A letter that I sent to Senator Ron Johnson this morning because he said 95% of Wisconsinites were covered/had access to health care. I say, give me a break.
Hi,
You stated on CNN this morning that 95% of the people in this state have access to health care. I'm sorry, but from my point of view here in the poorhouse it doesn't look that way. My family doesn't have health care because we can't afford the cost of it; HIRSP has given us the runaround because of preexisting conditions; my father's boss thinks it's too expensive to have insurance, and if my father, God forbid, had an accident tomorrow off of work, we would go broke trying to help him. I had to spend the last three months in pain because I was trying to avoid the bill that would ensue should I go to the doctor (or worse yet, the Community Care, which requests me to dredge up every scrap of information on myself so that part of my bill is covered.) I finally couldn't stand it anymore and went in, and the problem was a simple one that could have been fixed months ago if I'd only had the money to do it.
Sir, there are a hundred thousand people sitting on the Badgercare list, waiting for help. I had to re-submit mine after two years because they hadn't gotten to me yet. My cousin was immediately covered for having a child out of wedlock, yet because I went to school and acquired a Master's degree, I have no health care. I have preexisting conditions and therefore would have to pay an exorbitant price for my care; since I'm unemployed, I don't have the resources to shell out thousands for health insurance.
We are suffering, Senator. I'm so glad you have health care and don't have to worry about your family's problems, but if one of my family get really sick, it could mean we lose everything we own. Politicians seem to have forgotten the little people, the people who have to let their teeth rot out of their heads because they can't afford to go to the dentist or let their feet swell and ache because they're not covered for medical care. I see them every month at the Table, a free meal at the end of the month they hold here in Rhinelander- the poor and struggling people of this area who are grateful for a free meal offered by local groups. Would you go into that room and tell those people that they have health care; that 95% of them are covered? I think not. I think it's the other way around-95% of them are not covered, they are not taken care of, they are without health care and without a safety net.
Senator, we need something to keep my family from a health care disaster, to keep us afloat should my father or my sister get ill. At least someone out there is trying to help us. It seems like your friends in the GOP don't want to. I would rather pay high income taxes as the British do and know I'm covered should I get sick again, rather than be broke and scared that my illness will come back and bankrupt me.
There was a story a few years back of a young reality star in the UK who was dying of cancer. The difference between her final days and those of a U.S. citizen in a similar position were striking- instead of spending her time fearing for medical bills and worrying that someone might not be able to pay the price for dying, this young British woman was able to accept donations from the public for her two sons to go to college. She was able to go peacefully without financial worries. If that had been here, the money would have gone for bills. I have church friends that have spent two decades paying for their deceased daughter's final bills. Twenty years, Senator. And they had health insurance.
You need to come down off the mountaintop and see what's going on down here on the ground, because it's not a wine and roses party. Health care is something we shell out for all the time in my household, and it's too damn expensive. This is not a game; this is people afraid literally for their lives. If you and other politicians would stop fighting with each other and being so obtuse as to think we are swallowing these statistics when you toss them out, maybe then this country could get back on the rails again.
Sincerely,
Bec Koshak
By the way, the young reality star I mentioned mid-letter was Jade Goody. She died about three years back, but the thing that struck me was not that she was young like me (27 when she died) but that she could take the public donations given to her and bequeath them to her two boys, instead of having to hold a fundraiser to pay for medical treatment. NHS covered this woman to her last breath; the taxes of the people paid for her final days and she didn't have to worry about how much she was spending on health care.
I can only hope that he sees the issue at hand and doesn't toss me eight thousand barrels of statistics and bull.
Ta,
Bec
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