Universal Health Care and the 2008 Election -- How Is It Still Possible After the Fiscal Meltdown?

Did the financial meltdown destroy all hopes for any chance of a new health care system?

As I start to write this, I am just confused and angry, and don't know exactly where to begin. I try to remain positive and focus on the good things in my life, but it just keeps getting harder and harder all of the time. Each day I count my blessings, instead of cursing my existence, but I gotta admit, circumstances are making it difficult.

I happen to be in New York City the day after Lehman Bros. collapsed. It felt as if it were a Saturday on a three-day weekend and no one had told me. I joked that I could easily get a table for lunch anywhere I wanted. It was an eerie New York; one I had not seen a glimpse of since September 11th. Life as we knew it had officially changed already - the Lehman collapse just gave us a point of reference.

In my opinion, we could have used leadership, instead of just more and more rhetoric. At a time when we clearly craved a beacon to take us through the financial fog, we got a bailout that obviously was not the Harry Potter moment we were promised. And now, at a time when we can least afford it, we, as Americans, get to make more difficult choices with our health care.

The last time I was in New York, I had the chance to visit with an old friend from college, and her girlfriend of 25 years. Her girlfriend's cancer just came out of remission and is quite aggressive. She was diagnosed with Breast Cancer five years ago and the chemo that was used to save her life then has caused Acute Myelogenous Leukemia (AML). The first AML diagnosis was in November of 2007. They both had to act fast as AML is a very, very aggressive form of Leukemia, and treatments needed to begin literally the day before. In January of this year, they both moved to New York to work with a highly regarded expert in the field at Mount Sinai Hospital. She was to require a core blood transfusion but first would need to knock the Leukemia into remission.

After a few months, and many long and arduous chemo treatments, her cancer was back in remission and the core blood treatments could begin. They found a match but she got a cold and missed the first opportunity. She had to remain in remission and wait for another one. Thankfully another one was found. However, this treatment did not take. She did remain in remission and the doctor allowed her to return to her home in Florida.

During this time the patient was on disability, but my old friend lost her job, thanks to blatant discrimination. Her employer felt this did not qualify for the Family Medical Leave Act, as they were not married. They quickly burned through their savings and have relied on the help of friends to make ends meet.

USA Today last week discussed the Thomson Reuters Study concerning cancer patients foregoing or delaying care because of costs. Again, I am in a complete state of disbelief. We, this supposed richest nation to ever exist on the planet, allow people to choose whether they should live or die based on cost? We have somehow managed to find $700 billion dollars to bail out the financial system but we cannot find any money to assist people with fatal illnesses. For the last eight years, the Ryan White Act, a huge bi-partisan success when it was initiated in 1990, has been flat funded thanks to the Bush Administration. The most recent reauthorization, in December of 2006, was a unanimous roll call vote - one in which no record was kept of the actual voting -- which means that the vote occurred late at night during the end of their session and there could have been six people in the room that actually voted, a common practice in the Senate when they want to get home. And then I remember, Senators don't have to worry about health care - they have the finest available to them and their families for the rest of their lives.

I remain angry when I compare this to the Terry Shiavo situation, when Congress was called back early to discuss the health care needs of ONE person. We can find the time and money in the Federal Government to be concerned about one person, but not the entire population? Should I have my husband threaten to pull the plug on my life support system to get the government's attention?

I currently look at my own cancer dilemma. You see, HIV doesn't kill people anymore, co-infections do. When people die from HIV related causes it's frequently because they are co-infected with Hep C or HPV. Hep C is very difficult to treat alone, and with HIV it is nothing short of a nightmare. HPV has more options but still can kill you.

Two years ago I was told that I had HPV - in men this takes the form of Anal Cancer. I was so distraught; I retreated to Palm Springs to be alone for a few days and sort things out in my head. To hear that "C" word associated with your very own body - even after everything I have been through - rips through your psyche like a Category 5 hurricane.

I have already been through a cancer nightmare - a mild one thank god - at the beginning of my journey with HIV. About a month after my initial hospital stay, I was told that "thing on my face" was a Kaposis Sarcoma (KS) lesion and I needed to begin treatments. The very first word out of my mouth, when I was able to speak again that is, was a loud and powerful "FUCK". The doctor told me to calm down as it was quite treatable - and I reminded him that he was just the messenger and that it was my face we were talking about.

Fortunately for me, I found an amazing cancer specialist, formerly with the City of Hope, who was a KS expert. She told me of a new gel that had amazing results but it would cost a fortune if your insurance did not cover it. Fortunately mine did. The gel - Panretin Gel - worked like a miracle - and within weeks the lesion was non-existent. I got lucky - I had connections and, apparently for the moment, an insurance policy that worked in my favor.

