COBRA ia about to become unaffordable again
Anyone who has been laid off a job in the last year has gotten some help in paying health insurance premiums through COBRA, the law that allows employees who are covered by insurance at work to continue getting coverage by paying their own premiums for up to 18 months.
The problem is that those premiums are so expensive, few out-of-work people can afford them.
Last year, the federal government stepped in with assistance, allowing people to pay one-third of the premium instead of the whole thing, giving more people the ability to maintain access to health care for at least another 18 months.
But the subsidy expires at the end of this month, meaning that people who lose their jobs as of March 1 once again will have to pay the full premium, which averages 83 percent o unemployment benefits; in some states it averages more than 100 percent of unemployment benefits.
We’re still deep in this recession. It is the worst since the Great Depression, and the millions of people who are unemployed need that help. Economic recovery from a recession this deep takes at least two years. If Congress doesn’t extend this subsidy, more people will fall through the cracks, and more people will die unnecessarily.
The House of Representatives has passed the bill, but the Senate hasn’t. It’s another thing that the Right wants to block, even though it’s what Americans want and need.
Once again, we need to write to our senators and urge them to get this done NOW. To find your senators, use the tool on our main page. Call, write and e-mail. Time is running out.
To learn more, visit www.familiesusa.org .
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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