to the doctor when I need to.

Someday, a day that I hope will come sooner rather than later, I will get off disability and Medicaid, but for now, socialized medicine has a place in society. It even has a face and it’s not some bizarre mockup of Barack Obama as Heath Ledger as The Joker.

I am the face of Medicaid. I am the face of socialized medicine. I am the face of health care reform.

It’s that personal for me and millions of other Americans.

We have to get it done.