Medical students speak for rights of uninsured.
Emily Becker never needed to be concerned about her health. Both her parents had good jobs and every small toothache was covered. That was until her father, Bob Becker a former CEO of a HVAC business in Jersey, lost his job in August because of the downturn.
When my dad lost his job, I lost my insurance, the senior U Albany pupil says. For Emily this fall in coverage could not have come at a worst time. A few weeks after her dad lost his job she was hurried to the hospital with stomach pains. She needed to get her appendix out instantaneously.
Luckily I was still covered, she says, explaining that because it was in precisely the same month her dad's insurance was terminated she was still under his coverage. The cost of having your appendix out with lately terminated insurance coverage is $17,000, but because Emily is a pupil she was able to get the bill dropped to $2,000. Emily's total medical debt which has accumulated in the last year is $5,000.
To make matters worse Emily was only diagnosed with HINI. Again she got lucky and went to the University Health Center where student's who do not
have health insurance can get treated for free. I would visit the physician more if I understood I wasn't going to get a $2,500 bill. I am the worst I Have ever been now that I do not have health insurance.
Although Emily has the choice to go to the health center when she is feeling a bit under the weather, she still does not have coverage if something serious were to occur, and she cannot get the proper preventative care she wants.
I have been filling out forms for Medicaid since August. I get one done and get another in the mail. Once she can prove she's an Albany resident she'll then wait 4-6 weeks to understand if she's been approved.
This is just one of many cases in Albany where a lack in health insurance has caused a negative effect on lifestyle. One in 13 Albany County residents would not have adequate medical insurance. To raise awareness of the difficulties in health care we are facing today, groups all over the nation have been coming together to fight for better coverage for all citizens, regardless of income.
Two rallies are held over the last week at Albany Med to get people involved in the national issue. Saturday Oct. 10 over 100 people gathered in protest and last Thursday around 40 pupils and supporters held a vigil in honor of the thousands who die each year due to lack of insurance or underinsurance.
Health care movements are definitely going to be the civil rights movement of our time, Naazia Husain, a second year medical student, said during the vigil. All the student's need people to understand the 4,500 individuals who die every year are not only numbers on a page they are mothers and brothers, they're Americans.
The group of medical students leading the events have been pushing for a type of single-payer health care that is modeled from our own Medicare system and also the single-payer system used in Canada. This strategy would produce a system in which one payer, the authorities, does two things: establishes medical fee rates and pays the medical bills of patients. This would eliminate out-of pocket expenses, high deductibles, and high prescription drug costs, while simply creating a 4.5% income tax increase.
Although the majority of the bills going through Congress say they're shortage impersonal none of them lower costs, Rebecca Elgie, Co-Director of Tompkins County Health Care Task Force and single-payer advocate says. We need to get to the stage where we're thinking about other people. Elgie, who attended both events, believes just a single-payer system will actually solve the issues of the uninsured.
Today the United States Of America is one of the sole leading industrial nations that does not have a universal health care system. The folks fighting for this single-prayer healthcare plan don't consider the current Congressional strategies, like HR 3200, will cut it without special Changes that comprise a single payer plan.
Health care is not something to be placed into a profit sharing system, Father Ratmeyer, an Albany Med clergymen, said during his speech. We're not coping with buying cars or batteries we are dealing with folks.
It's still too soon to tell what is going to happen in the area of health care, but one thing is clear something must be done.
Thank you very much for taking the time to read this article.I hope that the information provided is going to be of good use for you and you will definitely achieve all of your goals.Remember that the true magic formula for success is to be consistent and never surrender regardless of the problems which are on your path.Really don't delay and start the change right now!
No comments:
Post a Comment