AT HOME … Road to Recovery Crossing the Mason-Dixon Line First of 4 Parts

Over the past year, Upstate Roundtable journalist Kimberlee Currans-Leto has provided her singular perspective on current  socio-political conditions  from her writing studio just outside of Albany.  This winter, Currans-Leto and her husband plowed through the ice and snow of the Capital Region in their 960 Volvo station wagon to visit relatives in the South.  The Leto’s 3300-mile round-trip journey is the subject of a 4-part Road to Recovery series offering an enlightening view — for the nation’s engineers of the infrastructure and all of us – of the shared struggles and common strengths of everyday people coping in heartbeat places of America.

The Road to Recovery is not paved in optimism nor gold, but rather deep insecurity.  In fact, much of Recovery suffers from clear “class divide”.
While middle-class families in Hampton, VA worry about the rate of foreclosure and affording private school education because public schools are too dangerous, other poor families in New Orleans stand in line at Wal-Mart to cash this month’s welfare check.  And all of this hinges on infrastructure because without roads, people have no future. Without roads, people have no way of acquiring knowledge or the tools for a better tomorrow.
Crossing the Mason-Dixon Line, the roads change from the North; they are pit-eaten and uneven.  In Hampton, VA one must commute for work unless you’re in the military. The failure has been to link Hampton with Virginia Beach or Newport News.  There is a half-built public transportation system that no one can use because the city ran out of money.  The average commute is 45 minutes. 
Leaving Hampton, traveling across the south, one is reminded of our country’s history but also sawnothing but outlet stores in North Carolina.  JR’s is a smoker’s paradise where a carton costs only 20 bucks.  After leaving Atlanta, which was the largest metropolis we encountered with its skyscrapers and seven-lane highways, I wondered, “How far have we really come?”
The stretch of highway between Atlanta and Montgomery, AL has two automobile plants: Kia and Hyundai.  There are Wal-Mart trucks, muddy clay, red soil and a sign for the Tuskegee Airmen site. For a place so rich in history, where are the people? 
We are depending on the same roads Martin Luther King, Jr. marched for equality more than one-half century ago.  As the borders disappear and blend into each other between states, there are numerous orange and blue signs: “PROJECT FUNDED BY THE AMERICAN RECOVERY AND REINVESTMENT ACT: Putting America Back to Work”.  Yet the rest stops are closed, where are the workers?  Where’s the bailout?
While physical infrastructure matters, without the concrete (and the trucks hauling goods from one state to another), people would not have food on their tables and all the towns between Troy, NY and New Orleans, LA would be barren.  Truck stops, all-you-can-eat buffets, and occasional McDonald’s would be ghosts. 
Physical infrastructure is important to rebuilding America; we need better roads, better public transportation systems to get around, to be at work, to be at school, to be other places, but it is the emotional infrastructure that also matters. 
People need confidence in the economy; they need to feel valued. Judging from the state of our country’s roads, we are far off the mark
Leaving New Orleans for Ole Miss is like crossing an endless bridge of broken promises.  Some of the worst roads are just outside of Jackson, Mississippi. 
If not for a need to stay over on the way to somewhere else, a culture, a way of life, a rich history is all but lost because driving on the roads there are like driving on broken glass.  That’s done very carefully. 
Still, we were warned about Jackson’s reputation after nightfall: “It’s best to stay home.” The crime rate is devastatingly high-poverty and drugs.  Yet, the nicest lady greeted us at the hotel with a smile big enough to light up the state.  She said, “Y’all ain’t from around here, are you?”  We – with our New York license plates – got that a lot. It was the same warm feeling in New Orleans as well.
Still, there is work to be done but how does one even begin to scratch the surface?  I felt guilty, people from New Orleans, Jackson, Montgomery and towns in between, our town even, deserve so much better.  It was not until we arrived in Chattanooga, TN, we felt a sense of calm, a new kind of pace and an upbeat attitude.  I mention that as a ray of hope. These are places where if there was economic blight, they now are moving and shaking toward reinvention.
Still, clearly recovery has not reached places like Montgomery or New Orleans, still mired in struggle and tragedy.  Recovery is not the first priority, survival is. Sounds dismal but economic recovery cannot be found in retail therapy, vacations or even paying the rent. It can only be found in work, hard work. 
Meanwhile, it is clear from traversing these roads that truckers are this country’s lifeblood.  If they stop, what little progress has been made will be defeated.  Independent operators are hauling – not just consumer goods- but building materials.  And with this there’s hope. 
Still, there are broken links that are easily mended.  Improving the roads will not only make driving and seeing our country easier and a pleasure but also it will bring people together, stimulate business growth.
Instead, all the rest stops from Virginia to Louisiana will be state-of-the-art, buildings of beauty, odes to bragging rights – “Our visiting center is better than Georgia’s!” 
The joke is on the American people; money is flushing down the toilet at rest stops. Those orange and blue signs are not signs of recovery but rather mismanaged funds.  There is outrage over those signs; citizens believe money could have been appropriated better without so many signs. 
The funds from each $350 sign should have been going toward repaving and retrofitting the roads. Instead, we are still a work in progress.  Unfinished.

