Representative No
Last February, Carolyn and I met with Rep. Heath Shuler to ask him what his thoughts were on health care reform. I told him Mike’s story and Carolyn told him her nightmarish story of having to battle breast cancer and wonder about whether she would ever be able to find insurance again, let aone afford it at the same time.
Rep. Shuler said, “Don’t worry; I’m going with the Obama plan.”
I believed him and defended him to all my activist friends.
But he betrayed us all last night by voting against the health care bill.
He backed off, using several excuses:
“It has to be deficit-neutral.”
Well, the Congressional Budget Office said the plan before the House was defecit-neutral.
“We have to look at waste, fraud and abuse.”
He was talking about government waste, fraud and abuse, while the private, for-profit, insurance companies continue to deny one in five claims and CEOs make millions and spend our money on lobbyists and advertising campaigns against reform.
You’re looking in the wrong place, Congressman.
“I believe most of my constituency is against it.”
Sometimes, a moral man must decide what’s right. If the majority of voters in his district want to make it legal to drive drunk or use cocaine, he wouldn’t vote for it, would he? Well, denying more than 50 million Americans access to health care is no different.
Voters who believe the lies put out there by the medical-industrial complex don’t want reform; when told the truth, most do. Congressman Shuler knows the truth, and he supposedly knows what’s moral.
I’m deeply disappointed in my Congressman. I hope someone with real morals and a little bit of courage runs against him next 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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