More resources
Lots of helpful responses from readers are coming in.
Reader Chistina Laczko, for instance, offers this tip:
And so many other readers sent in their own stories, like this one after my story about the barber suffering from Crohn's disease, going into tremendous debt because he has no health insurance:
"Dear Mr. Vitez:
This article hit really, really close to home for me. I have a good friend that is suffering from a inflammatory intestine disorder that keeps him in the hospital nearly 10 days every month. The doctors and hosptials have not diagnosed his precise condition, and the specialists hired by the insurance company are not performing all of the tests he needs. This healthcare problem is based on two main issues 1) his healthcare was being provided by his employer, and the employer is trying to force him to return to work and continues to deny his disability claims. 2) The hospitals are treating him as if he is a drug addict. He has been left on the floors of multiple Philadelphia area emergency & treatment rooms by doctors who make statements such as, "I'm not giving you any meds...". He might have Chrones Disease...but they have not diagnosed him in nearly 2 years!!!
My friend has lost 40lbs in the last 6 months and needs morphine just to make it through the day.
Can you please help me out, with some information or anything...because no one else will help.
Sincerely,
Jason"
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Some other tidbits:
100 medical students from around the state traveled to Harrisburgh today, Monday, to lobby the legislature for a single-payer health care bill. Here is part of the press release:
MEDICAL STUDENTS ASK PA LAWMAKERS TO ENSURE HEALTH CARE FOR ALLStudents say Pennsylvania could save $30 billion a year with this comprehensive and cost-efficient planHarrisburg, PA What: American Medical Student Association Lobby DayWhere: Grand Staircase in the Capitol RotundaWhen: Monday, October 6th, 2008, 9:00 am Over 100 medical students in white coats from across the state will travel to Harrisburg on October 6th to lobby legislators to raise awareness for the Family and Business Health Security Act (S.B. 300/H.B. 1660), which guarantees all Pennsylvanians comprehensive healthcare through a publicly funded, privately delivered system. Bill Details: The Family and Business Health Security Act maintains the current system of private health practitioners, but replaces numerous available insurance plans with payment for health care by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The bill expands coverage to all residents of Pennsylvania through a combination of public funding, uniform payroll taxes on employers, and a small tax on personal income. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania would save an estimated $30 billion a year if this bill were passed. Participants: Medical students across Pennsylvania support this cause for many reasons. Lindsay Kaldor, Lobby Day coordinator and second year medical student at Temple University says, “I have learned through personal and shared experiences how the cost of healthcare affects people. I have seen the extent to which inefficient health care provisions leave the hardest working individuals in our society fearful that bad luck could destroy their health and productivity.” Wes Fisher, Regional Director of AMSA and third year medical student, seeks a single payer system. "I want to continue practicing in Pennsylvania without the constant internal struggle between my duties as a compassionate physician and my abilities within the framework of health care." About the American Medical Student Association: The American Medical Student Association (AMSA) is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. http://www.amsa.org.* * *
On the presidential campaign health care front, here are two items:
Barack Obama signs onto Health Care for America campaign. And a Cato Institute analysis comes out critical of Obama's health plan.
According to the Health Care for America Campaign:
Obama and More than 70 Other Members of Congress Commit To Guarantee of Quality, Affordable Health Care For AllWashington, DC –Today, Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) signed the Health Care for America Now statement declaring that he is on the side of quality, affordable health care for all and opposed to leaving Americans on their own with unregulated health insurance. See the "Which Side Are You On?" statement here (pdf): http://hcfan.3cdn.net/517370ec1fddf45044_vbm6ivw3d.pdf"Health Care for America Now's goal this year is to get the next President and a majority of Congress committed to the principles of quality, affordable health care for all and opposed to policies that would tax our benefits at work and leave us on our own with the unregulated, bureaucratic private insurance industry," said Richard Kirsch, National Campaign Manager, Health Care for America Now. "With Senator Obama's signature, we are taking a major step towards getting the next President and Congress to make comprehensive health care reform a priority in 2009."
MEANWHILE, THE CATO INSTITUTE has released an analysis of Barack Obama's plan, which will be public on the Cato website, www.cato.org on Oct. 7. The headline is: "Does Barack Obama Support Socialized Medicine?" The author is Michael F. Cannon, director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute (www.cato.org) and coauthor of Healthy Competition: What’s Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It.
Here is the executive summary:
Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama (IL) has proposed an ambitious plan to restructure America’s health care sector. Rather than engage in a detailed critique of Obama’s health care plan, many critics prefer to label it “socialized medicine.” Is that a fair description of the Obama plan and similar plans? Over the past year, prominent media outlets and respectable think tanks have investigated that question and come to a unanimous answer: no. Those investigations leave much to be desired. Indeed, they are little more than attempts to convince the public that policies generally considered socialist really aren’t.
A reasonable definition of socialized medicine is possible. Socialized medicine exists to the extent that government controls medical resources and socializes the costs. Notice that under this definition, it is irrelevant whether we describe medical resources (e.g., hospitals, employees) as “public” or “private.” What matters—what determines real as opposed to nominal ownership—is who controls the resources. By that definition, America’s health sector is already more than half socialized, andObama’s health care plan would socialize medicine even further.
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From the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Pennsylvania's kids aren't nearly as healthy as they could be, according to a new national report coming out next week from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Commission to Build a Healthier America. And education and poverty play a major role.In fact, in Pennsylvania, the infant mortality rate for children of mothers who didn't finish high school is 2.5 times higher than the rate for children of mothers with 16 or more years of education. And Pennsylvania families below the federal poverty line are more than four times as likely to have children in less than optimal health than the state's most affluent households.
More to come....