Originally published at Donna's SiCKO Blog on May 26, 2013
Are you having a nice
three-day, holiday weekend out there? Count your blessings then, because
for thousands and thousands of people all over America, this is no holiday
weekend. We're not giving the uninsured, the under-insured or those
already bankrupted a break from their worries about accessing health care.
We don't give "those people" a break at all.
I've been writing about the numbers -- the death toll and the bankruptcy toll
-- for weeks now. The numbers just keep ticking ever higher. 123
more dead every day. 1,978 more go bankrupt every day. All caused
by our profit-first health care system. Sometimes I do not know how to
make the point in a way that makes people take action, as it is little more
than an exercise in hand-wringing if I don't get more people to decide that our
system is flawed and must be changed and that we are the ones who must change
it.
An improved and
expanded Medicare for all for life system would put an immediate end to the
rising death toll related to lack of access to needed care, and it would also
end bankruptcies driven by medical crisis and debt. We need to do
whatever is required to make that change in our system.
Here in Colorado, I'd like to see us enshrine in our Constitution's Bill of
Rights that health care is a human right and a public good. Once we do
that, we can require that our elected officials create the system that would
uphold that Constitutional provision.
We do have a health care is a human right ballot initiative campaign
beginning , and we will kick that off on Saturday June 1, at our annual meeting .
Rep. John Conyers, Jr., will be our featured speaker. Mr. Conyers is more than an
icon of the civil rights struggle in America -- he is the only Congressional
member ever endorsed by the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is the
second longest serving member of Congress. He is the lead author of
HR676, the national Medicare for All bill. We are incredibly honored to
have him coming to Denver for our annual meeting. If you are near Denver that day, plan to come.
If you are not in the Denver area and you believe in our campaign, we need your
help. It is not cheap to run this kind of campaign, and the for-profit
interests in our dysfunctional system will be difficult to fight.
Frankly, even some of the well-meaning sorts in some political circles
will fight this effort as they reach for something more politically expedient
or personally profitable or both. So, if
you are able, please assist.
In the meantime, remember those suffering, dying, and going broke for health
care today in America. Many have also served our nation in a wide variety
of ways yet when they needed health care, none was given because they lacked
the coverage or the money to pay.
Today's count:
The 2013, to date, U.S. medical-financial-industrial -complex system dead: 17,835
The 2013, to date, U.S. health care system bankrupt: 286,820
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