Ballad of the uninsured in America

I knew full-well going into this whole self-employment adventure that health insurance was going to be a big problem. You see, as much as I otherwise love my country, its current system of health care is about as backwards as an ass could possibly be.

Wisconsin has some fairly progressive state-run programs for those people who lose their insurance (or never get it in the first place). I was on BadgerCare back in those first few years out of college when all I had was a coffee shop job. Between that and the Family Planning Waiver, I was able to enjoy an at least basic level of security.

Having cast off my full-time desk job on purpose, however, I don't qualify for BadgerCare. See, you either have to get through 12 months of being uninsured (and presumably unemployed) before you can sign up, or have been laid off through no fault of your own. BadgerCare Core, the program for single adults without children like me, has currently frozen its enrollment anyway, so I would have ended up on a waiting list even if I had qualified.

I would like to point out that the Core plan had only existed for only four months before so many people had applied that they had to freeze enrollment. That should tell you something about the incredible need for any coverage at all in this state, not to mention country.

But I shouldn't complain, right? After all, I chose to leave my job with an insurance plan. There are far too many people who've just plain been forced out of work, many of whom have families to support and far greater health needs than me. I respect that. Heck my family's been there. Yet while I recognize that my situation is the result of my own decision--and so far I wouldn't take it back for all the world--I also stand firmly by my assertion that our health care system is fucked beyond belief.

Why should someone who takes the initiative to strike out on their own in pursuit of more fulfilling work have to go without health care? Why should anyone, regardless of their situation, have to go without health care?

They shouldn't. Period. Which is part of why watching the most recent debate over health care on a political level has been so painful. There had been some hope of getting universal coverage, the so-called "public option," before politicians pissed it all away in the vain hope of placating those on the far-right fringes who cried "socialism!" as though it was a bad thing when it came to the very health and well-being of their fellow citizens.

Because you know what that "socialism" would have meant for, say, someone like me? It would mean that this now empty bottle of pills I'm holding wouldn't cost me over $700 to refill (where it cost $20 with insurance). It would mean I'd be able to continue treating a stomach disorder that, left unchecked, tends to cause severe pain and make it difficult for me to properly digest food.

It would mean that people, like my own family some years ago, wouldn't have to worry about going bankrupt because someone got sick. That's just messed up.

But you all know this already. Today I'm just feeling a little sorry for myself and wanted to rant. That done, the next step is waiting for my doctor to call me back and come up with some sort of plan for taking care of my butt sans insurance. There is no generic for the medication I've been taking, so I'm not sure what the solution is, but I'm hopeful that something can be figured out. Fingers crossed.


(photo by macwagen on Flickr)

Legal health procedure? No funding for you!

The current, heated debate over the Stupak Amendment is more than a little mind boggling. The amendment, voted into the health reform bill last week by the House and now sitting in the Senate awaiting its fate, would place extremely tight restrictions on abortions that could be offered through any government-run health care plans. It would also "restrict any private plan in the insurance exchange from offering abortion coverage."

In short: It's crap.

I know that abortion rights are a contentious issue in this country. But the fact remains, thankfully and despite the best efforts of hardliners, that the procedure remains perfectly legal. Private insurance plans offer coverage for it, too, which helps keep women from bankrupting or hurting themselves when abortion becomes a necessity.

But now a handful of anti-abortion Democrats and pretty much all of the Republicans in the Senate are up in arms over the idea that the much-needed and loooong overdue health reforms headed for a final vote might include funding for the procedures. They argue that we shouldn't be asking tax payers who disagree with abortion to help pay for it.

That might seem somewhat reasonable until you consider the fact that we're already asking, say, Quakers to pay taxes that go toward funding our various war adventures. In fact, we ask all sorts of people to contribute taxes toward things they don't necessarily agree with and/or use. That's how this works. So why do the anti-abortion folks think they're so damn special?

Not to mention the fact that the RNC's insurance plan for employees covered abortions up until the fact was pointed out by Politico and suddenly they needed to save face so they got rid of it. Now that's compassionate conservatism!

Universal health care...or death

I have watched with varying levels of hope, fury, and plain old dismay as the Health Care Debate of '09 has raged on. I'm sure it comes as no surprise to readers of this blog that I am a major advocate for universal health care, so I tend to get pretty antsy any time there's even a glimmer of hope for making it happen.

