Get your plaid on
Things are starting to come together for our rally in Savanah on Aug. 24. I mailed off the permit application today for a gathering on the mall in Daffin Park.
I was still pretty angry when I came up with the idea of a rally, and I guess I still am angry that Mike died because he couldn’t get access to health care. But Mike hated negativity, so we’re going to keep this rally as positive as we can. We want health care for everyone. We’re tired of living in the only industrialized nation in the world that denies health care to its people and we believe it’s time to stand up and be heard.
In the last few days, I’ve gotten a number of calls from people who don’t have access to health care. I hear story after story from friends and family, from strangers, from doctors, nurses and other practitioners. One woman can’t get a diagnostic test she needs beause she can’t afford it and Medicaid won’t pay for it. f she could get the test, Medicaid would pay for the treatment for whatever s wrong and she likely would be able to go back to work and become a taxpayer instead of a tax burden.
The system is so self-defeating. We wait until people are really sick — and really expensive to treat — before we help them, if we do help them.
Our disability system is in even worse shape than out health care system. Attorneys tell me about clients who die while waiting, and even people who get disability aren’t eligible for Medicare benefits for 24 months. So, they’re to sick to work and they can’t get coverage unless they’re fortunate to have a spouse whose insurance covers them. Fat chance of that nowadays.
It’s time for us to speak up and tell our stories. It’s time for us to be seen and heard. People like Mike and the 200,000 others who have died since 2000 deserved better than they got. Maybe if enough of us speak up loudly enough, 200,000 more won’t have to die in the next eight years.
So, get your plaid on and come out to Dafin Park in Savannah on Aug. 24. We’ll celebrate the Life o’ Mike and everyone else who should have health care.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a new peer support program for people newly diagnosed with chronic or serious illness or with a new disability and their caregivers.
Patient Pals are people who have experience with various illnesses and disabilities, who can help someone newly diagnosed or with a new disability work through the fear, frustration, confusion and grief often experienced in the first few months.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
People with new illness or disability fare better when they have a role model -- someone who can help them negotiate their new path in life.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
And then Mike said, “Let there be plaid…”. It’s going to be a great rally! Matt and the kids and I are going to do everything possible to make sure that we’re down there for that! It’s so important for people to hear about this issue and understand that health insurance isn’t always a choice for people and that it’s not just as easy as making a phone call to get quality medical care. I know Mike would be proud of everything that this new organization is doing! Everyone needs to spread the word!