The shame.
In America in 2007. In the richest country on the planet.
Imagine if the story that follows were about the beloved child of a member of Congress.
Do the children of our elected representatives go to school in pain?
Do the children of our elected officials die of untreated dental disease?
Imagine.
The Washington Post is reporting this morning on the front page that a twelve year old child died within miles of the nation's capitol because his mother had no insurance and her beloved child had a tooth infection.
For Want of a Dentist
Pr. George's Boy Dies After Bacteria From Tooth Spread to Brain
Twelve-year-old Deamonte Driver died of a toothache Sunday.
A routine, $80 tooth extraction might have saved him.
If his mother had been insured.
If his family had not lost its Medicaid.
If Medicaid dentists weren't so hard to find.
If his mother hadn't been focused on getting a dentist for his brother, who had six rotted teeth.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
We read about this atrocity the day after the New York Times and other news organizations reported that Mr. Bush was playing hardball over the fate of adequate funding for child healthcare in America.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 26 — Governors clashed with the White House on Monday over the future of the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, an issue that some members of both parties said was as important as money for the Iraq war.
In the session at the White House, when President Bush reported on progress of the war, governors pressed him to provide more money so they could guarantee health insurance for children. In response, administration officials said states should make better use of the money they already had.
. . .Having successfully expanded the health insurance programs in their states, some governors now suggest that the Bush administration is pulling the safety net out from under many children.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
In August of 2006, I wrote a diary called, Low income American children lack basic health care and live in pain. If you're interested, you can read that diary here: http://www.dailykos.com/...
The death of children from untreated disease has finally made it to the Washington Post, but this shameful situation exists all across our country.
Many low income American children suffer in pain because they cannot access basic health care. This is reality, and not to face it is to ignore a terrible truth about our nation.
An important measure of a society's decency is how well it cares for its citizens. This standard is particularly critical for vulnerable groups like children.
The level of care that low income children receive through public programs can be seen as a critical marker of the success of the nation's publicly funded health insurance programs.
Low income children are likely to be covered by publicly-funded health insurance programs such as Medicaid, the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and Social Security Insurance (SSI).
By the time Deamonte's own aching tooth got any attention, the bacteria from the abscess had spread to his brain, doctors said. After two operations and more than six weeks of hospital care, the Prince George's County boy died.
Deamonte's death and the ultimate cost of his care, which could total more than $250,000, underscore an often-overlooked concern in the debate over universal health coverage: dental care.
Some poor children have no dental coverage at all. Others travel three hours to find a dentist willing to take Medicaid patients and accept the incumbent paperwork. And some, including Deamonte's brother, get in for a tooth cleaning but have trouble securing an oral surgeon to fix deeper problems.
In spite of efforts to change the system, fewer than one in three children in Maryland's Medicaid program received any dental service at all in 2005, the latest year for which figures are available from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
. . .The Driver children have never received routine dental attention, said their mother, Alyce Driver. The bakery, construction and home health-care jobs she has held have not provided insurance. The children's Medicaid coverage had temporarily lapsed at the time Deamonte was hospitalized. And even with Medicaid's promise of dental care, the problem, she said, was finding it.
I recommend that you take a deep breath and read the entire Washington Post article. Read it in Deamonte's memory. Read it for all the children in America who go to school in pain.
Contrast Deamonte's brief and tragic life, if you will, with the the profits, and the compensation packages for the CEO's of our largest for-profit insurance companies.
PROFITS AND PAY
Some critics say their mistrust of health benefits companies stems from the profits they reap and the compensation they provide their top executives. Here's a look at the financial details of the nation's top health insurers:
WELLPOINT
• 2006 revenue: $56.95 billion
• 2006 net income: $3.1 billion
Chief executive
Larry C. Glasscock
• 2005 salary: $1.2 million
• 2005 bonus: $3.4 million
• 2005 stock options/grants: 400,000 shares
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP
• 2006 revenue: $71.7 billion
• 2006 net income: $4.174 billion
Chief executive
Stephen J. Hemsley
• 2005 salary: $1 million
• 2005 bonus: $2.4 million
• 2005 stock options/grants: 600,000 shares
AETNA
• 2006 revenue: $25.1 billion
• 2006 net income: $1.7 billion
Chief executive
Ronald A. Williams
• 2005 salary: $1 million
• 2005 bonus: $1.7 million
• 2005 stock options/grants: 744,412 shares
CIGNA
• 2006 revenue: $16.5 billion
• 2006 net income: $1.16 billion
Chief executive
H. Edward Hanway
• 2005 salary: $1.05 million
• 2005 bonus: $3 million
• 2005 stock options/grants: 136,430 shares
HUMANA
• 2006 revenue: $21.42 billion
• 2006 net income: $487.42 million
Chief executive
Mike McCallister
• 2005 salary: $858,611
• 2005 bonus: $1.3 million
• 2005 stock options/grants: 250,000 shares
Sources: SEC filings; company reports.
http://www.indystar.com/...
Please read about Deamonte as many of our elected officials debate the funding for SCHIP.
It's not good to read these stories as we all start thinking about the taxes we pay to fund our immoral, corrupt and lethal government.
The taxes we pay which go to fund the illegal occupation of a soverign nation. While American children die for lack of basic health care.
America, 2007.