Dear GOP - the collective you are an Idiot

[kengr]

Originally posted by ladyqkat at Dear GOP - the collective you are an Idiot

(Post originally seen in this post by ramblin_phyl. I have been notified that it was originally posted by suricattus in her journal post. The story and words are hers, but I do believe that it needs to go viral and that as many people as possible need to get their stories out there. Only by making a noise about this can we make a change in our society.)

There is a move afoot in the nation -driven by the GOP - to repeal the new health care laws, to protect corporate interests, to defend against fear-mongering (and stupid) cries of "socialism!", and to ensure that people are forced to choose between keeping a roof over their heads or getting necessary health care.

This movement is killing people.

Think I'm overstating the fact?

Ask the friends and family of writer/reviewer Melissa Mia Hall, who died of a heart attack last week because she was so terrified of medical bills, she didn't go see a doctor who could have saved her life.

From another writer friend: One person. Not the only one. That could have been me. Yeah, I have access to insurance -- I live in New York City, which is freelancer-friendly, and have access to freelancer advocacy groups. Through them, I can pay over $400/month ($5,760/year) as a single, healthy woman, so that if I go to the hospital I'm not driven to bankruptcy. But a doctor's appointment - a routine physical - can still cost me several hundred dollars each visit. So unless something's terribly wrong? I won't go.

My husband worked for the government for 30 years. We have government employee (retired) insurance. It is the only thing of value he took away from that job. His pension is pitiful. He still works part time. My writing income has diminished drastically. Our combined income is now less than what it was before T retired fifteen years ago. Inflation has diminished it further. In the last 30 days I have racked up over $8000 in medical bills for tests and the beginning of treatment. Our co-pay is 20% after the deductible. And there is more to come. Our savings are already gone. I have the gold standard of insurance and I still can't pay all the medical bills.

Another friend lost her insurance when her husband lost his job. She couldn't afford medication and ended up bed ridden for three months at the end of over a year of no job and therefore no insurance until he found work again.

It's our responsibility. All of us, together. As a nation.

EtA: Nobody is trying to put insurance companies out of business. They will always be able to offer a better plan for a premium. We simply want to ensure that every citizen - from infant to senior citizen - doesn't have to choose between medical care, and keeping a roof over their heads, or having enough to eat.

We're trying to get this to go viral. Pass it along.

I'm going to post my story as the first comment to this post if anyone would like to read it. If anyone wants to tell their story, please tell it on your own journal and post a link in the comments. Maybe, just maybe, TPTB will listen to the slaves peons who clean their toilets before they have to clean their own.

Comments

[kengr]

Many years back when out of work I learned the hard way that going to the ER to get something looked at got *horribly* expensive so, when I inherited some money I got on a health plan.

When the money ran out a couple of years ago, I did without.

I'm *now* told that ways could have been found to get me stuff like my diabetes meds. But based on those previous no-coverage periods, I wasn't about to try that. Maybe I was wrong. But all my *experience* said it wouldn't happen.

I got lucky. This fall I got picked in the lottery for the Oregon Health Plan. So I now have some coverage.

And only a few days after I got the card, I went to the ER for a wound on my leg that was getting bigger instead of healing.

If I hadn't gotten lucky I might have lost my leg. In which case I'd have lost everything. And possibly died.

Hell, there was an incident about a year and half back where I was either having a *major* stress-induced panic attack or maybe having a heart attack. But the stress was because my apartment was going to be inspected later that day and if it didn't pass, I could be evicted. So I just sat down and tried to work thru the pain.

The Republicans and the folks who are listening to them just don't get it. They have no understanding of what it's like if you are poor *and* sick.

[kengr]

Almost forgot. One of my pre-existing conditions is sleep apnea. So if I ever become homes, I'm screwed. Within a month or two without the ability to use my CPAP (which requires power) I'll be pretty much non-functional (based on what I was like before I got it)

[seawasp]

I'd disagree with the "ETA" comment. Insurance companies AS THEY CURRENTLY EXIST we *DO* want out of business if we want to make universal health care. Oh, there'll be room for SMALLER and more specialized insurance companies, but -- as I said during the original healthcare bill brouhaha -- the only way to really get it passed AS WE WANT IT (that is, a true universal health care plan, not the watered-down sop we ended up with) is to pay off the current companies: give huge payouts to the top dogs who are otherwise going to fight to the finish to prevent the bill from passing, and guaranteeing pensions for every person who's worked for current insurance companies for, say, 5 years or more, because we *ARE* putting them, essentially, out of business. In fact, if the plan ISN'T going to effectively put them out of business, it's not the right plan.