This new cancer scare has me just that - scared. I have put off the doctor's visits to follow up on it because, well, I am scared, and the doctor is cash only and frankly there are times I cannot afford the visit. Good news is I am going to visit her soon. Bad news is I am still scared. However, after reading the USA Today article, I realized they were talking about me.

Early November, I am going back to New York to visit my friends at Mount Sinai to see how they are doing and to support them during this rather challenging period. I know what my old friend from college is going through - I remember my days with David, my deceased boyfriend, only all too well, and its as if I can read her mind at this point in our lives. I see her care for her girlfriend and I am truly touched by the love she has for her. If more people would see this love in action, we would never have to fight for Gay marriage again.

In spite of the fact they have each other and an amazing circle of friends, and a top-notch team of doctors, there is one thing they are missing - a strong match for a bone marrow transplant. Finding that perfect match can take time that patients often do not have. What I would like from you is this - please go to the National Marrow Donor Program web site - NMDP.org and find out how you can become a bone marrow donor. It just starts with a practically painless finger prick. They first test your blood and see if you are match for anyone on their list.

Please go and do this for Leukemia affects us all. This simple act of paying it forward takes a small amount of your time but could mean so very much time to one person. The life you save may be my good friend's.

I go into this election season with a confused heart - I honestly do not think that we are going to get the health care system we so very much need thanks to the financial mess we are in. But that doesn't mean we have to give up trying.

I thank you in advance for checking out NMDP.org.

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
Eleanor Roosevelt

Comments

[lily of the valley]

Thomas
I am in Canada where we have Universal Health Care.

Our Health Care System is funded by the Employers Health Tax. The tax is calculated as a percentage of the employers annual payroll. For a small company, with an annual payroll of less than $600,000 this works out to approximately $800/yr per employee. A company with annual payroll of $500,000 or less pays NO Employers Health Tax, but their employees & their families still receive health care. The higher the total annual payroll of the employer, the higher is the number of dollars collected by the government. A company that employs people at minimum wage, as well as those with executive salaries, pay on the total payroll, not on the number of employees.

All Canadians receive health care and hospitalization, free of charge, no exceptions. We do pay for our prescriptions.

Many democratic countries have Universal Health Care. I cannot understand why, in the US, Social Security and Education are funded by tax dollars, but not Health Care. I would lead a rebellion against my government if I did NOT have health care and they decided to give my tax dollars to 'bail out' Wall Street. That is, IMHO, just down right immoral for anyone to profit from a person's illness.

Any country with Universal Health Care would be happy to show the US how to do it. It isn't necessary to re-invent the wheel.

My heart & prayers go out to you & your friends.

[Thomas DeLorenzo - Huffpost Blogger]

thank you for your kind words and support -- we will not be as civilized as other countries until we make this much needed change.

[hope4flowers]

it is only a matter of human mental evolution before we realize fully the implications of a system that places profits before humanity. :)

[Thomas DeLorenzo - Huffpost Blogger]

i could not agree with you more.

[research]

Since single payer health insurance is cheaper by half than our current system,

There's always room for single payer health care.

[Jonahson]

In this hard times affordable health care to all is critical. How do people without jobs or with less income going to cope with their healthcare? A lot of people will be under constant stress which will result in poorer heath in later part of their life. Bailing out those big financial institution will mainly help the rich before any benfit left trickles down to the poor.
Obama will be the next President, he never had to worry about costly health insurance because he can afford it, let's hope that when he becomes the most powerful man on earth, he will use a bit of those power to help fellowhis porer country men. Introducing affordable healthcare for lower income people is a start.

[Coquelicot]

Regarding the financial situation, I really appreciated Dave Ross' comment on a segment of the radio program "The Osgood File" a week or so ago, when he said something like he thought there are many Americans wishing "someone would bail out MY 'fanny'!"

Hearkening back to the old 1970's poster that said it will be a great day when schools have all the resources they need and the government will need to hold bake sale to buy a bomber. Lord willing, our politicians will get it SOON.

[ched]

Thomas, take heart. To answer your question, the financial disaster has, ironically, made universal health care more possible than ever. Aside from scaring a good bit of the populace into getting their priorities straight -- off of the three G's (guns, god and gays) and onto survival -- the bailout of the banks and related legalized gambling concerns has set the stage for an equal investment in the rest of us.

While you'd never know it from the questions asked by the debate moderators or the discussions by talking heads that followed, the fact is that cutting government spending at this moment would be the absolute worst move a new president could make. Instead, as Krugman and others have already observed, the right move now for the next president would - and hopefully will - be to invest in American and Americans, by not only building infrastructure and developing new energy, but also, just as importantly, to invest in the health of Americans, and the sooner the better. This will not only be the right thing to do, it is the smart thing to do, since among the greatest beneficiaries of universal health care will be american business -- and they know it, and have said so.

Obama has said as much, in answer to those debate questions, but the moderator and those who discussed it authoritatively, albeit mistakenly, after the fact, just didn't get it. Soon enough, they will.