Remember my friend who was beaten to a pulp in a hate crime committed by two bigoted animals? He had to get stitches for facial injuries. But when it came time to remove the stitches he didn’t go back to a doctor or hospital. He had them removed by non-medical professionals.
Why would someone do this? Because he has no health care coverage. None. Nada. Not since he was laid off by a subsidiary of a multinational mega-corporation (name withheld for privacy purposes). He does odd jobs now while he waits to find a real job. Just like millions of other people who lost their health care coverage when they were laid off and couldn’t afford to keep paying for the cost of continued care under COBRA.
One out of three Americans under 65 were without health insurance at some point during 2007 and 2008, according to a report … commissioned by the consumer health advocacy group Families USA, [which] found 86.7 million Americans were uninsured at one point during the [2007 and 2008].
Want to bet that the number of uninsured people rose significantly in 2009 as the official unemployment rate rose to around 10%? The more accurate statistical measure of unemployment and underemployment, referred as U6 by the Bureau of Labor statistics, which includes discouraged workers and workers who have part time jobs but would prefer to be working full time has been in excess of 16% for some time now.
Which means the millions of people, such as my friend are foregoing necessary medical treatments and care. Fortunately for him, having stitches removed by someone other than a medical professional is not as risky as many of the other treatments, doctor visits, preventive care, vaccinations, etc. that millions of Americans are choosing to forego because without health insurance they can’t afford the cost.
So, while Washington fiddles, many, many people across our country our burning because they have no health care coverage. Average people. People who may be your family, friends, neighbors, or the proverbial boy or girl next door. Likely someone you know is uninsured. Maybe even you.
Others, like our family, have insurance that requires high deductibles be met before any payment is made. This means that the fuirst few months of the year are extremely costly, as we pay for medical care directly out our pocket for my wife’s chemo brain symptoms and diabetes medicines, for my treatment for my chronic autoimmune disorder and for my daughter’s medications for her ADD. And we’re lucky, because despite two disabled adults we still can afford some care (so far), lousy as it is.
I can’t imagine what our lives would be like if we had to choose between health care and — food, rent, heat and electricity? But far too many of us are facing that onerous situation.
President Obama, and you Democrats in Congress who have sided with the insurance companies please quit dicking around and get something passed to help us. Otherwise (and this is not a threat, it’s merely a prediction) millions of Americans will not vote to re-elect you to office this November. Failure to act is not an option if you want to retain your job as a representative of your fellow citizens.
