Guaranteed Healthcare

RN Cares For Physician Husband But Cannot Believe Costs

“My husband is a physician – who, by the way, has never missed a day of work – and is also on dialysis for a failed kidney transplant.  I'm a nurse, and have been doing his home hemodialysis for the past year,” said Daniella Pigott of Birmingham, Alabama.  “Each month our insurance company sends us a copy of the billing statement.  Remember, I am the one who does his treatments at home for three hours a day, five days a week. I also draw all of his labs, spin them in a centrifuge, and then take them to the lab. I also give my husband his medications IV.”  Read more casualties

There's an interesting article in Politico which makes the case for a possible 60 seat filibuster proof Democratic Senate.  An unthinkable dream only a few short weeks ago, is now being discussed as the electoral landscape looks increasingly dire for the thoroughly discredited Republican Party. Should this happen, such a miraculous turn of events, would be further fallout of the economic catastrophe Mr. Bush created and now bequeathes to his successor.

Certainly, a sixty seat Democratic Senate, would also be the ultimate referendum on the last eight years of the worst and most corrupt administration in the history of our nation. Finally, a neutered and defanged Republican Party. 

If this happens, will we see great progressive legislation? Will we see at the top of the list, universal, affordable and guaranteed healthcare reform? Will such historic legislation move with lightening speed through the House and the Senate and be signed into law by President Obama? 

Many analysts believe the financial crisis will worsen dramatically (despite the bailout of Wall Street) between now and January 20th. The collapse of the U.S. healthcare system seems poised to be the next shoe to drop in the pyramid scheme legacy of the Bush Administration.

As Rose Ann DeMoro states in The Nation, "If only the federal government could be mobilized so quickly to solve the nation's healthcare crisis."  Perhaps the repercussions from the bailout, and a 60 seat Senate will give us an unprecedented historic opportunity to enact sweeping healthcare reform.

What must single-payer activists do between now and then, to prepare for a possible 60 seat Democratic Senate? 

The meltdown of the U.S. economy has Americans deciding between milk and medicine. We won't get a second chance to make healthcare the top domestic priority of the Obama Administration.

President Obama will of necessity, hit the ground running. His economic team has some mess to deal with. 

Will we too be ready? 

The Perils of Pre-Existing Conditions and the Struggle of 29-Year-Old Critical Care Nurse

"Due to the high stress I have experienced as a registered nurse in a critical-care environment, and sometimes the requirement to work odd shifts, I developed a condition called irritable bowel syndrome with abdominal pain and constipation," said Tina Marino from Phoenix, Arizona. "As a result of my diagnosis, I am unable to secure individual health insurance coverage."

"Overall, I am pretty healthy; I don't smoke, and have never been hospitalized. I was declined healthcare coverage because of my history of irritable bowel syndrome. In order to pay down my debts, I am working through a nurse staffing agency for the higher wages, but health benefits don't come with the job."  Read more casualties

Retiree Hires Attorney to Keep Her Coverage

“I was promised lifetime insurance by my employer (USA Today).  In May, my employer farmed out billing to Aetna and refused to take my check,” said Coline George of Camarillo, California. “Aetna had no record of me. The only informed person I talked to said that Aetna only did my employer's COBRA account.”

Many Americans must navigate COBRA benefit rules and regulations following job losses or retirement.  COBRA benefits allow former employer-based group health insurance coverage to be retained for several months following job separation.  But the benefits are expensive as the employer no longer pays any portion of the premium, and it can also be very difficult to keep coverage in force, as Coline soon found out.  Read more casualties

There is no time to waste.  Join the action.  Take just a moment every week to work for single payer, guaranteed healthcare for all. 

No bail-outs needed.  Just publicly financed, privately delivered healthcare for everyone in America.

Freedom to choose, freedom to live a healthy life, freedom to leave this nation in better shape for our kids and grandkids.  It is up to us.

Leslie Elder with Rep. John Conyers (HR676)

Breast Cancer Patient Can No Longer Afford To Save Her Own Life

"We had major medical health insurance when I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987," recalls Leslie Elder of West Palm Beach, Fla. "After a radical mastectomy, I was again diagnosed with breast cancer and had another radical mastectomy in 1992. Left with huge unpaid balances and tripling premiums, we were forced to drop the insurance in 2003."

"In 2005 I was diagnosed with kidney cancer, resulting in the removal of one and part of the other kidney. With the help of a family member, I paid almost $70,000 for the two surgeries." Read more casualties

Postal Worker with Stage 4 Breast Cancer Fought Insurance Company for Life-Saving Treatment for Eight Months While Cancer Spread

"I am a 57-year-old woman with stage 4 breast cancer which has metastasized to my bone in the hip area," said Margaret Murphy of Millersville, Penn. "I had 15 radiation treatments and afterward suffered a very painful fracture in the same area. In testing for the source of the pain, the doctor found more lesions of cancer below the bone."

"I spent a precious eight months of my life fighting my insurance company to approve me getting into a vaccine study for metastasized breast cancer at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, where I am being treated. I appealed and was turned down three times, before finally being approved. They stated that they didn’t cover ‘experimental’ studies or treatments. Although there are a few women who beat the odds, my doctor states I most likely have two to five years to live." Read more casualties

Single Mom with Cancer, Can’t Afford Employer’s Health Insurance, Lives in State of Fear

Adrian Campbell of Howell, Mich., whose story was featured in Michael Moore’s documentary SiCKO, is a cancer survivor and a single mom to Aurora, age 5. 

