Harry and Louise are back
This is not good news. You might remember Harry and Louise as the fictional couple in the medical-industrial complex ads when Hillary Clinton was trying to figure out a way to get access to health care for all Americans. They planted fear into Americans’ heads and defeated health care reform. What if we can’t choose our own doctors? What if health care suffers because America can’t afford to care for everyone?
Back then, only 17 million people lacked insurance. Today, it’s more than 45 million. Even people who do have insurance are being denied the care they need and deserve, and nobody’s holding big insurance accountable. People are dying of things that should be managable or even curable.
Now Harry and Louise are back, sponsored by big health care business bucks, saying “everyone should be at the table.”
In reality, big health care is afriad it might lose some of its obscene profits. Big insurance and big pharma don’t want to lose a penny, even if it means more than 25,000 people die every year.
Don’t let Harry and Louise fool us again — we need major change and we need it now. People deserve access to health care and I’m not at all sure the lobbyists belong at the table.
Big insurance needs to be highly regulated. It must be told it can’t deny coverage because it’s “experimental,” even though major medical studies have found it effective. It must be forced to take on people who are at risk of illness along with people who aren’t. And for people who don’t have insurance, the government needs to step in.
We can have a public-private partnership that allows everyone access to quality health care, one that focuses on preventive care and pays for lifesaving diagnostic tests and treatments, one that helps people manage chronic illness instead of makes them wait until they are in a medical crisis before they can get help.
It’s the right way to treat human beings and it’s about time we started doing it.
Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
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.
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