HEALTH CARE REFORM:America’s Pre-Existing Condition or …

 … How Do You Mend a Broken System,

Broken Promises, Broken Hearts?

(Part 5 of Five Parts)

Kimberlee Currans-Leto

UPSTATE ROUNDTABLE

 

 (Troy, New York) There’s something rotten in America.  While other countries provide for their citizens, ours continue to struggle at every turn. 

 

In today’s economy, families are faced with impossible pressures and decisions that carry great impact upon their futures.  Many do not have savings and do not have retirement because they chose to provide for their children.

 

President Obama is taking a great gamble that policymakers will finally see the light.  The numbers do not lie.  This year over 47,000 people in America will die due to lack of health insurance coverage.  This reality many experts attribute to lack of affordable options for families who do not have coverage through their employment or do not qualify for state-funded programs. Today in America over 46,000,000 people lack health insurance coverage. Many of these people agree if there were an affordable option, they would be insured.

 

Who pays for this lack of coverage for the uninsured should they fall ill or become hurt in an accident?  One answer: we all do. 

 

It does not matter which side of the reform one stands for, this issue hurts us all with the rising costs of premiums, co-pays, prescription allotments and limitations on existing coverage. As a result, many struggle to keep coverage.  Insurance companies continue to make money off of everyone while limiting those who can participate by including the pre-existing condition clause. 

 

In many states the insurance company excludes pre-existing conditions up to one year.  This concept, creatively designed by the industry as a loophole of exclusion, symbolizes what is rotten at the core of the industry and it makes health care reform all the more complicated.  How do you remedy a broken system with not just broken promises but a sick way of determining who gets coverage?  The ironic twist is that many families would give up their life savings, the deed to their homes, if it meant they could have affordable, adequate health care coverage for pre-existing conditions like diabetes and asthma.

 

Many families have some form of pre-existing condition that’s not covered.  Many are excluded altogether and have been given no choice but to alter their lifestyles drastically in order to qualify for state-funded programs.  How is this right or moral – to make hardworking people quit their jobs, divorce their spouses so that they can have health insurance?  This shows just how broken the current system has become, representing the blatant manipulation of insurance companies who not only profit but benefit because so many laws allow them to get away with such actions. 

 

The uninsured argument: Many things contribute to Americans taking the risk of living without health insurance and this happens more than people think about.  While many Americans fall into this category without harm to themselves or their families, I believe many do not even fathom the risk they are taking with their lives.  Many people create a gap without knowing otherwise when they discontinue coverage before starting a new policy.  Just that brief period of time can create an inconceivable nightmare, one that can follow a family for years and jeopardize every aspect of their well-being. 

 

For young children like Sheldon Wagner and others like him who fall through the cracks of broken public systems, an overall system defined by hierarchy and wealth; there must be a better way to provide health care for every American equally and fairly.  Part of the issue many conservatives cannot empathize with is the notion of covering pre-existing conditions; they believe it overburdens quality health care by allowing those who are sicker to receive treatments at the same price as those not sick at all.  Furthermore, it is felt from the conservative side that some should suffer as a consequence of their actions.  It seems unfair the only crime is being poor while others have no choice but to lower their standard of living in order to save their families.  It just brings to light how divided this country remains when instead, all Americans should be working together to solve this issue. 

