My Event

I did my event on Friday May 23. I painted a sort of mural on a poster and then talked to people about it outside The Cheeseboard in Berkeley. A lot of people looked at my mural, but they did not stay to listen. I found that elderly people were more likely to listen to me than younger people so I mostly targeted them. I told people the basic issues with our health care system and then asked them to share what they knew with me. Some people did not know anything about health care while others had person experiences. One man told me about an operation that he had that cost $135,000. Another woman told me about how she cannot get health care for her daughter because her daughter has cancer. The worst part of my event consisted of a man giving a twenty minute (I timed it) monolog about how politics can never get anything done and then taking out his teeth half way through his speech and sticking them in his pocket. I still shudder when I think about it. I had a lot of trouble getting people to stop and listen. In retrospect, I wish that I had brought my petition or a survey so that I could have a better opener. That way, I could inform people about the issue quickly and then go into more depth if the person was willing to listen.
The experience that I had that night was new to me. I have always hated people who try and talk to me about issues and for those few hours, I was one of those annoying people whom I would have ignored. I am a very shy person so it was completely out of character for me to try and talk to complete strangers. On the whole, the experience is one that I would never like to endure again for as long as I live.

S.E.C. Backs Health Care Balloting

This article is about how the S.E.C., or the Securities and Exchange Commission have decided that shareholders in large companies must vote about providing universal health care for the employees. Many shareholders are hesitant about agreeing to require universal health care because they do not see how it would benefit their business. The S.E.C. has banned companies form keeping the proposal off of the 2008 proxy. The companies and share holders have many various views about the issue. Some of the companies have already implemented the basic ideals that are used to provide universal health care. Others, like Wal-Mart are negotiating with the shareholders to come up with a compromise, still others do not want to implement a universal health care system because it might hurt the company. The leaders of this commission are religious leaders or from labor unions and have implemented similar plans to what they are proposing. They hope that these companies will do the same.
I think that this is a good idea, because it emphasises the importance of this issue. I thought that it was interesting how the advocates for this proxy were religious leaders because I had never thought of them as people who play a large role in the health care issue. I also thought that it was interesting how Reynold's American, a cigarette company was hesitant about the plan because it might mean an increase on the cigarette tax. I think that it is really good that so many people are taking a stand about American health care.

Pear, Robert. "S.E.C. Backs Health Care Balloting." nytimes.com. May 27, 2008. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/business/27health.html>

Response to a Capitalist America

While I understand that on of the United States' greatest triumphs is its capitalist economy, I believe that there are some limits. I do not believe that everything in our lives should depend on a competing market. This is especially relevant now because of the state that our economy is in. There is a distinct line between using capitalism to increase productivity and letting it control our lives. Specifically, I do not think that we should receive less health care because we have less money than other people. Why should the rich get a better chance to receive help if they are ill or injured? There is a difference between buying a great car and buying great health insurance. When we depend on capitalism for health care, we start to cross the line of putting a price on great service and the price of a person's well being. I do not think that anyone has the right to put a price on a person's life.

Presidential Candidates on Health Care

This article summarizes the three presidential candidates' health plans.
Clinton: Requires everyone to purchase health insurance, make employers provide insurance in large companies and have tax cuts for small companies that provide health care for their employees. She would make insurance portable from job to job and increase the use of government programs. Make it illegal for insurance companies to charge more or refuse service if someone has a preexisting condition.
Obama: Require everyone to provide health insurance for children. Make employers in large companies pay for insurance, have tax cuts for small company employers who provide health care, make insurance portable form job to job, and increase the use of government programs. Make it illegal for insurance companies to refuse service or charge more if someone has a preexisting condition.
Difference: The only difference between these two plans is that Clinton would require that everyone purchase health insurance, and while Obama says that people would buy it willingly without a mandate. If that is the case then the mandate is unnecessary and there will be no difference between Clinton and Obama's health care plans.
McCain: Increase competition between insurance companies, provide tax cuts for people who purchase their own insurance, make insurance portable from job to job or in other states.
I think that Clinton and Obama have really good health care plans. They are both as fool proof as possible and will greatly benefit our country. McCain's plan is a little idealistic, his ideas seem nice, but when it comes down to it, there will be no change, McCain's plan is based upon the assumption that the price of insurance will drop enough to make it affordable for everyone. I do not believe that this will ever happen.