And what can I say? Obama got my hopes up. Now that both Democrats and Republicans--along with all-too many thoroughly duped regular folk--have been doing their utmost to damn the current effort to get comprehensive health care reform passed, I must admit that I'm feeling pretty pissed off.

The absurd expenses associated with decent care in this country, as well as the absolutely criminal practices of certain insurance companies, have impacted my life many times. Honestly, I would be truly surprised to meet anyone in the US who hadn't had at least one negative health care related event--whether for themselves or a friend or loved one.

And while the pols in DC squabble over "death panels" and bend over for their Insurance Company Overlords, real people are getting sick, going bankrupt, and dying in the good ol' US of A.

Well done! Letting the health care status quo go on is certainly one way to solve the problem of an aging population. Perhaps not a very good one--I'd argue, in fact, that it's pretty horrifying--but a lot of people seem to be pretty gung-ho about the tactic. Which is odd, seeing as how those same individuals seem to be the ones getting all riled up about "death panels" (which don't even exist).

But I'm not the only one who's figured out the preferred Republican health care strategy. Rep. Alan Grayson recently did a marvelous job of summing up the GOP's position when he unveiled a simple chart on the House floor that said, "Die Quickly."

That's about it. Opponents of real reform can argue until they're blue in the face that that's not what they want, and they're likely telling the truth, but the fact remains that, regardless of their intentions, the result of their policies (or lack thereof) is just that: Don't get sick. If you do, die quickly.

I believe that every human being, as an inherent right, should have equal access to quality, affordable health care. No matter what. There's pretty much no argument that could convince me otherwise.

On a personal level, I'm especially invested as someone who intends to someday become self-employed as a writer and musician (because, let's be frank, no one's looking to hire me for that full-time these days). That means I'll need to either A) get married to someone with insurance benefits, B) scrounge together whatever public state coverage I can manage, or C) go without. Don't get sick, and if I do, die quickly.

Frankly, I'm not all that enthused about the latter option. For the second, I can take some small comfort in the fact that Wisconsin does boast a few very decent public options. The Family Planning Waiver provides free reproductive coverage to women between the ages of 15 and 44, so my lady bits would be well taken care of. And there's Badger Care Plus (Core), which is the general health care plan I, as an adult with no dependent children, could get.

Only, Gov. Doyle made the announcement today that they're freezing new applications to the program after overwhelming numbers of Wisconsinites jumped on it since the plan went into effect three months ago. Doyle said they'd been getting between 500 and 600 applications each day. If that's not an argument for the pressing need for universal health care....

As for option A, let's just say I resent feeling even remotely pressured to get hitched simply to maintain health benefits. Que romantico! Hell, there are people in this country who can't even do that if they wanted to, just because a few curmudgeons get tingly in their underoos whenever same-sex relationships are brought up.

No one should lose coverage simply because they leave a job or get laid off. Further, no one should have to worry about breaking the bank over medical bills. But that's exactly what happened to my family.

Fourteen years ago, my mother took ill. It wasn't a "pre-existing condition." It was a rare, recurring cyst that decided to wreak some havoc in and around her brain. And though she fought like the dickens for two years, countless surgeries and treatments for the resulting infections, etc., couldn't prevent her death. In addition to the incredible grief, my family was also left with nearly $100,000 in bills. This even though we were "fully" insured, mind you. My father did his best to keep up with payments, but his minister's salary simply wasn't enough. Eventually, he had to file for bankruptcy. Thankfully, this happened before the new, oppressively restrictive Bush-era bankruptcy laws were passed, so the process went about as well as it could--all things considered.

Still, why did my mom getting sick and dying mean that we also had to suffer the added indignity of financial collapse?

If we as a nation continue down the same, tired road of fear mongering and kowtowing to moneyed insurance interests, that's exactly what will happen to our country as well.


(photo by Steve Rhodes on Flickr)

The health care debate debacle

Every person in this country should have the right of access to quality, affordable health care.

