Activism and What Citizens Can Do

What a great article, very well written. I am with you on all the above mentioned issues.

thanks Stephanie!
Have I ever told you I love your chicken icon! it makes me smile every time I see it ;-)

Thank GOD most people still have enough common sense to know they don't want the govt. in charge of their health care. The health care problem in this country is the fault of brain dead politicians, who refuse to let the market place take care of the problem affordable health care is available. Mandi, a family of four in Columbus, Ohio can buy health care coverage for $160.00 a month - same policy in MY STATE- NY. cost- $960.00 a month- why?? political mandates put on ins. companies by these dopy POLITICAINS.My PERSONAL DOPES ARE HILLARY AND CHUCKIE Schumer.What can citizens do ?? Stop relying on a bunch of incompetent wind bags to solve our problems vote them all out and tell them their fired , go get a real job. We pay these blo- hards from our paychecks. By the way Mandi the next time you see my blo- hard -Schumer or Hillary standing in front of a gas pump and bemoaning the price of a gallon understand this FACT a gallon of gas in NY IS PRICED AT $3.00 A gallon that what hypocrites like Chuckie want you to think- what they don't want you to know is that the actual price for a gallon of gas is $2.25 a gallon, People like this are the problem, they are in no way the ans. Fire them all. That's what you citizen actvist can do. "Boston Tea Party" ring a bell

Micky,
As much as getting rid of politicians sounds like a good idea, it's can't and won't happen. We need to make sure that the people we vote into office are doing their jobs and doing them properly. We as Americans have spent to much time sitting doing nothing while politicians run wild. Including our president. Getting rid of them won't do anything but give us a leader-less America..that is not even feasible.

As for gas prices... if you are getting gas for 2.25 in NY you are damn lucky. I paid 3.65 a gallon today in northen Illinois.

Now for health care I do not know what the right answer is to the problem. But I do know something has to CHANGE. I am lucky enough to have full coverage because my husband is on active duty in the army. But our daughter will drop off in a few years. I worry for her.

My neighbor pays $1,000 a month for herself, her 6 year old and her husband. That is a third of her pay as a teacher. It is ridiculous.

An excellent article Mandi.

Audrey, so glad I could help and thanks!

Ron, thanks ;-)

Health care that is affordable requires a couple of features. 1:Unversality--Everybody gets it all the time. No insurance can afford to operate at reasonable prices if only the 'likely to be sick' will pay the fee. This means that it must be paid by some form of 'tax type' fee. No opting out! 2: Limits to what the 'medical' will pay. This means the cost of each item of treatment must be set and limited. 3: Doctors, and hospitals and any other providers of covered services must be restricted from 'over billing', that is charging more than the medical coverage will pay.

Anything less than pretty complete compliance on all three of these and greed will skyrocket the cost of medical right out of reach as it currently has in this country. And it is greed and nothing more. Medical professions have done their best to take advantage of people's desperation and they have paid big bucks to buy the appropriate politicians in this country. They will be very hard to beat back.

Dan you are so right. I am so torn on this next presidential election because of this very issue. Clinton I know has a platform of health reform...but is that enough to vote her in?? hmmmm.

Spoken with honesty and courage. Know that there are millions of us sharing your perspective and wondering when we'll get a leader (leaders) that put the common good at the forefront of all their decisions.

The advantage of being a writer is you can speak to issues. Years back I got angry when I saw that there was an attempt to say that mammograms were needed less often. So, I wrote a play addressing this issue. It has at least gotten some discussion going.

Mandi, I'm glad you're using your talent to address the issues that concern you. When the people are 'shut up' we're in trouble.

Thanks for this article! I agree and feel very much the same.

Check out my idea for a health care plan for the US
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977007540

And my article about my awakening to politics thanks to the Bush Admin
http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977006638

Thanks!

Not a day goes by, generally, that my representatives don't hear something from me. I've been slugging away at them for years. What I can tell you is that they listen. They listen to one voice, but they listen a lot more attentively if they can't keep paper in the fax machine, and can't answer the calls fast enough. Activism works, though, don't think it doesn't. The only thing that can ace lobbyist money, is a concerned citizenry. When we aren't concerned, then special interests have their way with our government. I'd encourage everyone to get, and stay concerned.

As for stance on health care, check out Edward's website, he's got a good stance on this, and many other issues.

I dont have the time right now( I am away) but I just wish our govt would really care about us.