"The Issues: Health Care." nytime.com. May 29, 2008. <http://politics.nytimes.com/election-guide/2008/issues/health.html>

End Runs on Medicaid

To the Editor:
I am writing in regards to the editorial ‘End runs on Medicaid.’ For the past several years, congress has been trying to increase spending on Medicare and Medicaid programs only to have their proposals continually vetoed by President Bush. The Moratorium on passing laws about Medicaid seems like the only way to ensure that the Bush Administration does no more damage. At this point in time, congress and the senate are divided on the health care issue. The Moratorium would ensure that no drastic changes are made until there is a new house. Over the past year, I have seen an increase in interest in better funding for government run health care systems within my community and the government itself.
The Bush Administration has extended its power too far and it is imperative that the house take measures to prevent the Administration from creating long term consequences. While I understand why President Bush feels so strong a need to overstep his boundaries in some areas, I am unable to comprehend his reasoning behind cutting budgets on Medicaid. The Medicare and Medicaid programs are some of the few designed solely to help the United States’ population. What benefit does President Bush see in cutting their budget? If anything, we should be adding money to the Medicaid budget. After extensive study on the topic of health care and the role that the government plays in it, I still cannot understand why we do not have a better health care system. I understand the argument about keeping insurance companies in business, but what about the millions of people who are still uninsured? Shouldn’t they have health care as well?
The biggest issue with the Health care debate is that there are so many other issues that need to be taken care of. We have a failing economy, the dollar is dropping and gas prices are soaring. We are in the midst of a war and we still spend so much time on health care. Comparatively, health care is the least of our concerns. I believe that the house should stop revising health care laws and President Bush should stop vetoing them. After all, once enough people are out of jobs, they will not be able to afford health insurance and there will be an even greater need for government run health care.

'End runs on Medicaid.' Editorial. nytimes.com. May 27, 2008. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/28/opinion/>

Clinton on Health Care

In this video, Clinton concisely describes her view on health care in the United States. She believes that health care is one of our nation's biggest issues and has come up with a solution to enroll all of America's uninsured citizens into some form of health care. In this video, Clinton also gives the basics about her health care plan, stating that it is a combination of employer based and individual responsibility.
While I do not agree with Clinton on all issues, I think that she has the best health care plan. McCain does not have one and Obama's is the same but less extensive. The only thing that I do not understand about Clinton's plan is how she will enforce her mandate on health care. The reason that people would not purchase health care is that it would be too expensive, so what would she do to enforce her plan? Have a fee? That would make it harder for people to afford health care than before.

Hillary on her dedication to universal health care. youtube.com. May 26, 2008. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UFQ-O_muOc>

Illegal farm Workers Get Health Care in Shadows

This article is about what illegal immigrants do for health care. One-half to two-thirds of illegal immigrants do not have health insurance so they use a number of different sources. Most common is the use of curanderas or healers who use herbs and incantations. The people use the healers because it is mostly for common sicknesses or pains and it is significantly cheaper than going to a doctor. On curandera, Herminia L. Arenas, gets her inspiration for healing through anything, even watching egg yolks separate. While these remedies seem unsafe, they can help relieve pain and the immigrants have full trust in her. Immigrants also go to Mexico where they can receive cheap pharmaceuticals that will last throughout the next year. Contrary to popular belief, they only go to the emergency room when it is necessary. Once illegal immigrants move to the United States, they often suffer from common diseases like diabetes, obesity and asthma.
I think that it is interesting how the illegal immigrants use healers with such trust. This article showed a different side of the health care issue because I never thought about what illegal immigrants did. What was also interesting to me was that immigrants will use their same remedies even if we get universal health care because these plans are for citizens. We assume that everyone will have health care if we implement universal health care, but illegal immigrants will probably continue on with the curanderas.

Sack, Kevin. 'Illegal Farm Workers Get Health Care in Shadows.' nytimes.com. May 10, 2008.<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/10/us/10migrant.html?pagewanted=1&ref=opinion&adxnnlx=1211257363-xeN%20Quus69iYgbwIzWRHAg>

Medicaid and medical education

This article is about the cuts that the Bush Administration is proposing on New York's Medicaid. These cuts would limit the amount of training available for doctors and would limit the access that the poor would have to Medicaid. While the Medicaid funding is not supposed to be used to help pay for medical school, it is, and these cuts would make it harder to train the amount of doctors that the people of New York need. The cuts would be as much as $1 billion in New York, but the effect would be felt in other states like California.
I think that there is no way that this cut will go through, there are too many advocates for better health care. I also think that it is bad that the money that is supposed to be for medicaid is used to help doctors get through graduate school. I think that the biggest issue with our health system is that it is about the economy instead of about saving lives. In other countries, doctors are paid low salaries so the only people who become doctors are the ones who care. We need to remember that health care is not a market and that economics should not have an influence over the care that people receive.

