The closer it gets …
The US Supreme Court will issue its ruling on the Affordable Care Act soon, and the closer it gets, the more anxious I feel.
What will we do if they overturn the law? There are no guarantees anymore. Not with this court.
This battle is not about what’s best for the American people; if it was, we would have some sort of national plan to guarantee Americans access to health care. This is about more money for the people who already have too much. It is about corporate ownership of our government.
There are still people who believe the “free market” can handle health care. But then, there are still people who believe tobacco isn’t addictive. In both cases, they’re wrong.
I’m tired of the current popular view that there’s always “another side” to a story. Sometimes that other side is just a lie that doesn’t deserve repeating. The other side to this story is that Big Insurance, Big Pharma and the rest of the Medical Industrial Complex want to keep making obscene profits and they don’t care how many people die in their pursuit of more money.
Mike died because no one would allow him to get a colonoscopy until it was too late to save his life. Why? Because a birth defect that leaves one vulnerable to colon cancer is a pre-existing condition. Because a student who’s hoping to have a job that offers health benefits in a couple years is too much of a credit risk to bill so he had to pay cash up front, which he didn’t have.
It’s only about the money in America. Human life matters less than the profits of the huge corporations that own us.
The Affordable Care Act is already a massive compromise that promises more profits to health insurance companies, but those companies don’t like the controls it also put in place on their greed. They can’t put caps on care, they can’t deny people coverage because of pre-existing conditions like birth defects or childhood asthma, they can’t boot you off as soon as you get sick, they have to allow young adults to stay on their parents’ plans until they’re 26, they have to fully cover cancer screenings (although they find ways to charge consumers money, such as anesthesia for colonoscopies). They want no limits on their profit-seeking.
How many people have to die before we get it right?
Believe me, I won’t stop working toward a health care system that offers access to everyone, no matter what the Supreme Court does. I’m in this for the long fight.
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.
Life o’ Mike honors Joe Eblen
Life o' Mike presented its first Michael T. Danforth Community Service Award to Joe Eblen at a luncheon on June 8, in the Friendship Hall of First Congregational Church, 20 Oak St., Asheville.
Joe, seen here with Leslie Boyd, left, and his wife, Bobbie, has spent his life helping children and families, both as a coach and game official for more than 60 years, and as founder of Eblen Charities.
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.