Our hopes for Medicaid Expansion in TN have been crushed.
Thanks to Joan McCarter for reporting the following:
Gov. Bill Haslam (R-TN) was one of few Republican governors working with the Obama administration to find a way to bring Medicaid expansion to his state in a way that state legislators would accept. He failed, not with the administration, but with his fellow Republicans.
It seems that Republican Speaker Beth Harwell does not believe that the bill can pass.
Dave Boucher said in the Tennessean:
The Senate Health and Welfare Committee voted against passing Haslam's Insure Tennessee. Only four of the 11 committee members voted in favor of the plan.
The vote comes minutes after House Speaker Beth Harwell said she doesn't think there are enough votes in the House to pass the plan. […]
Harwell said she gauged member's interest Wednesday on Insure Tennessee, Haslam's plan to provide 280,000 low-income Tennesseans with federally funded health insurance. While declining to provide a vote count, she said she did tell Haslam where her caucus stands on the plan.
I am so tired of seeing the most vunerable members of our society tossed away like garbage. It is criminal to discard this human potential. We could be throwing away the next Einstein. How long would a disabled man like Steven Hawking survive in this callous culture?
I have sent an email appeal to Ms Harwell. I have included a copy of my appeal below the fold. I did include my phone number, and email address, which I have deleted here. I have left my full name. I have no need to hide my identity.
I wonder if she will bother to read it? I wonder if she will bother to respond? I will certainly keep you all updated!
I think I will begin writing letters to the entire Senate Health and Welfare Committee. I urge other Tennessee residents to join me in this task.
Dear Ms Harwell:
I am a 61 year old disabled (I collect my SS Disability) widow. My adult son and I live in Chattanooga.
My son is also disabled (he is currently fighting for his SS Disability - a long process). He is 37, and suffers from multiple system failures. His blood clotting disorder is life threatening. His pain is impossible for him to live with without medication.
He went to work when he was 15. He raised his first wife's two daughters. When he was 19 he was listed in the top 10 Infinity Salesmen in the Country for eleven straight months. He is a capable, productive, wonderful human.
But, your policies are killing him, and they have rendered us homeless.
I have to pay for his medical care out of my own pocket, plus purchase his medications. This is on top of paying my doctor, and paying the deductible for the ten medications that I am on.
One incident of a severe infection in my son's stump, which took repeated doctor visits and medications put us on the street. I took care of him instead of paying rent. Now, we live in one small, cheap, dingy, crowded, hotel room together. We scrape by here, except for the months that have five Fridays. On those months we scramble to pay rent for that last week.
We are often hungry. Because my son lives with me, he can't get food stamps. My check, which barely covers our combined medical expense of 900$, and our motel room which is another 800$, leaves us with no money for food. The food stamp office won't adjust my income to reflect those expenses.
We do not own a car, so we have no way to visit any food bank for help. We could take the bus downtown to the community kitchen, but that costs six dollars round trip for the two of us. If I had six dollars, I could feed us. Sometimes we dig through the dumpster behind the local Aldi. Sometimes we find fruit there, which is old but edible. When we find anything, I am always grateful.
My son lost a leg several years ago. His prosthetic leg no longer fits him. It rubs his skin into open sores. Most days the pain is so great that he can't walk. If his prosthetic isn't replaced soon, he will loose the ability to walk. He also has damage in his back, which often renders his hands almost useless. He could not use them to power a wheel chair.
I watch him cling to what little hope he has left. He wants so badly to get better and return to work. He wants to take care of me. He wants to have a life again.
Those things will never happen if he doesn't get some help soon. I have nightmares about what will happen to him, if I die first. I actualy pray that I will not die before him and leave him to become a disabled, homeless, derelect, living a short horrible life on the street.
What mother prays to outlive her child? A desperate mother.
When you were discussing the Medicaid Expansion, it gave me hope. Now those hopes are dashed.
How can you leave us here? How can you go home at night to your secure home, your full refrigerator, your comfortable bed, and leave us out here? How can you do that?
We only need a bit of help, so he can be productive again. Why refuse that help? How does anybody win anything when a good human being is thrown away in the process?
Let me come testify before the house. Please help to give us a voice.
Thank you
Vicki L Boyd