Hratocollis, Anemona. "Cuts in medicaid May Mean Billion-DollarLose to New York for Training Doctors." nytimes.com. May 14, 2008. <http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/nyregion/14cuts.html>

THE WELL PODCAST

This site provides articles and pod casts about different health topics. This particular podcast is about the effect that day care has on children's activity. 50% of the amount of outdoor playtime that a child gets is based on their care center. There are many reasons that children do not get enough exercise. Their parents often send them to day care in clothing that are hard to play in. Another reason is that many of the teachers undermine the importance of playing outside. The teachers are not paid well ans have hard jobs. It makes sense that they would not want to spend their time supervising four year-olds.
I thought that this report was interesting because it showed different causes of health problems. There are a lot of factors that play into our health crisis, but one of the main factors is the environment that we grow up in. Children will live unhealthy lives if they are not taught to eat right and exercise. Obesity is one of the largest problems in our country and cause many health problems. The people with obesity are often the poorer people who cannot afford good food or health care. One of the best ways to help end the health problems in the USA is to teach people to live healthier lives so that they will not need as much emergency care.

Parker-Pope, Tara. The Well Podcast: Childcare and Outdoor Play. nytimes.com. May 8, 2008. <http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/the-well-podcast-childcare-and-outdoor-play/>

The circle

Over the course of the year, I have looked at news articles about health care in the United States. I have found that one of the biggest obstacles to achieving universal health care is the circle that our government is going in. The House Democrats and republicans are unable to come to an agreement. When most of them agree that health care needs more funding, they cannot agree on how the money should be used. The republicans are hesitant when it comes to the sum of money that the Democrats want, but eventually they were able to compromise. The next problem is President Bush who has vetoed bills that would increase funding for health care. While much about the next eight years is uncertain, one thing that is certain is that there will be some change in our health care policies, most likely for the better.

These are Statistics about how much different western countries spend on health care. The United States is in a far last second to Denmark which still spends 19% more than we do on health care. This is ridiculous when we are such a large and developed country. We should be spending the most on health care, not the least.

McCain Pushes Choice as Health Care Fix

This article is about McCain's health care plan. While his competitors are proposing ways to provide universal health care coverage, McCain is proposing the opposite. McCain wants to get people to buy their own insurance instead of using that provided by their employers. He would give the people who did this a $2500 to $5000 tax cut. McCain believes that if people have to buy their insurance, it will force insurance companies to reduce their prices and improve the quality of their care. Critics say that McCain's plan has been tried before and has not worked, but he persists.
McCain also wants to increase the availability of preventative treatment and make it harder for patients to sue doctors. McCain's main argument is that if the government provides health care options for people then the people will not have as much choice.
McCain's arguments are not legitimate. With Both Clinton's and Obama's plans, people are able to keep their private insurance, but the government will provide care of those who cannot afford insurance or whose employers do not provide it. McCain proposed a tax cut for people who buy private insurance, but the insurance will cost more than the amount of money that these people save from the tax cut. On the whole, I have no idea how McCain is going to compete with Clinton's or Obama's plan.

Reuters. McCain Pushes Choice as Health Care Fix. Nytimes.com. April 29, 2008. <http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-usa-politics-mccain.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=health+care&st=nyt&oref=slogin>

A Study Finds end-of-life costs in S. Florida are among the highest in the nation

This article is about how much money hospitals in Florida spend on intensive care. These hospitals do many tests on patients, even when they are not necessary. People assume that their health care will be the best at these hospitals, but a recent study showed that this is not the case. The study showed that there are as many deaths at the high cost hospitals as at the low cost ones.
Doctors know that they can make more money by taking more tests. These hospitals are not as focused on patient comfort so much as patient care. The study showed that taking care of comfort is more important than taking tests, but that practice will not stop.
There have been lawsuits about the hospitals misusing medicare and charging incorrectly. Many patients have been decieved into beliveing that the higher costing care is the best care, but this study proves that this is not the case.

