The other day I was listening to Thom Hartmann's national radio program on Air America. He and a guest on his show were discussing health care. Thom believes that health care is a right and not a privelege. He was explaining how people on minimum wage cannot afford health care. The guest said that people earning minimum wage were people just starting out in the work force, and if they wanted to make more money, they should just get another job. Thom's argument was that not everyone is capable of doing that. Not everyone has the same chance in life.
That made me think about my cousin. I'm pretty certain that neither she nor her siblings will ever read this blog, so I'm comfortable telling this story.
I have a cousin who is the sweetest, kindest person you could ever meet. When were were growing up, my siblings and I used to love to listen to her speak. She's from the mid-west, and we loved the way she said "yaw" for yes, and how her soft voice exuberated a sense of innocence. She's in her late 50's now and has always lived on the property homesteaded by her great-grandparents. She has her own home on the property, as do most of her brothers and sisters. She's a hard worker, and has always taken care of her family. She is caring and kind. She doesn't have much, but is proud of what she does have. She has a high school degree, but I'm not sure if all of her siblings graduated from high school. I do not know if she's ever had a job that required any skill above minimum wage.
A few weeks ago, two of my sisters and I visited the small mid-western town where my parents grew up....the town where my cousin still lives. In the summer and fall, she picks apples for a living. As I sat talking to her, listening to the same sweet voice, I wondered if she had health care. I doubt she does. She doesn't work for a company that provides it, and I'm pretty sure she cannot afford to pay for it from a salary of picking apples.
My cousin is not lazy. She tries as hard as she can. Even though the Declaration of Independence says that all men are created equal, we are not. We have no control over the situation we are born into. Either by the fortune or misfortune of our birth, we are not all equipped with the same skills for survival.
I would like to hear the guest on Thom Hartmann's show tell my cousin to go out and get a better paying job, so she can afford to pay for health care.
What do you think?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree it's just not that easy to "go get a better paying job". Health insurance even holds many hostage in a job they are not happy in. They can't afford to quit because they need the health insurance. Most employers in my area have a 90 day probabation period before you can even get on their plan. You go three months without coverage or pay a huge premium to Cobra which few can afford. I know many older Americans who really should not be working, but have to work just to get health coverage. It is sad that in America Health care is such a problem. I believe in America we should all be priveleged to have the right for health care.
ReplyDeleteI wish this country was like others in the world. Many industrialize countries (like UK, France, and Sweden) have health care systems for their citizens. It is part of their tax structure. It is for all their citizens, regardless if they pay into the tax system or not. The system takes care of its citizens because it is the responsibility of the country to do that. Here we have made medical care and drugs a privilege for the few. Our system doesn’t care about the poor, children, disenfranchised, minimum wage worker, or now the middle class who are losing in this economy downturn. Health care is for all. Doctors do not need to be members of the upper class, the drug companies do not need to gouge the public for their products and the disabled deserve all the care they need.
ReplyDeleteI’m disabled and have the Medicare part D drug coverage (a term I use loosely). This drug “coverage” doesn’t cover my $820.22/month Rx a big part of the year. That is only one Rx I have there are 16 others. I can’t get a caregiver to help me once a week because my state has cut out those services. There are rumors that the paratransit van I use will be cut also.
We need a health care system that works for everyone regardless of their employment status. This country needs health care. I’m hoping our new president keeps his promise and delivers a system that works for all the citizens of this country.