A Groundswell
Written by Ann Pietrangelo on January 19th, 2008 in Health Care Policy, In The News, Linked Articles.
I feel a groundswell coming on. Two recent blog posts have taken on the subject of the under-insured with chronic illness and have managed to provoke powerful images.
Jake Crest, writing at BetweenTheBlogs.com, lays out the financial facts of one couple’s (our own) health care conundrum in his post, “The Most Important Political Issue”. With a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, no access to group coverage, spiraling costs of individual health insurance policies with high deductibles and expensive MS medications, we can honestly claim a “crisis”. Millions of families are caught in this cycle and are rapidly spinning out of control.
Lisa Emrich, blogging at BrassAndIvory.blogspot.com in her post, “The Value of Money or the Value of Health – What Do You See?” has posted photographs of $7,000.00 in cash and $7,000.00 worth of MS medication. When you read the details of her story and view the images, you can’t help but be moved.
When you hear us talking about the “health care crisis”, we are not speaking of nickels and dimes. We are talking about making life-altering decisions regarding our health based on finances. These two posts have put dollar signs and faces together in a way that brings the issue home.
Let’s work together to generate some attention to these two articles and the real people behind them. Let’s face it, our blogs are read in large part by other people who live with chronic illness and already know the facts all to well.
Let’s take it to the streets, so to speak. Put your story on your own blog, and add another face with financial facts. Add these story links to your own site. Comment on other blogs and link to these posts. Email people you know who would otherwise not read these articles and include the links. Write members of congress. Do all you can to put this issue front and center. We need to work together in an effort to educate others. With an election approaching we must make this a top priority.
What the answer is…I don’t know. Reading other blogs and blog comments, I haven’t come across anyone who does have the answer. That’s exactly why we need to get more people involved. There’s the issue of the 47 million Americans who are un-insured. Add to that the under-insured and those totally or partially disabled by chronic conditions. Stir in the high cost of prescription drugs. Then there’s the problem of group health insurance being directly tied to employment. COBRA and HIPPA buy you time, but eventually you are on your own. Put it all together and you have a bona fide HEALTH CARE CRISIS.
Let the movement begin.
January 19th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
This IS a big issue, and like you said we are for the most part “preaching to the choir”. I don’t know what the answers are but I do have many questions. WHY are the pharmaceuticals SOOOO expensive. Big pharma co’s have profits that equal big Oil’s.
We need to take it to the polls and write letters to everyone of your congressmen and representatives.
January 20th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
We may be “preaching to the converted” but the problems are not getting the attention of the media (and with their corporate attention spans, is it really worth trying?)
But the internet is offering hope and podcasting can catch the attention of the most illiterate of our elected officials.
That is why I am podcasting. To get their attention and offering a means for them to get our attention back (rather than always lobbying in Washington.)