Legislation
Truly horrifying ideas
The state legislature in Tennessee has passed a bill that makes me want to avoid even driving through the state. When I first read it, I thought it was a bad joke. The bill would make any miscarriage a potential crime. It hasn’t been signed by the governor yet, and there’s no word as to [...]
H115 still alive, but not passed
I drove to Raleigh yesterday to testify against NC House Bill 115, which would give effective control of the state’s health insurance exchange to insurance companies and their allies. When I got there, it looked as though those of us against the bill wouldn’t be allowed to testify, but in the end, a dozen of [...]
Trying to speak truth to power
I’m in Raleigh today to attempt to speak before the legislature before they pass this bill giving power of the health benefits exchange to the insurance companies. I don’t know what the logic is, aside from a system of you-scratch-my-back-I’ll-scratch-yours. The legislators who were elected to mind the interests of the people they represent are [...]
Asking for specifics
We had an hourlong conversation with U.S. Rep. John Barrow, Democrat, of Georgia’s 12th District. I was on speakerphone, but Rep. Barrow was in his Savannah office with Janet, Danny and Christian, who had Shannon on speakerphone. It was a good conversation, and he offered us specifics and reasons for his views. I don’t think [...]
California considers state-wide medical coverage
California may be the next state to offer health care to all of its residents. Their state assembly recently passed SB 840, a bill that will offer Californians health care through a single-payer system. SB 840 still needs to go for a final vote on the state assembly floor and needs to withstand a likely [...]
More Americans have insurance now
A recent article from NPR’s All Things Considered reports that the number of Americans with health insurance went up this year. According to a recent Census Bureau study, in 2006, 47 million didn’t have insurance; only 45.7 million didn’t have coverage in 2007. The 1.3 million who now have coverage are mostly children under Medicaid [...]
One in three uninsured people have a chronic illness
According to a study from The Annals of Internal Medicine, out of 36 million people without health insurance, 11 million have been diagnosed with a chronic illness. How many more suffer with chronic disease that don’t know because they haven’t even been able to get to a doctor to get diagnosed? How much more will [...]
Emergency Room is the only option for many
This report from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation documents, state-by-state, the rates of people without insurance, the percentage of people who could get care if they needed it. In several states, that number barely tops 80 percent. That means one-fifth of the population has no access whatsoever to health care except for the emergency room, [...]
Deregulating insurance
Here’s something interesting. A woman who has had one Caesarean gets rejected by a health insurance company because they don’t want to risk having to pay for another one. Check it out here Now remember, John McCain’s healthcare fix is to turn all the insurance over to the marketplace. No more employer-based coverage. “Competition” should [...]
Dying for coverage
Wonder how many people are dying because they don’t have insurance? Check out Families USA’s study on state-by-state numbers f0r the years 2000 to 2006. http://familiesusa.org/issues/uninsured/publications/dying-for-coverage.html The total is a little shy of the study by the Institute of Medicine and the Urban League, but it’s chilling nevertheless. Statistics always lag two to three years [...]
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.