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October 7, 2007

We don't need Health Care Reform???

September 05, 2009 12:36 PM EDT (Updated: September 05, 2009 12:37 PM EDT)

views: 89 | comments: 13

This is a story I read right here on Gather. Now, tell me that we don't need some form of health care reform after reading Sharon's post.

Titled: My Response To A Facebook Debate On Health Care Yesterday

I'm still pretty angry at yesterday's health insurance debate over something that my cousin said. It's good to see that so many people are happy with the health care that they can afford that they criticize people that don't have any and depend on the government. One person said that if someone can't pay for health care then they shouldn't get any. Very humane of you. My sister is on Medicaid. So am I. My sister is dying from colon cancer and I think she only has a year to live. Medicaid pays for all her health care. The cancer has wiped me out. I have no money left at all. I had a nice 401 K plan that is gone. I get $80 a month from welfare and some food stamps from them. I take care of my sister … alone. She is too weak to even get out of bed now. I have arthritis in both knees and my right hip and can barely walk myself. But I take care of my sister. My money ran out in June. Both online jobs I had are now gone. For the last two months I've been choosing to save the $80 or spend some for toilet paper. My sister's shoes are glued together because I can't afford to buy her another pair. I had to make a deal with the electric company so they wouldn't shut off my electricity. I got rid of my cell phone that I only used for emergencies and to get an ambulette to take my sister to and from her chemo and doctor appointments. I don't have two cents to rub together. The only reason why I'm not out on the streets is that my sister's friend in England sent us $400 last month and $200 this month so I can pay off some of the money I owe. I'm so glad that so many people look down on people like my sister and myself. I worked for decades and have nothing at all, NOTHING. Word of warning to all of you who hate people on Welfare… you can end up on it too. A disease like cancer hits you fast and hard. The bills are high, one chemo treatment can run $18,000 for one session. Multiply that by four times a month. Health insurance companies cut off people when their bills run too high. What has happened to me can happen to you!

Tags: living, healthcare, elderly, health, illness, self, people, life, love, friends, sisters, medical, welfare, socailservices, cancer, usa, medicaid, retirement, caregiving, caregivers, america, family, older women

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Comments: 13

Rose Lamatt Sep 5, 2009, 12:40pm EDT

This story brought tears to my eyes. What will it do to you?

Thomas Krahel Sep 5, 2009, 8:32pm EDT

I am amazed that we even have to 'debate' health care. Unpaid home care keeps this Gerry-rigged system afloat to begin with. How is it even possible that we force people to make such decisions?

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Joanne Vicente Sep 5, 2009, 12:42pm EDT

As many Gatherers know, I' m well employed and well insured, but in poor health. The co-payments are so expensive that I can't handle both the medications and the groceries much of the time. We absolutely do need health care reform, which must include all Americans. I can't buy into the argument that money is more important than our lives.

Rose Lamatt Sep 5, 2009, 5:52pm EDT

Couldn't agree more Joanne, that money would be more important than lives.

Sharon K. Sep 5, 2009, 9:23pm EDT

Joanne, people feel that money is more important than lives especially when it isn't their life. But if they were in the position that you're in or I'm in they would see things differently.

Joanne Vicente Sep 5, 2009, 9:25pm EDT

Can empathy and altruism be taught? If it isn't taught in the home or place of worship, should it be in the schools? People seem to have lost track of the answer to the question Cain asked God: "Am I my brother's keeper?"/ The answer is emphatically, YES!

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Debra C. Sep 5, 2009, 2:12pm EDT

This story is repeated over and over across the nation. The suggestion that only "lazy" people are in this boat is so wrong.

While this is only one reason health care reform is needed, it is a big one.

Rose Lamatt Sep 5, 2009, 5:54pm EDT

I also agree with you Debra, "lazy" people is not the story on no health care.

Sharon K. Sep 5, 2009, 9:20pm EDT

Thank you Debra. I worked for decades and the last thing I am is lazy. I work harder now taking care of my sister than I did when I was working a "real" job. The government won't even pay me to take care of mysister but they will pay someone else to come in to care for her. I can take better care of my sister than a stranger and I do. Why not pay me? My sister is not humiliated when I clean her ostomy bag, or lift her legs so she can lay down, or bathe her, or help her get dressed, and do everything that even a child can do that she can't. My sister is only 54.

Debra C. Sep 5, 2009, 10:22pm EDT

Sharon -- see if there is a local senior citizen advocacy group near you. Talk with them. Many municipalities have an arrangement for some kind of stipend that will help out those who are full-time caregivers with no or limited other income ... senior groups sometimes know about them. Your local AARP chapter may be a good source, as well.

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Sharon K. Sep 5, 2009, 9:15pm EDT

Thank you Rose for sharing my story.

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Rose Lamatt Sep 6, 2009, 1:09pm EDT

I understand Sharon. I was without health care after coming off of Cobra, then found it cost $800 a month to keep the same insurance I was paying for on Cobra for $200. Needless to say I then had 'no' insurance. I wrote my story to the Palm Beach Post newspaper. They printed it along with many others in the county without health insurance. That was 2001, and it hasn't changed since. I also ran an Alzheimer's caregiver support group and saw husbands and wives get divorced, so they wouldn't become destitute. You see if they got a divorce the person with Alzheimer's could stay in a nursing home and go on Medicaid, and the other person could stay home not worrying whether to buy food, toilet paper and other necessities. This still goes on also. Watching people who love each other get divorced in order to live, broke my heart, as did your story. I pray things will change for you, me, and a lot of others. Thank you for posting your story.

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Cheryl W. Sep 11, 2009, 9:23am EDT

A very important article. Thank you for sharing your story. So many people, (including my family) is only one medical diagnosis away from bankruptcy or being on the street. So many people think they could never be in such a position, or be on welfare. They are so mistaken. Something needs to be done....medical care needs to be available to everyone in America. It isn't right that in the "greatest country on earth"... only those who are of a certain income level can get appropriate medical care.

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