I can tell you exactly what's wrong with health insurance -- too many insurance companies involved. For any kind of insurance to work, there must be a big enough group of people insured so that those who won't need to use it vastly outnumbers those who will need to use it. Once upon a time we had Blue Cross - Blue Shield in every state, and they provided health insurance to every family with someone who was employed. This worked fine, costs stayed low, the groups were large enough, even though each state had its own group. Then too many other private companies thought they should get into the health insurance business. They were wrong. That's why we have the mess we have now. NOTHING will fix this problem that doesn't create large enough groups of the insured. This doesn't have to be run by the government, but insurance is one of the main areas in which competition doesn't work.

thanks everyone! appreciate all your opinions and ideas!

We have the mess we have now because useless politicians put mandates on ins. companies to cover all sorts of needless procedures. Medical ins. should be sold to the public like auto ins. is sold it will than become affordable. As i said before med. coverage for a family of four in Colubus, Ohio, cost 169.00 a month-- the same policy in NY, COST 960.00 A MONTH WHY? BECAUSE OF THE POLITICIANS WHO WANT TO BUY VOTES make sure ins. is to expensive and tell the people we pols. will get it for you, just vote for me. these phonies put mandates on ins. companies to keep the price up so they can save us from the Evil ins. companies. To all you people who complain about health coverage in this country, how is it that people who sneak into this country have free med. coverage that the rest of us have to pay for??. I live in NY State, I

Micky, like I said in my article..my mom paid into the system for 30 years lost her job and was told she can't get aid!!! But come here illegally and you have it made..I told my mom brush up on your spanish, get a tan, go to mexico and cross back illegally. Maybe then she will get what she rightfully deserves.

Mandi, how about a citizen activist demand that these rich politicians be forced to pay for their own medical ins. instead of you and i paying for it out of our paycheck. Bush, Cheney. the Clintons, Teddy, Chuckie, they are all very wealthy thanks to us. I did a little figurine, on how much it cost to pay our employees ins. Lets see: 535 members times 1,500 a month ins.cost = about $800,000 a month times 12 months = about 9, million$$ a year of our money- paycheck goes to pay the health ins. for our millionare work force. Lets demand they pick up the cost and if they don't like it, do us a big favor and Quit!!!! Mandi, i dont have the stomach right now to give you the amount of money we owe these pols. in their nice retirement pkgs. they voted themselves. Do you think we can make them pay.

Micky, if you can think of a way to MAKE them pay i am right there with you.

9 million...geez that makes me sick.

citizens have more power than what we believe we have..so lets make some changes..its time

While I don't trust politicians as far as I can throw one overhand, I trust big business, particularly insurance companies a whole lot less. Just look at their performance after the last big storm in the gulf and you can see how they will go to extreme lengths to avoid paying legitimate claims. There have been whole books written on how the insurance industry goes out of its way to shortchange people when they need to make a claim. That's why there are ambulance chasers out there who base their entire practice on going after insurance companies.

You cannot trust them to do what is best for the consumer. You cannot trust them to implement a system in which they make a decent profit and cover everyone. You can't trust them to compete without collusion if they can grab more money and pay fewer claims that way.

That's essentially the problem. Without curbs politicians are guaranteed to be corrupt. It's exactly the same for big business, labor unions, or any other large organization where tons of money is involved. People will be honest only when the threat of being caught and punished far outweighs the temptation to put their hand in the cookie jar.

We need universal, affordable health care. This is going to mean that some procedures are not going to be covered if the cost/benefit ratio is off. So some 90 year olds aren't going to get organ transplants, and severely brain damaged infants are not going to be kept alive through heroic means. It also means that a sick kid is going to get to see a doctor, and a broken ankle or a case of appendicitis won't bankrupt a family. To be "affordable" everyone should have to pay into the system, and the cost should be on a sliding scale. There should be co-pays. Not huge ones, but enough to remind people this isn't free.

This could be done by establishing huge pools and allowing the insurance companies to bid on the entire pool. You get an economy of scale and also balance out the risk. Everyone is covered and everyone pays in other than the extremely indigent. It is still cheaper for someone to be seen in a clinic than it is for them to go to the emergency room for a sinus infection.

This could also be done a lot more cheaply if incompetence and dishonesty were not rampant in such ventures.

Brandon? That's ridiculous.

I am so with you, all the more reason I am taking my new journey and walking to DC for St. Louis. If you have the time, read my article on my page and here. I would love your take on my plan. Any advice before I go would also be great. Thank you for writing what I feel. :D