No caveats, no conditions, no strings. Everyone. Health care is and should be treated as a fundamental right. Instead, certain individuals and groups in my poor, confused country are trying to make the opposite argument. They're doing it through the use of scare tactics, gross distortions, and blatant lies. And all the while, they're willfully stirring up fearful, ignorant masses and egging them on toward massive public disruptions and even violence, making meaningful debate about this incredibly crucial issue almost impossible.

It's fucking despicable.

The most vocally anti-health care reform Republicans have decided that their own political ambition and desire to see Obama taken down a peg or two trumps the well-being of their fellow Americans. That's the cold, hard truth of the matter. Petty backstabbing and one-upsmanship has taken precedence over honest discussion and work toward bettering the health care situation for their country.

How we've allowed this to happen is beyond me. There's plenty of blame to go around: Democrats too spineless to stand up for what's right or make clear what's really in the bill, politicians too willing to sacrifice work for the great good in the name of ambition, everyday folk too susceptible to the bald-faced lies and fear mongering, a media too ready to spend more time covering nonsense than issues and events that really matter.

The underlying issues are even more complicated. It's fairly obvious that questions of race and class insecurity permeate much of this debate. Selfishness, ignorance, pride, arrogance, and greed play their part, too.

But I want to scream at the top of my lungs that the health and well-being of our fellow citizens should always trump that sort of shit. Always. And how anyone can allow themselves to be distracted from that fact...I spend more time shaking my head these days than not.

• Upwards of 47 million Americans do not have health insurance.
• 8.6 million of those are children.
• The United States has the second worse infant mortality rate in the developed world.
• Prescription drug prices are some of the highest of any industrialized nation.
• More than 60% of bankruptcies in this country are caused by medical bills. (Sidenote: I have personal experience with this, and it's a major sore spot to this day - bankruptcy due to the care of a dying family member, or any other medical situation, should never happen)
  
• Yet more startling statistics here.

The numbers are not good. The personal stories of those effected are even worse. So it should be glaringly obvious to most everyone that serious reform of the health care system needs to be undertaken right now if we're to avoid an even more massive economic and social meltdown.

And yet, we see these angry, sometimes disturbed, shouting, bizarre-sign-wielding protesters crashing town hall meetings and hijacking the national debate. Some have come up with their own reasons for hating the health care bill, many have swallowed the various ridiculous assertions coming out of the GOP. Almost all of the accusations are easily proved false.

Via PolitiFact.com:

• A "death panel" that decides whether you're too old or enfeebled to get care? Not so much.
• Abortions will be taxpayer subsidized! Crock of shite.
• We'll go to a UK-style system of socialized health care where old/disabled people will be denied care! Um...that's a big 'no' - and the UK is miffed at the accusations.
• Illegal immigrants will be given free health care! Not quite (though they should).

And on and on.

None of this is to say that the current bill is perfect - single fucking payer, anyone? - but it's a sight better than what we've got now and at least a starting point from which to do better. We won't get anywhere good, however, if the current reliance on irrational screaming matches and totally untrue statements from opposing lawmakers continues.

We need to decide, as a nation, what's more important: Meaningful debate about and changes made to our health care system so that no one has to go bankrupt because of needed medical care, or selfish and misplaced pride with a side of sensationalism?

The choice we make will have long-lasting repercussions, and probably change everything.

A little less wise

I likely won't be posting for the next couple of days, due to an appointment tomorrow to have the ol' wisdom teeth yanked. Unless I end up posting in a drug-induced stupor (which could certainly yield some interesting results) beforehand, I'll likely be back on either Sunday or Monday. Wish me luck, effective pain killers, and restraint: I have the urge to track down my insurance people and ream them out for the apparent total lack of effective coverage.

In the meantime, feel free/encouraged to comment on previous posts or, even better, to get out to one of the various cool things happening around town this weekend instead of reading my stupid blog. :)

Here's hoping your Fridays are better than mine!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who said they'd sit with me at lunch. That was awfully sweet. I promise not to steal your sandwiches!

Raise the minimum wage AND bring on universal health care

The Wisconsin Senate may very well be on the cusp of passing a comprehensive and much-needed minimum wage hike today, but it's looking like the bill will face a very tough, up-hill battle to pass through the Republican wasteland of the Assembly. Whether it ever makes it to Gov. Doyle's desk is very much in doubt.