 

What many do not or cannot see is how much this reform will impact other reforms and set into action the foundation needed for America’s rebirth. What the conservatives do not understand from an economic standpoint, someone will be paying for the uninsured and those labelled by pre-existing illness. This may explain the outrageousness of some hospital bills or why a ten-minute consultation costs $250.  Why aren’t people outraged, disgusted at the state of health care in this country?  Why hasn’t a mob scene incurred on Capitol Hill?

 

What we know in our hearts: President Obama is on the path to doing what’s right.  While so many seem trapped by the status quo of thinking: “There is nothing that can be done” to change something so rotten and immoral, he has this country participating in change, in finding our voices.

 

We no longer can ignore that everyday people are suffering while so many of us just blend into the background unable or unwilling to take a stand, not knowing how far our voices will carry an impact.  I will take that stand for people who have not been heard.

 

The Turning Point

The morning of September 21, 2009 dawned just like any other day in the Capital Region with thick fog and subtle fall colors quietly peeping.  For many it was business as usual, off to work or school, caught up in the usual traffic going toward downtown.  Still while the subtle suggestion of autumn remained heavy, almost uncertain of complete transformation, there was a buzz and a hope of knowing something special was about to happen.  Many eagerly waited along Albany-Shaker Road and later Route 4 for the arrival of President Barrack Obama and his visit to Hudson Valley Community College.  His visit not only marks an opportunity for Troy to be in the national spotlight, it also marks the first time a sitting president has visited the Collar city since the Eisenhower administration.  Many Trojans would agree much has changed, that we indeed have come full circle.
In its heyday, Troy was a hub of commerce, a beacon of culture and activity due to its pinnacle position along the Hudson River and proximity to the end of the Erie Canal.  But hard times have beaten down this pre-industrial beauty.  Out of many upstate towns, Troy is one of the oldest and yet due to economic downturn starting 30 years ago, one of the least respected.  But I say, many are wrong to underestimate Troy’s potential to rise from the ashes.  It is the best-hidden secret in the area. Obama’s visit marks a turning point, a cusp at which the Collar City can shine again, gain the attention such a diverse and historically rich city deserves.  I believe Obama’s visit is just the first of many magnificent opportunities for the outside to see what’s going on in upstate New York but mostly in Troy.  The Capital Region may be small but we are gaining notoriety and prestige by signaling to the world, this where you want to be if you want to be an active participant for changing and rebuilding America.  It can happen one village, one community at a time.
Many have asked me in recent days, ‘why do you think Obama chose Troy or Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC)?’  Is it the proximity to the city and his appearance on Letterman or his expected meeting at the United Nations, or do you think there are other reasons, strategically?  Honestly, he chose Troy and specifically HVCC because I believe he sees the work we doing here as an active role model for how he thinks all communities should be working to reinvent themselves.  Honestly I believe he chose HVCC because it is an excellent place to receive a top rate education without going into a tremendous amount of debt. I believe he values education as he values health care for every American and he sees community colleges are playing a significant role in re-establishing a value for education in this country.  Here in Troy, he introduced his plan that by 2020 America will once again have the highest rate of college graduates and he believes many of those educations will begin at community colleges.
I never went to a community college but I took a different path from the average experience. I went to Mills College in Oakland, CA; it is the oldest woman’s college west of the Rocky Mountains but I can still remember people questioning my choice.  But that is the beauty of this country; we have a choice.  We have the opportunity to tap into and explore our potential and aptitude toward a skill, a talent, which leads to a mind spring of innovation and creativity.  College promotes flexible, critical thinking where ideas can be researched. Places of higher learning like HVCC embody the values needed for such paths to grow because it makes education accessible.  Community college gives students more options toward a brighter future and this in turn influences the entire community.  I never realized the importance of community college because I had my mind set on an ‘ivy league’ level education but I also received the scholarship money.  Not everyone else is in the same position.  I never realized how many people would not be where they are today without the benefit of community college education.  Personal story: Dr. Lauren Reager, a dermatologist in Santa Monica, CA saved my life when at fifteen years old I was diagnosed with lupus.  I am alive because of him. At the time in the late 1980s not only was there not a test for lupus, not many doctors had experience with the disease.  I am extremely fortunate he began his studies at a community college because that is where he gained the knowledge and the tools to see past the typical set of classical illnesses.  I explore this need for accessible education because of people like him that have broken down barriers and opened doors to education mainly due to their value for research and investigation that began at the community college level.
