insurance
Hardened to the new reality
It seems the media are getting tired of the stories of injustice and abuse in our health care system. Doug Gross’s sister, Cindi Sutherland, has been trying to get attention drawn to his case for months, but no one wants to hear about it or follow it up. I’ve written about Doug before; his story [...]
It has started already
The new health care law is under attack, and it isn’t even from the newly elected Republican majority in the House of Representatives. What’s being proposed is cutting tax incentives for employer-based health coverage. For most Americans who have insurance, this would be a disaster, although it would raise revenues for the government. Most of [...]
Obama administration issues waivers to insurers
Rather than rock the boat during a contentious election, the Obama administration is issuing dozens of waivers to some businesses and insurance companies, giving them an extra year to comply with the new regulations that took effect last month. According to an article in The New York Times, fast-food giant McDonald’s threatened to cut off [...]
More letters for health care
We had another letter-writing party this afternoon at the new Land of Sky United Church of Christ in east Asheville. It wasn’t huge, but it was great. Land of Sky, as I said, is a new church and one centered on social justice issues. One of the women writing letters is homeless. She waited three [...]
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 down …
It wasn’t 2,000 people, but about 75 people showed up and we had a good rally. We told stories about Mike and about other people. Danny talked about his experiences with the system, and a dozen others got up and talked about theirs. Even Trey took the microphone for a second to say he misses [...]
Plaid and proud
We’re just a few days out from the rally now and I’m starting to wonder how I’ll fit everything I need into my car. The banner, the table, the amp, the carpet for underneath the table, photos, luggage, my guitar (so Trey and I can play a little). And then there’s the details. I’ve never [...]
Other People’s Stories
We’ve been hoping to get some people to tell their own stories here — a couple of friends have told me they don’t want to be the first, or they don’t think having to stay in a job they hate because of the insurance compares to losing a kid. All the stories are valid. People [...]
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 [...]
At least somebody’s comfortable
This press release from the N.C. Justice Center landed in my inbox the other day: “Every year more North Carolinians join the ranks of the uninsured, and every year elected officials fail take the necessary steps to expand access to health care in the state. Perhaps the reason politicians are sluggish to respond to the [...]
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.