Become an expert
I spoke at a rally for MoveOn last night, talking about how corporations weakened health reform and how they’re still working with policy makers at the federal and state levels to weaken it even more.
K Street is full of people who make a lot of money representing big business and they spend money freely to make sure members of Congress hear what they want them to hear.
But they represent only the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans and the biggest business interests. In the Citizens United decision, the US Supreme Court affirmed the view that corporations are people and have the same rights as individuals. That frees up even more corporate money to corrupt our democratic process.
We, the other 98 percent of Americans, have to turn this around if we are to keep our democracy. I watched the corruption during the long, convoluted process of pushing through minor reforms to our health care system. Moneyed interests now are working on getting rid of the mandate to have insurance now, which will sink reform entirely.
If people don’t have to buy insurance, a lot of healthy people won’t do it. That leaves a higher percentage of sick people in the pool, raising costs for insurance companies and for the people who do buy.
We needed a public option, but the insurance companies were successful in getting that out of the reform bill. What we really need is coverage for all without the for-profit insurance companies in the middle. Even the nonprofit companies, like Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina, have billions stashed away as emergency funds, which they sit on while they raise rates.
Other countries do NOT hate their systems; their people think our system is barbaric, and for the record, so do I.
Health care reform is NOT done. Not even close.
I’ve studied the issue a lot. I was writing about the broken system 16 years before it killed my son. It has been my area of expertise for a long time. I know about health care and mental health (which should not be separated out as something different). And I know about food safety issues.
There are other issues in which I’m pretty well versed — violence against women, child abuse, living wage and poverty — but I focus on health care so I can call out people who are spreading misinformation and I have some credibility.
That’s what I asked of people who attended the rally last night: Choose an area of interest and become an expert. Read everything you can about it so you can debunk the lies spread by big money. And then speak out. Write letters to the editor. Start a blog. Whatever it takes to spread the truth.
And remember that big media is part of the problem. Newspapers and television stations are owned by huge corporations now. There is a much bigger interest in the bottom line than in the truth. And while that’s not true of most of the reporters and editors, it is true at corporate headquarters, and that’s who’s really running the show.
They’re the 2 percent; we’re the 98 percent. We need to take our government back now.
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.
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