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A healthcare system in critical condition
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Photo: Susan Heinz
An average of 54% of Americans are dissatisfied with the current Employer based Healthcare Plan in America. The proposed “Universal Healthcare System” would be modeled after the current Medicare System, and of course, would be funded by an increase in taxes, but MANY ask, “Is this really necessary”?
Approximately 27 million Americans are currently without Health Coverage today, and with the downturn in the economy, this number is expected to rise rapidly, according to Gary Langer, of ABC News. While there are many who argue that higher taxes to pay for those who have the same rights and access as everyone else is unfair, unreasonable and illogical, (or that too much of our budget would be spent on illegal immigrants), the truth is that only about 15% of our uninsured are immigrants (whom I suppose are less human because they come from someplace else?). Most of these people are American Citizens who’ve simply fallen through the cracks, been left out by high premiums or are unable to afford the deductibles. In the United States, should ANY Americans face illness and disease as if they were in a third world country? And should our hospitals be so insistent on discharge plans? People are dying in the United States because of a lack of Health Care Coverage. In the “land of opportunity”, shouldn’t we all have the right to LIVE?
As a Cancer Survivor, I know that I would not be alive today if it had not been for my Health Insurance, which was why I founded the Barefoot Sisterhood Foundation for women. This organization offers financial and emotional support to women who are locked out of treatment due to a lack of funds; if the world caught on, it could mean a savings of over 1.5 Billion Dollars per year in accrued fees, treatments, and therapies to save the lives of these forgotten individuals. To remove a lesion before it metastasizes will cost an average of $2,200. To treat a patient once Melanoma has spread can cost in excess of $200,000, or even result in a loss of life. Do preventative measures really sound all that crazy?
The Obama administration believes that the time is now. No American Human Being (or immigrant human being for that matter) should ever be left without medical care. Who are we to say no to life on behalf of another human being?
We ARE our own most precious commodity; invest in one another.
(Or, at the very least, consider it).
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