The bill would "raise Wisconsin's minimum wage each year based on inflation" and would also "immediately increase the minimum wage from $6.50 to $7.25 an hour."

Powerful interests, including the state's largest business group, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce, are against it.

Twenty-three other states have minimum wages higher than Wisconsin, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Of those, 10 allow for increases based on inflation.

I think I understand where the opposition comes from, especially on the part of small business owners. It is a great added expense, and they're already strapped for cash by skyrocketing health care costs for employees. In fact, according to a 2006 survey by the WMC, the top business concern facing companies in Wisconsin was listed as "health care costs." Not regulation, not taxes, not litigation, but the astronomically high price of providing some kind of health coverage to your employees. If the Republicans in this state really were as pro-business (and pro-small business, especially) as they claim to be, they would have actually supported and passed the Healthy Wisconsin bill that had been attached to the (extremely tardy) state budget.

Instead, there was a great wailing and gnashing of neo-con teeth, claims that it would put an undue tax burden on the citizens of this great state, and near apoplexy over a provision to subsidize care of illegal immigrants.

And so the great burden of providing health insurance continued to be heaped onto the shoulders of Wisconsin businesses. In a rational world, they'd be the banner carriers of universal health care, but for some reason many of the leaders of various business related associations seem hell-bent on opposing anything the Democrats introduce, even if it is good for them.

Thing is, I suspect that business leaders would be far less opposed to minimum wage hikes if they weren't already hemorrhaging money for health care.

Let's be honest, it makes absolutely perfect sense to raise the minimum wage in tandem with inflation. Think of how much gas prices have gone up in recent months (we're averaging $3.07/gallon), which has in turn caused the price of food to rise as well. How do we expect workers to be able to afford to contribute to the economy if they can't buy even basic things like food and gas? It's all connected - provide a universal health coverage program because it's the right thing to do and to take the burden off businesses, and those businesses in turn can afford to better pay their employees, who can then afford to contribute monetarily to our consumerist economy.

Setting a minimum wage is absolutely the right thing to do. Claiming that it won't actually help those people working entry-level and low-paying jobs is a load of bull, especially when related issues (i.e. health care) are taken into account and dealt with in some reasonable fashion. Left to their own devices, companies are notoriously bad about providing fair compensation for labor. You've only to research what the labor climate was like prior to federal minimum wage laws to see what I mean.

(h/t to Waxing America for covering these issues extensively in recent posts)

Compassion, but only sometimes

I'm very pleased to see that the Assembly moved two bills forward recently, both dealing with care for victims of sexual assault. The first bill apparently enjoys broad bipartisan support and will likely pass without much issue. That one deals with the forensic exams administered after an assault to collect DNA and other evidence against the assailant. It would take the burden of paying for them off of the victims and provide full state funding. I'm not sure how it was that we went so long without realizing that forcing the victim to pay for this essential service was a bad idea, but I'm extremely relieved to see it being rectified now, and with great support.

The second, more uncertain bill would "mandate that rape victims receive information about emergency contraception in all Wisconsin emergency rooms and have access to EC upon request."

Right on cue, however, social conservatives have their panties in a twist over that one, claiming that the bill would trample the rights of religious institutions (think St. Mary's).

AB 377 was referred to the Assembly Judiciary and Ethics Committee after the Senate vote, where an amendment was added in Sept. that would allow hospitals to refuse to comply with the law if it violated their religious or moral beliefs.

Pocan said in a statement that the amendment “nullifies” the bill, though amendment supporters have stated that it protects hospitals’ religious freedoms. State Rep. Frederick Kessler, D-Milwaukee, who co-sponsored AB377, said he was still hopeful the bill would pass the Assembly.

Ultimately, if any amendment were going to be added to this bill, I would suggest something a little less broad, but also something that allows places that oppose the use of contraception (like St. Mary's) a way out. For example, word it like this: "Any health care institution with religious or moral objections to the use of emergency contraceptives shall be required to provide information to victims of sexual assault about alternative places where EC can be procured, and provide transportation to said alternative at the patient's request."

Ultimately, I wish everyone would just get over themselves about the contraception issue. It's not abortion. There is no new life involved. Contraception and things like Plan B stop conception before it ever happens. No harm, no foul.

