What Would Martin Do?
By: Molly Secours
Tennessee Tribune
Originally posted 1/16/2006
For one moment it feels like Dr. Martin Luther King is whispering over my shoulder and urging the words that follow. So I continue to type hoping that I'm not suffering from some type of delusional disorder that stems from writer's block. After all it is Dr. King's birthday and the fierceness of his words reverberates everywhere today. It is the day we remember how Dr. King so eloquently and adamantly insisted that we are all God's children and deserve equal treatment whether it be equal pay, equal right to vote and yes, equal access to health care.
It seems a fairly safe bet that if Dr. King were still alive that he would be agitating and irritating corporate America by advocating and insisting on health care for all -- regardless or race, creed or checking account balance and stock portfolio.
Several weeks ago I began to experience some physical changes that concerned me. It wasn't just the lines or wrinkles that have started creeping up and reminding me that I'm no longer 27 -- not that I need any reminders -- it was other things that if I looked up in the medical dictionary might indicate any number of rather dire diagnosis.
But rather than let my imagination take flight, I called a friend in the medical field and described my symptoms. Immediately she calmed my fears and suggested the symptoms could be indicators of numerous things -- both serious and benign. She then recommended a specialist and advised me to use her name to assure getting in to see this very busy doctor. And that was that. I called and was immediately given an appointment.
Because I have private health insurance I can do that. And after seeing the doctor if we discover a need for treatment, I will get that too -- because I have prescription coverage with my health plan. And if they tell me that because I caught the symptoms early that my health will not be further compromised, I will feel relieved.
And it is this brief foray into the medical world that gives me pause. I imagine instead what would happen if I had no medical coverage or were financially compromised and what kind of stress I would experience as a result of knowing I had no access to better health care? And what if I had a disease -- one of those we say in hushed tones -- how might I ignore the symptoms and convince myself they were meaningless because I knew that I couldn't afford to be sick? After all being sick would mean not being able to work which might mean not being able to afford my house, car and other amenities I've come to view as necessities.
Only when I allow myself to swim in the potential waters of catastrophe am I able to understand the trajectory of those who become homeless in a matter of moments.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in the past year more than a million Americans have joined the ranks of those living in poverty. Thirty-nine million people, of whom a third are children, live under poverty conditions -- yes, right here in the richest country in the world.
The number of Americans without health insurance also rose by 800,000. The total without health insurance in America is almost 46 million, over 16 percent of our total population. Since the year 2000, that total has grown by five million. At the same time, employer-provided health insurance dropped by almost 4 percent.
Right here in Tennessee we added nearly 200,000 chronically ill people to the national total of Americans without health insurance. The demise of the TennCare system and the devastation that followed for several hundred thousand people is unfathomable. Some of them are not only chronically ill, but also poor and forced to work in spite of illnesses -- which in many cases only exacerbates their condition. And then there are those too debilitated to work any longer and have become homeless as a result.
People like George Watson, who had a stroke that left him with monstrous medical bills and the left side of his body cold. Now he is unable to work or collect disability and is homeless. He is also diabetic with high blood pressure.
And then there is paraplegic Don DeVaul in Jackson, who lost his TennCare coverage and can't afford the seven prescriptions that treat his pain, cholesterol, depression and esophagus problems.
Or Lori Smith, who is in the early stages of Lupus and Multiple Sclerosis. She cannot manage these potentially debilitating diseases without health insurance and is uninsurable now that she's been diagnosed. The stress of losing TennCare caused her MS to flare up and she's lost 70% of the vision in her right eye.
And since the TennCare cuts many people are dying. People like you and me. According to the Tennessee Center for Health Services Research, the death toll will rise by more than 250 deaths per year. People that live down the block, work at the grocers, go to our church or are too sick to do these things any longer because they are off their medications and are in too much pain to leave their beds.
Among those who died after losing their TennCare is James Bryant (Rutledge TN). On official records, Bryant's doctor listed "an absence of medicines for one week" as contributing to his death. He had just lost his health insurance. James was 50 years old.
And then there is Floyd Miller of Knoxville, 45, who was disabled and could no longer treat his heart disease and diabetes without the medications he received through TennCare.
The list goes on and on and on of those who are joining the ranks of the homeless or those who may die prematurely as a result of the elitist system of health care that plays God in deciding who shall live and who shall die -- painfully.
And the question rises forcefully from within. What would Martin Luther King Jr. do? And we know the answer before we are finished asking the question. It is what we ourselves must do.
To get involved with the TennCare Saves Lives Coalition, contact Tennessee Health Care Campaign at 615-227-7500.
Molly Secours is a writer/filmmaker/speaker and frequent co-host on "Behind the Headlines" on WFSK 88.1 FM. She can be reached at: mollmaud@comcast.net or www.mollysecours.com
|