“I go to bed frightened every night that the next flare-up of my MS or the next injury Aurora may suffer will finally spell the end of any hope I have to build a decent life for my child,” Adrian explains. Read more casualties 

By Donna Smith, community organizer

CHICAGO -- I heard on "Good Morning America" this morning that a lot of people are very stressed by the the economic crisis and the possibility of losing a lot of their investment savings.  But I also have heard a shout of victory from a lot of other people who are very stressed on an everyday basis by financial stress and hardship.

I don't think those of us who opposed the bail-out that failed yesterday are being understood just yet.  It isn't that we don't get it -- we know the loss of wealth and the loss of credit will hurt a lot of people.  We are not stupid.  But we have lived in a different America now for some time -- an America that has no savings left, no homes from which to be evicted following foreclosure, and no 401K funds left untapped.  And no one has come to our rescue -- even a little bit.

So when the stress expert on GMA told folks today that eating cinnamon and turmeric help lower inflammation in the body of folks stressed out over the crisis, I thought of the nurse pictured above in a soup kitchen in Ithaca, New York, where many people find their only decent meals and grab just moments with a county health nurse to discuss health issues.  Just three years ago, I stood in line at a food pantry for our food and had churches help pay our heating bill after the gas was shut off -- all while working full time and then some, carrying health insurance, disability insurance and holding a healthcare savings account.

For many years those of us who have lost everything at the hands of the for-profit healthcare system in this nation have endured stress levels of huge consequence to our own health and that of our nation.  And we were largely written off -- consequential damage, poor planners, under-insured, and certainly not smart enough or well-connected enough to inform the nation about the impending doom.

We certainly were and are not consulted about any financial matters -- we couldn't possibly understand those details and intricacies, eh?

26-Year-old Daughter Died Because She Feared Medical Cost

"After my husband lost his job of 13 years due to outsourcing, we had to leave California," remembers Marlena Machol of Silver City, N.M.. "Our daughter Elizabeth decided to stay at her job in California. Although her employers had promised to look into employee health insurance, they had not done so yet, so we told her if she had to go to the doctor we would pay for it.

"We had been sending a payment to the doctor every month, trying to stay ahead of her health needs, while paying hundreds every month to an insurance company for a policy for us. Some months later, Elizabeth said she'd been awfully tired, but attributed it to a recent move, long hours at work, and her cat Bert waking her up. I told her she ought to go to the doctor, but she didn't want to cost us if she didn't have to. I made her promise to go if she didn't feel better soon. Read more casualties

 Obama: Bailout won’t delay health reform

Atlanta Journal Constitution slams John McCain’s radical experiment in healthcare policy, saying he “would essentially destroy the foundation on which the current health insurance system is based and replace it with a dubious plan to let the marketplace work its magic.”

Healthcare is also destroying the agricultural sector.

By Donna Smith, community organizer 

SAN FRANCISCO -- The nurses of the California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing Committee do much more for patients than bedside care and patient advocacy.  These amazing fighters give the patients bruised and battered by this broken healthcare system a voice in the darkness. 

And today, as many patients joined the nurses' march across the Golden Gate Bridge, the honesty and courage nurses often show to their patients in their most vulnerable moments transformed into a gift of dignity and shared purpose.  Together, nurses and patients called for guaranteed, single payer healthcare for all.

Above you see Hilda Sarkisyan, mom of the late Nataline Sarkisyan -- the beautiful 17-year-old girl who died after her insurance company first denied her liver transplant and then reversed its awful decision too late to save her life.

Insured Amputee Still Faces Liens against Home

"Last year, I was involved in a high-impact motorcycle accident," recounts Tom Wenning of Portland, Oregon. "I was life-flighted to the local trauma hospital and spent two weeks in ICU, three weeks in the trauma recovery and acute-care unit, and five weeks in a rehabilitation hospital."

"I now have an amputated left leg and a 'frozen' left shoulder. I was released from the rehabilitation hospital in July of last year. But during the preceding May and June of that year, those two hospitals, various surgeons, radiologists, and anesthesiologists placed 21 liens against my and my wife's home, totaling $531,000. All these liens were placed on my home before I was released from the hospital and before I'd even seen a bill." Read more casualties

24-Year Military Veteran Left To Die

“In January 2007 I experienced the worst day of my life,” recounts Michael Baranik of Jennings, Louisiana. “My doctor informed me I had terminal cancer, and in the next breath he told me my insurance wouldn’t cover the chemotherapy. I spent 24 years in the United States Navy, serving my country, and now my country is giving up on me.

“I thought my military insurance was good coverage and was accepted by most doctors. What I found out was most doctors are not accepting military insurance. I had to plead to my doctors to give me a chance to live. I was shocked, and will never in my life recommend any person join our armed services. Why should they? So they can get sick and be told ‘Sorry, we know you fought for our country, but this is how we repay you?'" Read more casualties

A government takeover? 

The collapse of the U.S. financial system may present single-payer advocates with a strategic advantage.

What until recently was only whispered about behind closed doors--a government takeover of the U.S. healthcare system is now being openly discussed.

Two new studies The New York Times is reporting on today are causing renewed new alarm that the United States is facing another perfect storm, the full meltdown of the healthcare system. One study is from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the other from the Center for Studying Health System Change.

Two studies released Wednesday morning provide further evidence of the toll health care is increasingly placing on working families, even for those who have health insurance. And as employees are paying more medical expenses out of their own pockets, they are having a harder time coming up with the money.

The studies, by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Center for Studying Health System Change, were completed earlier this year before the financial markets reached their current state of crisis. But policy analysts say the findings underscore the mounting additional strain that medical care is placing on working Americans.