On Saturday, June 27th, as part of the National Call to Service Day, I volunteered at Glide Memorial Church in San Francisco, where John Getzow organized a panel presentation on the Current Obama health care legislation in congress. It was also a fundraiser for the Glide Medical Clinic which does an incredible job of providing integrated medical services to over 3,000 people a year who live in the City's Tenderloin district. Unfortunately, the event was very poorly attended for many reasons including the annual Gay Pride Parade weekend and the most glorious, sunny day in weeks.
It does beg the question, with 47 million people in the U.S. without health insurance, why weren't there more than a handful of people in attendance at this event? Where are the other 46,999,999 of us? One of the presenters, Ruby Reid, Organizing for America (OFA) Northern Calif. Regional Field Director, spoke of the need to "tell our stories" to make the health care debate come to life. So, here is my story:
My name is Nancy Jacobsen. I will be 59 years old this year. I am over-educated and under-employed. I am a 5-year oral cancer survivor. Until the current economic depression/recession I owned & operated a retail boutique in a Northern California suburban community. I have Kaiser Permanente medical insurance that I purchase through a small-business insurance broker. I pay $588/month for my premium which covers major medical services and prescription drugs w/ $30 copay per visit or Rx. I have no complaints with Kaiser Services. They saved my life when I was diagnosed with Stage 1 oral cancer of the tongue in 2004. I paid $50 for my surgery and $0 for 6 weeks of radiation treatment and many follow-up visits to the radiation oncologist. As a result of this radiation treatment in my mouth, I've had over 50 cavities filled in the past 5 years (prior to radiation treatment I had 1 or 2 cavities in 5 years). I recently had to have 5 teeth extracted and am in the process of getting a partial denture. None of my dental costs have been covered by Kaiser, and I don't have any other dental plan. I do have a wonderful dentist who lets me pay whatever I can, whenever I can. And I have received substantial financial aid from my 84 yr. old mother. I consider myself lucky to be alive.
Now that I am one of the uncounted unemployed, because I was self-employed and cannot collect unemployment insurance, every month I have to decide if I'm going to pay my mortgage, my medical premium or buy food and gas. It is a terrible juggling act and somehow I manage to survive. I eat a lot of pasta and make hearty soups that last for a week. I am not alone. I am one of the many unemployed aging baby-boomers who are too young to collect Social Security and too old to find a job in this difficult economy. But that is a story for another day.
So, why should you care? Why am I any different than all of the other Americans who are suffering from lack of adequate health care, lack of housing, lack of education, lack of healthy food? I'm not any different except that I don't want to sit around and whine. I want to DO SOMETHING TO MAKE THE SYSTEM BETTER. I want to work for health care reform. I want to make it better for myself, my peers and our children and grandchildren.
Is the current legislation in both houses of Congress the answer to health care reform? No, but it's a start and it's better than what we have now. Wouldn't a single-payer plan be better? Yes, that would be nice, but it isn't a realistic alternative given our compromise-driven form of government. President Obama's proposed Health Insurance Exchange is an INCLUSIVE solution. It provides options for both public and private insurance providers and it allows those of us with pre-existing medical conditions access to medical care. It probably isn't "the answer" to all of our health care problems, but it is a START. We can't wait for "the perfect plan." It doesn't exist. You can talk to people from Europe and Canada, and as good as their plans are, there are still problems. I am a proponent of the school that says, let's take some action. Let's put a plan in place and then change it as needed.
What can we do?
- Go to the Barack Obama website http://www.barackobama.com/ and click on Healthcare Action Center. Do what you can.
I'm sure there are lots more ideas of how we can make health care reform happen. One idea that I've had is to start a program similar to the WPA during the 1930's where all of us unemployed white-collar workers can go to work together on the implementation of health care reform. Why not put all of our experience and talents to work. I would work for free if my housing, medical & nutrition needs were met. How about a Manhattan Project for health care? Let's take over some unused military base and harness the power of many of the unemployed white-collar and blue-collar workers in this country. I would welcome the opportunity to work and use my skills for a good cause. We can call it Good Works for Good Brains!
What do you think? Please email me at: Jacobsen_nancy@yahoo.com