Dorschner, John. " A Study Finds end-of-life costs in S. Florida are among the highest in the nation."miamiherald.com. April 27, 2008. <http://www.miamiherald.com/living/health/story/510273.html>

project update

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will work to educate people about the issues with our health care system and possible solutions. So far I am planning to make a small mural outside of a popular restaurant (I have their permission) and I will tell people about the problems as they enter. After I have done this, the restaurant will hang up my mural as a part of a political graffiti wall that they are putting up. I also hope to paint a mural at the Berkeley free clinic however I am only working one step at a time.
The mural displays how the only people with health care are the ones who can pay for it. Everyone else must do without. I hope to educate people on the causes of the issue because everyone has witnessed the problems with our health care system whether personally or from afar.

Interview

I interviewed a woman who worked for Healthy San Francisco, Vanda Baptista. She runs the Eligibility and Enrollment Unit which interviews clients to see if they are eligible for the program. She started of by telling me about how popular the Healthy San Francisco program is. The program is constantly having to tell people that the coverage is not yet available for their financial group.
Healthy San Francisco is starting by covering everyone who lives at poverty level then working their way up. The program currently gives coverage to people living at 3 times the poverty level. People who are eligible for the Healthy San Francisco program must be between the ages of 18 and 65 because otherwise they could be cared for through medicare or medicaid.
Healthy San Francisco is able to pay for all of the services because patients will no longer need to go to the emergency room so all that saved money goes to Healthy San Francisco.
Healthy San Francisco has an assortment of doctors who speak many languages. It also has clinics that specialize in certain forms of health care. The program gives health care to anyone who has not had insurance for 90 days and fit the financial requirements. The Healthy San Francisco program hopes to give health care of every uninsured San Francisco resident over the course of the next five years. For more information see the enclosed link.

American Health care system: What health care system?

On Friday, I was talking about my project and then a man who was listening in joined the conversation. The man was from Britain and said that I should call my project, "American Health Care System: What Health Care System?" I thought that this was really interesting because the man was not from the United States. I was under the impression that our health care issues were only paid attention to in our country. It turns out that I was wrong. This man seemed to find our whole health system, or lack thereof, highly amusing. I was struck by how fast the man jumped into my conversation and how passionate he seemed to be about the topic. This made me realize how ridiculous our country must look to everyone else. If that isn't a reason to change our policy, what is?

cartoon

I found this comic on Google, it seemed to sum up the whole health care issue very succinctly. It showed how our whole society places so much emphasis on capitalism that we forget that sometimes government intervention can be helpful.

note: the headline on the newspaper that the father is holding. I think that it was an actual headline a few months ago. How sad, its not an exaggeration.

Health Care Horror Stories

This is an op-ed piece about how awful our health care system is. It highlights two tragic stories about women who died because they did not have health care. This article then links the stories to the presidential race because Hillary Clinton used these stories to " put a human face on the cruelty and injustice of the American health care system." While this article is clearly biased, it does provide some accurate insight into the horrors of our health care system. This article also shows how caught up or country is in seeing their favorite candidate picked for president. We often forget that the whole presidential race is about making changes for the better of our country; no matter who makes the changes in the end.
I think that this article is really interesting and clearly illustrates the problems that our health care system is facing. Although the article is biased, the author stuck to the facts and let us know when he was sharing his opinion.

Krugman, Paul. Health Care Horror Stories.New York Times. April 11, 2008. < http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/11/opinion/11krugman.html?scp=1&sq=health+care+horror+stories&st=nyt>

typical call

Here is an example of a typical massage that I would leave for Healthy San Francisco clients:
" Hello this is Theresa calling for (insert name). I am calling from San Francisco General Hospital in regards to the Healthy San Francisco program, please call us at your convenience at our office so that we can assign you to a clinic, please call if you have any questions or concerns.

If we reached the client, we would ask them for identification such as a birth date or social security number. If the client was interested in being assigned to a medical home, we would go through a list of the locations of the clinics and have the client stop us when we reached on near them. We would then assign them to that clinic and call the next person.

volunteer

I volunteered at the Health San Francisco financial office. While there, I called potential clients to help assign them to the medical home nearest them. It is a tedious process, many of the people signed up for this program have no phone, or do not speak english. According to one of the employees, of the 50 people who he has to call, he would speak to about twelve of them and only get about ten of them assigned to a clinic.

Healthy San Francisco

Healthy San Francisco is a program to provide health care for San Francisco residents who do not have health insurance. Of the 750,000 San Francisco residents, 82,000 do not have health coverage. The program provides care for anyone who has gone without health insurance for over 90 days.

State budgets are unable to cover health costs for citizens below the poverty line.