But I also realize that this issue won't resolve itself like that for a long while yet. While that frustrates me and many other pro-choice advocates to no end, we also need to be willing to make strong compromises along the way. The bill is a good one, and if we need to add an amendment that gets religious hospitals off the hook to get it passed, then so be it. The wording, however, needs to be precise and clear in that the option for EC must still be available to those in need and that your responsibility as a health care provider is to make sure they have easy access, even if that means driving them to the next hospital down the road (say, Meriter).

Strange Brew

Our dear leaders up at the capitol finally saw fit to pass a state budget yesterday, which is good, but only after the Democrats ceded some of the best parts of it (universal health care) and kept some of the worst parts (taking $200 million from the fund used to help pay medical malpractice awards), which is bad.

Apparently the long, drawn-out and very tedious work of doing their jobs also made the legislators very thirsty, as they slipped last-minute provisions into the budget that 1) make it legal for liquor and grocery stores to hand out free samples of hard liquor and 2) allows, as far as I can tell, that a brewer, "in providing beer to its own retail premises, is not subject to restrictions on the sale, transportation, and delivery of beer generally applicable to wholesalers and retailers."

I'm not entirely sure I understand the ramifications of the latter point, but the Madison Beer Review does a good job of laying it out for us. From what I can tell, it hurts smaller microbreweries with slightly unusual/clever distribution methods and pretty much just benefits The Great Dane.

It's always fascinating to see what little tidbits get added onto otherwise unrelated bills and/or budgets, and this is, I'm sure, just the tip of the iceberg. I'm happy we've finally even passed a damn budget, but this kind of thing has always seemed especially shady to me. No time or will for a proper debate of the subject, so something just gets passed under the radar. That seems just a little dangerous.

In the end, I'm more upset about losing what would have been the most progressive and beneficial health care program in the country than I am about beer and liquor laws, but it's all certainly worth noting. In the end, the main problem is that the majority of our lawmakers seem more concerned with lining their pocketbooks and pleasing their donors and lobbyists than they do with taking care of the people they're supposed to represent. And that's an issue we all need to take up come election time. Don't let them forget that gross incompetence on the job will result in consequences--most notably, by not getting re-elected.

P.S. Silent Sports has a great call to arms against some of the line items in the budget to do with funding yet more ATV trails in Wisconsin. Check it out and make the calls!

Health care? Not important, according to WI Republicans

This is so infuriating:

Democrats offered Friday to drop their $15 billion universal health care proposal as long as Republicans agreed to a variety of tax increases they have vowed to oppose.

The move is a sign that Democrats are willing to negotiate to get the budget done within a week, said Senate Majority Leader Judy Robson, D-Beloit.

"We're willing to give if you're willing to give," she said at a meeting of a bipartisan committee of lawmakers who have been trying to reach a budget compromise.

But Republicans balked at being forced to accept tax increases on hospitals and cigarettes, and a $175 million fund transfer, in exchange for Democrats' withdrawal of the universal health care plan known as Healthy Wisconsin.

"I am providing you nothing in return," Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said after accepting the withdrawal of the universal health care plan. "I am not saying in any way that I will trade all of these items so Healthy Wisconsin can come out of the state budget."

And a big screw you right back at ya, Mr. Huebsch.

Apparently, getting as many people as is possible reasonably covered for health care in this state isn't that important to the Republicans in the legislature. Nope, gotta fight tooth-and-nail against things like gay marriage and notaxincreaseseverbygodnomattertheconsequences. The public good be damned!

I am by no means taking all of the blame for our current budget woes off of the Democrats' shoulders. They've contributed their fair share of ridiculousness to the mess, but this kind of crap from the Republicans is just shameful. Expanding Badger Care, of which I was for many years a grateful recipient, to include 98% of Wisconsin residents (including all children) would have been a fantastic move, something the rest of the country could have pointed to as a good example of what the nation ought to be striving for.

Instead, the Republicans are just dragging their feet in the dust, pouting, throwing little temper tantrums and refusing to budge on pretty much anything they don't like. So, decorum out the window, I send the following message to 'em: Fuck all y'all.

Thank-you, good night.