Going broke from health care
From Reuters:
“WASHINGTON, June 4 - Medical bills are behind more than 60 percent of U.S. personal bankruptcies, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday in a report they said demonstrates that healthcare reform is on the wrong track.
“More than 75 percent of these bankrupt families had health insurance but still were overwhelmed by their medical debts, the team at Harvard Law School, Harvard Medical School and Ohio University reported in the American Journal of Medicine.”
So, it’s not just people without insurance. People who think they’re protected really aren’t when it comes down to it.
Reform is necessary and it needs to be done now.
I was on a conservative talk radio show today — actually, Matt Mittan is more of a moderate — talking about health care and how out of reach it is, even to people with insurance.
I love being on Matt’s show because so many of his listeners disagree with me when I say government must have a part in the solution to the health care crisis.
If I can convince one of them that reform is necessary and that he or she needs to get involved and contact federal legislators, then my job is done.
If I were on liberal talk radio, I’d be preaching to the choir. On Matt’s show, I can maybe persuade a few people to support meaningful health care reform.
Second annual Eat at Mike’s
Reserve now
Life o' Mike sponsors its second annual Eat at Mike's, an evening of good food prepared by local chefs, at Tingles Cafe in downtown Asheville. The event also features silent and live auctions with items from Highlands Brewing, artist Angela C. Alexander and more.
Tickets to the dinner are $25; $20 for children 3-12 and free for children under 3.
To reserve, e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com. For more information, call 828-243-6712.
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.
As a physician practicing in WNC, I have been sensitive to the the needs of the underinsured and uninsured for many years. We have been actively supportive of Project Access and the gov’t subsidized health programs, including the Cancer Fund of NC which is now out of funding. The future of healthcare as we know it is in jepardy unless the mismanagement by private health care insuranace plans is either
eliminated or replaced by something like a single payor system. My concern and that of others in NC is that the recession has left this country with an empty treasury and a devestated economy which cannot fund sufficient healthcare. AS a cancer specialist, the newer therapies will become unaffordable and we will miss sthe opportunity to ssave lives now.