Watch your words
Pollster Frank Luntz has published a memo to Republicans telling them what language to use in killing efforts at federal health care reform.
He advises people to ask, “Do you want bureaucrats to make decisions on your health care?”
My answer to that is another question: Who do you think is making the decisions now?
Answer: Some insurance company executive with a masters degree in business administration.
Duh.
The memo goes on to tell people how to defuse words like “crisis.” Never deny there’s a crisis. Talk about “delayed” health care being a crisis.
Well, under the current system, the delay from the system as it is now killed my child. Yup, delayed treatment, which is what millions of uninsured people experience right now, is a crisis.
Delayed treatment, which tens of thousands of people experience as they’re caught up in the two-year waiting period between getting their disability checks (which they wait an average of three years for) and becoming eligible for Medicare, is indeed a crisis.
The system needs fixing. Don’t let yourself be fooled by people who say it doesn’t.
Your physician and you should decide the course of treatment, not some comfortable executive or some government bureaucrat. But to be honest, I trust the government more than I do the insurance industry. I know others don’t feel the same way.
Will health care be rationed if the system is reformed? I don’t know, but it certainly is rationed now. If you have insurance, if you have money, treatment is available. If you’re one of the nearly 50 million people who aren’t fortunate enough to have one or the other, you don’t get care.
Tell your representatives in the federal government you want reform, and you want everyone at the table — even the people whose solution isn’t the same as yours.
What we want is access to quality health care for everyone. How we get there is still up in the air, but we MUST get there.
There are a lot of industry lobbyists out there who want things to stay the way they are, and they’re willing to make big campaign contributions to get their way.
We have the power of the vote. Let’s remind them of that.
Have a beer in May
Stop into Altamont Brewing, 1042 Haywood Road, West Asheville, any time in May and ask for their "charity" beer of the day. Buy one and Life o' Mike gets $1. In fact, we get a buck for each one sold. So go in every day and have one to support Life o' Mike.
Thanks, Altamont!
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.
Start From Seed
Life o' Mike has a new program- Start from Seed (SFS).
SFS is a volunteer doula program aimed at providing non-medical, comprehensive support to low income, high-risk women and families of Buncombe County focusing on three areas:
1. We help new doulas with certification and training in return for their participation as a volunteer doula for SFS
2. We mentor volunteer doulas with their first few clients
3. Our volunteer doulas provide birth and postpartum doula services to low income, high risk moms, providing support and tools to empower them as a new parent.
A birth doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; a postpartum doula provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
Start from Seed clients are referred to us from the Buncombe County Department of Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Western North Carolina Community Health Services, and Mission Hospital. The Program is intended and designed for growing clients’ inner strength and helping them gain empowerment to help them cope with the emotional, physical and mental challenges of childbirth, labor, and motherhood.
Our new moms and their infants have many needs. If you would like to help them get off to a good start, please visit our Start from Seed web site: Start from Seed, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.
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