[Oe List ...] Witness on healthcare

[Charles or Doris Hahn]

Good to hear from you! I thought Obama's speech last night was good--really good in tone and acceptable in content. I would go for single payer, but that's not going to be; maybe never. Anyway, it's always good to hear from someone in the profession, and it's always good to hear from you.
Doris




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From: Debra Watson <quantum1135 at yahoo.com>
To: oe at wedgeblade.net
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 2:17:08 PM
Subject: [Oe List ...] Witness on healthcare


Witness (I confess my first!): 
I have been following the discussion on health care with interest. I am a school nurse in Houston- not the poorest area of town but by no means middle class. Almost 30% of students at my school have no health coverage. ( Texas is near the bottom of list in children’s coverage).  
  
Most of these students’ parents work fulltime- usually minimum wage, no benefits. Or work two or three jobs so just above the Medicaid threshold. Hence hard working, loving parents have no healthcare for their children, much less themselves. (If they weren’t working- their kids could get Medicaid.) I have had parents come crying to the clinic because they were just fired when left work for their sick child. Other parents (trying to hold onto their jobs) mask their children’s illness w/Motrin or Tylenol- even when they do have healthcare. These parents need a solution.  And we all suffer, for sickness knows no boundaries- or politics. 
  
I have worked in indigent hospitals as well as home health in some of the poorest communities, so know the situation first hand. I can well attest to the consequences of an inadequate health care system. Public health and school nurses by and large agree there has to be affordable options for everyone- we see the need every single day. Emergency rooms overflow with patients far better served by primary care- but no access. When Katrina & Ike hit, we referred evacuees to the same severely overstretched low cost health clinics. Food stamps are still backed up for months and months. Same pool of resources – but way more people needing services- and this was well before the recession.  Our country needs a comprehensive solution. 
  
Debra Harris RN 
  
PS. In 1990 I lived in post communist Eastern Europe-Poland. Their healthcare system was not perfect by far but way more than adequate (I experienced first hand prenatal care thru early childhood usage for my dtr). Poland is not a wealthy country yet they still had close to 96% literacy, free or extremely low cost college- (thru a master’s degree and beyond), 100% school lunch and 100% access to healthcare. Yes there were issues in their society and their healthcare. Ours is better quality- but unfortunately only for those who can afford or have access to it.
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