I will be interviewing Adrian Campbell on my community television show soon. Adrian is a 25-year old woman who contracted ovarian cancer and had to go to Canada to get treatment, because her health plan refused coverage, saying 22-year-olds (she was 22 when she was diagnosed) don't get ovarian cancer. Then, to make matters worse, because she was in the movie, she was fired by her employer.
If Joe Knollenberg thinks his plan to offer a tax credit to employers for offering a wellness program is the solution, I dare him to walk a mile in Adrian's shoes. Why don't you come on my show with Adrian, Joe, and tell her how well your plan for a tax credit for an employer wellness program will work for her? I dare you, Joe.
According to the web site National Priorities for the cost of what we have spent in the 9th Congressional District of Michigan in 2007 on the war in Iraq, we could have provided health care to 121,000 citizens.
According to the Institute of Medicine, "lack of health insurance causes roughly 18,000 unnecessary deaths every year in the United States. Although America leads the world in spending on health care, it is the only wealthy, industrialized nation that does not ensure that all citizens have coverage." Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations, Institute of Medicine, January 2004.
http://www.iom.edu/?id=19175
Quit blowing smoke up our butts, Joe. Universal, single-payer health care does work and it's time for America to take care of its citizens instead of fighting an ill-conceived war that President Bush lied us into for profits from the Iraqi oil fields.
2 comments:
It's interesting to hear Joe rant against government run health care and imply that it's less than desirable for people. What kind of insurance does Joe have? What kind of insurance do all our legislators in Washington have? Government run health insurance.
If Joe believes the insurance industry is best for our country, then he and everyone else in Washington should opt out of the federal health plan and buy their own insurance at market prices.
By the way, the uninsured are only part of the problem. The underinsured make up 24% of our population, and although they have insurance, the monetary burden of paying the premiums and deductibles are extremely burdensome:
27% had outstanding medical debts still owed doctors or hospitals, and 17% were carrying medical debts of $5,000 +
56% postponed needed medical care because of costs
Those are just two examples. The bottom line is that two-fifths (40%) of the country are either uninsured or underinsured, and people just don't have the money to pay for medical care equal to that of Joe and the rest of our legislators in Washington.
Well, said, Kathy.
Post a Comment