My way or no way? No way!
I went to a meeting of the Health Access Coalition today in Raleigh. The coalition is a group of organizations seeking to get health care for all Americans.
We’re a diverse group with diverse opinions. There were some single-payer-system advocates who were truly angry about the idea being rejected out of hand by Congress. They were passionate about it being the best way to accomplish universal access to care.
That may be true — studies have said it is — but we tried the my-way-or-no-way thing 16 years ago and got nothing. Since then, hundreds of thousands of people have died from lack of access to care.
I agree they should be allowed at the table. But they can’t be inflexible. I brought that up and mentioned that my child was one of 30,000 who died last year because they couldn’t get access to care.
All I require of a system is that all people have access to quality affordable health care. And by affordable, I don’t mean sky-high premiums to private insurance companies.
I do have a preference. I support the public plan as much as I support the US Postal Service. It’s the same thing.
Although the Postal Service has its flaws, it still is the least expensive way to send mail, and it is as reliable as any of the more expensive private companies.
That’s what I want to see with health care. If people want the public plan, they can choose it. If they want a private plan, they can choose that. I don’t think reform will succeed without it.
But if we can put together true reform with true affordability and real access without a public plan, I can live with that — and so can 30,000 people a year.
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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