(diary promoted to the front page. linda -- an inspiring friend and colleague, links the international to the national to the personal! - promoted by los anjalis)
Wow, this is my first blog attempt ever! I want to first thank Dr. and DJ Los Anjalis for making this website possible for us to share our thoughts and ideas. You are amazing!
I also want to share an experience I had last week. Several of us who contribute to this website also belong to a group called 'Doctors for Peace', which began in 2003 at the beginning of the Iraq war. That day, our mentors Dr. Granados and Dr. Puvvula went to an anti-war rally in their scrubs and white coats with signs that said "Doctors for Peace" and thus our group was born! Since that time, we continue to advocate for justice, fairness and human rights, and to educate ourselves and others on the health impacts of war, violence, and poverty.
Last Friday (8/17), we were invited to speak at the San Pedro Neighbors for Peace and Justice meeting. Our topic was "The war in Iraq and its effects on the healthcare system in the U.S." Essentially, the connection is very simple- the U.S. spends billions of dollars on the war in Iraq, and in the meantime many Americans feel there is not enough money for universal access to health care or other kinds of health care reform. The money is there! We must choose to spend it differently. That means telling our current legislators that we want to prioritize healthcare reform above the occupation and destruction of Iraq. And we must vote for legislators who are not afraid to change the status quo. We also need to educate ourselves and others on the bills currently under consideration for health care reform.
We spent the majority of our time on reviewing current legislature. There are three big ones. The governor's bill for mandatory health insurance is similar to the one already passed in Massachusetts, and states "everyone must pay equally", thus a 'mandate' to obtain health insurance. If passed everyone would be required to have health insurance. The quality of that insurance for those with little money would likely be very poor, and would be unlikely to have an impact on the real difficulties of the system. The second bill proposed by Speaker Nunez is, I think, a step in the right direction, and would insure approx 75% of those currently uninsured in California. It would do this by expanding Medi-cal and other state programs, as well as creating a 'high-risk' pool for those who are too sick to get affordable insurance under our current system. Finally, there is SB 840, which would radically change our current system of health care in California to a single payer universal access system. Under this system, every person in CA would have comprehensive health insurance, and according to economic models, it is also cost-saving when compared to our current system. It has already been vetoed once by Gov Schwarzenegger.
I would like to encourage anyone reading this to stay informed, and to talk to your friends, family, and coworkers about their thoughts on health care reform. There are no easy answers- if there were, I would not be 'blogging' for the first time in my life trying to frame the issue and its myriad complications! We collectively need to start thinking about how this change is going to happen... |
