Published: Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Congress better not leave D.C. without health reform
Don’t even think about coming home, Congress, without significant progress on health care reform. If you are wondering just what is making Americans sick and tired, it’s the idea that you think you could spend five days whipping out bank bailouts, 20 days marching us into a war, but taking years to hem and haw about health care.
Are you kidding?
I am one of those Americans who is thankfully employed. My family has health care. However, my premiums jumped up from last year, and where I previously had no deductible, I am now paying $3,000 a year in deductibles.
Do you think this might affect how much I am spending in the community on other things? I know my $3,000 is just a drop of rain compared to the billions that you have to deal with, but stop and think about it: If my health insurance was more reasonable, and if I didn’t have the additional $3,000 out-of-pocket expense, might I be using this money to stimulate our economy?
I wish I didn’t have to mention the economy, but it seems like you are very interested in that. I wish you were as compelled to think about the uninsured.
Last night when I listened to the press asking President Barack Obama about health care, one question jumped out from the TV and seized me. The reporter asked, “What do you say to those who are concerned about the sacrifices that will have to be made by health care reform?”
Sacrifices?
Wake up, Mr.-Reporter-with-the-stupid-question. How about the sacrifices of the uninsured every single day in our country? We have millions of people being sacrificed in our current situation.
President Obama, I wished you had knocked him upside his head. But no, you were polite, thoughtful as usual, and tried to genuinely speak to the concern. This is probably why I am not president. I really admired your grace, Mr. President. I’m all out of grace on this subject.
We must reform our system. Is anyone unsure about this? If you aren’t currently paying lots of money for health care, you will be soon. If you find that you have great access to a psychiatrist, please post how you got such great access, because I am finding that many psychiatrists are currently accepting cash only for services.
Welcome to the new normal.
As a family therapist, I see people who are in need of getting psychiatric evaluations to assure that the right medication is used to calm their brains. The wrong medication is completely useless and can be dangerous.
When people suffer with untreated mental health issues, it can erode their ability to function, keep a job, pay the bills, which brings us back to the economy. Since everyone was so eager to mobilize around the economy, I figured I would point that out.
If you have a family member who isn’t covered and is ill, you may be too exhausted, doing everything you can as a caregiver, to deal with fighting for this on the national level. This is the reason why those of us with health care and those of us in good health need to be fighting this fight.
I am darn thankful for my health care and my medical community. However, I do notice that my health care providers are seeing tons of people each day, and I worry that the current system is depleting the providers and exhausting them, maybe not allowing them to provide the kind of care that they want to provide.
I think it’s time that everyone stops pretending that what we currently have works so great. It’s time to make change.
To our senators and representatives, don’t come home without health care reform.
I don’t expect it to be perfect the first time out of the gate, but I do expect to see serious improvement. And I am expecting a commitment to keep at it until it works for all.
No excuses. Stop pretending that anything else is more important. I don’t have the grace and finesse of our president, but I don’t think I’m alone in this.
Sarri Gilman is a freelance writer living on Whidbey Island and director of Leadership Snohomish County. Her column on living with meaning and purpose runs every other Tuesday in The Herald. She is a therapist, a wife and a mother, and has founded two nonprofit organizations to serve homeless children. You can e-mail her at features@heraldnet.com.
Are you kidding?
I am one of those Americans who is thankfully employed. My family has health care. However, my premiums jumped up from last year, and where I previously had no deductible, I am now paying $3,000 a year in deductibles.
Do you think this might affect how much I am spending in the community on other things? I know my $3,000 is just a drop of rain compared to the billions that you have to deal with, but stop and think about it: If my health insurance was more reasonable, and if I didn’t have the additional $3,000 out-of-pocket expense, might I be using this money to stimulate our economy?
I wish I didn’t have to mention the economy, but it seems like you are very interested in that. I wish you were as compelled to think about the uninsured.
Last night when I listened to the press asking President Barack Obama about health care, one question jumped out from the TV and seized me. The reporter asked, “What do you say to those who are concerned about the sacrifices that will have to be made by health care reform?”
Sacrifices?
Wake up, Mr.-Reporter-with-the-stupid-question. How about the sacrifices of the uninsured every single day in our country? We have millions of people being sacrificed in our current situation.
President Obama, I wished you had knocked him upside his head. But no, you were polite, thoughtful as usual, and tried to genuinely speak to the concern. This is probably why I am not president. I really admired your grace, Mr. President. I’m all out of grace on this subject.
We must reform our system. Is anyone unsure about this? If you aren’t currently paying lots of money for health care, you will be soon. If you find that you have great access to a psychiatrist, please post how you got such great access, because I am finding that many psychiatrists are currently accepting cash only for services.
Welcome to the new normal.
As a family therapist, I see people who are in need of getting psychiatric evaluations to assure that the right medication is used to calm their brains. The wrong medication is completely useless and can be dangerous.
When people suffer with untreated mental health issues, it can erode their ability to function, keep a job, pay the bills, which brings us back to the economy. Since everyone was so eager to mobilize around the economy, I figured I would point that out.
If you have a family member who isn’t covered and is ill, you may be too exhausted, doing everything you can as a caregiver, to deal with fighting for this on the national level. This is the reason why those of us with health care and those of us in good health need to be fighting this fight.
I am darn thankful for my health care and my medical community. However, I do notice that my health care providers are seeing tons of people each day, and I worry that the current system is depleting the providers and exhausting them, maybe not allowing them to provide the kind of care that they want to provide.
I think it’s time that everyone stops pretending that what we currently have works so great. It’s time to make change.
To our senators and representatives, don’t come home without health care reform.
I don’t expect it to be perfect the first time out of the gate, but I do expect to see serious improvement. And I am expecting a commitment to keep at it until it works for all.
No excuses. Stop pretending that anything else is more important. I don’t have the grace and finesse of our president, but I don’t think I’m alone in this.
Sarri Gilman is a freelance writer living on Whidbey Island and director of Leadership Snohomish County. Her column on living with meaning and purpose runs every other Tuesday in The Herald. She is a therapist, a wife and a mother, and has founded two nonprofit organizations to serve homeless children. You can e-mail her at features@heraldnet.com.
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