Do we really require additional verification or another study to further substantiate our national shame?
Well like it or not, here it is. This time from the august Annals of Internal Medicine.
Millions With Chronic Disease Get Little to No Treatment
Millions of Americans with chronic disease like diabetes or high blood pressure are not getting adequate treatment because they are among the nation’s growing ranks of uninsured.
A National Study of Chronic Disease Prevalence and Access to Care in Uninsured U.S. Adults (Annals of Internal Medicine)That is the central finding of a new study to be published Tuesday in the medical journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Where indeed is the shame?
So you may be scratching your head and wondering what do all these sick Americans do?
I've often asked myself the same question.
You may also be wondering why we have such an immoral and deplorable situation in the United States.
Here's why.
The parasitic middleman--the for-profit health insurance industry spends whatever it takes to maintain the status quo. This industry paid politicians almost half a billion dollars in 2007!
Let's return to the situation on the ground. Have a look.
MASH hospitals.
This is what millions of Americans are forced to do.
People line up before dawn, they wait patiently for hours. These American citizens are triaged. And they wait some more.
Many of these people are in profound physical pain. They are hurting. Many have dental abscesses and seriously decayed teeth. You don't know pain until you've had a dental abscess.
Now look at this and hang your head in shame.
For these people getting selected for treatment is like winning the lottery.
From across the sea, the civilized world looks at us --that's you and me--and cannot understand why we tolerate such a depraved state of affairs in the richest country on the planet.
Stan Brock is God's angel on earth and the founder of Remote Area Medical.
Imagine this.
Remote Area Medical is as needed in the United States, the richest country on the planet, as it is in a Third World Country.
Yet John McShame runs ads featuring Paris Hilton.
This is what Brock said in a very recent interview in Newsweek.
And always, always remember that in the United States of America healthcare is a privilege not a right.
Pay or Die. Pay or Die. Pay or Die. Pay or Die. Pay or Die.
Are you surprised by the turnout in the United States?
I don't know if surprised is the right word. I'm humbled that these people entrust their care to us, but I'm also saddened. These are good people who have just fallen through the cracks of a health care system. They don't have the money to buy their services, especially dental, and if they are employed, many plans have deductibles that are too high for these people. If you're a child in this country, chances are good that you will have coverage. It's the adults, these young adults and middle-aged adults, that need the most help.
. . .They are just hard-working people looking for help. They are in pain from rotten teeth, broken teeth. They can't afford routine care, and things can get out of hand quickly for them. It's a vicious cycle.
People have limited money, and what are they going to spend it on—food or a filling? By the time we see people, sometimes the best thing to do is an extraction. The teeth are so far gone, or if they could be saved, how is someone who has limited funds going to put gas in their truck and drive a good distance and pay money for continual upkeep? These people are hurting, and then they can't eat right because their mouths hurt. It's horrible. A lot of times their eyeglass prescription is so bad they can't see well. And they can't afford to see a doctor and get a new one. We have women who haven't had PAP smears in years, let alone a mammogram.
http://www.newsweek.com/...
Pay or Die.
So if you're really sickened, outraged and weeping and you want to take action, here courtesy of Michael Moore, is a list of the co-sponsors of HR 676. See if your representative is a co-sponsor, if s/he isn't, give her a call and remind her she works for you, not the insurance industry.
I want to leave you with words of inspiration, not despair.
To prevent this, there is a need to mobilize. History is not made by extraordinary figures but by ordinary people who can move mountains when they believe in a cause and get organized. It has happened all over the world, and it has happened in the U.S. We saw it in the establishment of the New Deal, Social Security, unemployment insurance, job creation, minimum wage, and subsidized housing, among other programs. These were not just the outcome of President Roosevelt's position, but the result of huge social agitation and mobilization. As usually happens in historical moments of societal change, government leaders were not so much leading as trying to catch up with what millions of people were demanding. Similarly, the Great Society Programs -- Medicare, Medicaid, Environmental Protection Agency, NIOSH, OSHA, and many other examples of progressive legislation -- were the outcome of massive mobilizations. Candidate John Kennedy's proposals for change were rather moderate, and his domestic policies, once he was elected, were also disappointing. But the mobilization triggered by his election was followed by many more, such as Appalachian coal miners' strikes against their working conditions, the splendid civil rights movement led by Martin Luther King, and the ant Vietnam War movement led by student groups. They all established a political climate in which progressive legislation could occur. History, indeed, does not repeat itself. But it offers us pointers on where to go. And it should be obvious that change will not occur unless there is a huge mobilization to complete the unfinished agenda of civil rights: a full development of social rights, with the human right to access to health care at the center.
http://www.alternet.org/...
I urge you to read the entire essay here.
But it will be up to the American people to demand change.
More on plans for massive mobilization in Washington in Spring, 2009 as they develop.