America faces issues of accessibility where there is a clear disparity, a divide.  While it is seen in health care, it creates obstacles everywhere else.  Clearly after hearing his speech in Troy, he has a master plan because he knows community colleges hold the key and make futures possible where private institutions remain unattainable for many working class families.  The tuition is just too high and the lack of scholarship money is too low because too many families come from the same circumstances.  Much like health care, the financial aid system needs repair.  Obama discussed ditching the middle man, the bank and suggests government lending directly to the student and that these channels must be reopened again. Current credit markets must improve.
While many have fallen on hard times, others have slacked off and let consumption and material things cloud their judgment.  Obama realizes this is true of many lawmakers.  There has been a lack of accountability with regard to understanding what is happening at the community level, what is happening in our neighborhoods. He points out that Troy could be in any American region: the South and the Mid-west.  It has an any town USA quality where stories are similar and patience is wearing thin with regard to lack of jobs. And not just JOBS but high-paying jobs that can feed families and turn areas once hit by poverty into places of great prosperity.  For upstate New York, this visit is a clear turning point because it represents years if not decades of hard work and gambling on innovative ideas and breakthroughs like nanotechnology and green, renewable energy products.  There is debate over rather or not investment should have been routed upstate rather than the city and other down state areas.  For many years, there has been resentment on the part of upstaters feeling more money should have been invested into improving the area and creating more jobs because such down trodden areas promote poverty, welfare, gangs and drugs.
Still the President could have gone to Troy, MI.  He could have gone to any other similar town but instead he chose Troy, NY and HVCC for a valid reason. Upstate is on the cusp of greatness.  Obama alluded to the fact that like many cities, Troy does not stand alone in the challenge of rebuilding a better America but also such a mission begins at the roots.  Every individual, every block, every community has a voice and participatory role in the reinvention of America.  That is the message Obama aimed to present while in Troy but also he wants a return to what Troy used to be. Troy was a leader of industry, a place where creativity and innovation married to bring inventions to every household.  Many men today would not have collars on their shirts, if it were not for the city of Troy.  It is that simple.  Obama seeks to harness that feeling of possibility, the seeking of new and better ways of doing simple things.  He thinks this is how inventions are created and new products introduced to the market place and he is right.
There must be the ‘can do’ attitude that so many from Troy’s hey day possessed, the feeling that anything is possible and that we are definitely at a turning point in our evolution as Americans.  It is thought that such a focus upon the basics will allow for social advancement where voices are heard and change is not a foreign concept.  We will be a culture without fear and this will spawn further invention but also artistic movements and folklore.  The message here is bring the value for innovation, research and clear communication back to the people because this will drive the costs of doing business down.  Small business should be on the rise and encouraged.
Troy is an accurate role model of how everything that is happening in this country is interconnected but also how change is possible.  That breakthroughs taking place in research at HVCC has a direct impact upon the world, but this also drives enthusiasm. It becomes contagious but also drives sustained growth and shared prosperity, which builds American competitive advantage.  Continued innovation helps all sectors of industry because it creates an open and free market.  Obama suggests in this speech that one action correlates with another or that if we value education, this too will influence how health care is reformed and implemented.  This all plays an active role in restoring American back to the status of global leader.
I can just hear the critics now.  Many will think it is just too utopian, that it could not possibly work.  Conservatives will say you cannot cut out the middleman and that banks are the backbone of commerce but so many forget! It is really just so simple and common sense.  Obama’s visit to the Capital Region represents to me that he has not forgotten.  He has not forgotten! There is a challenging road ahead but clearly there is something special happening in Troy that also remains non-partisan. The community actively puts into reality Obama’s vision for the future.  He wants the world to see the difference between potential of ‘what if we apply this great idea’ to the active participation of actually getting it done.  In this way, other cities can also return from the ashes.
Kimberlee Currans-Leto lives and works as a freelance writer in North Troy, NY.  Originally born in Texas and raised in Europe and California, she adopted that ‘New York Sate of Mind’ when she moved upstate with her husband.  Her professional background varies from working on movie sets in Hollywood to saving people’s homes from foreclosure.  She considers herself a ‘foodie’ and finds the best therapy in baking chocolate chip cookies or organizing a huge dinner party.  You can contact her at leto.press@gmail.com.

Health Care Reform: Pt. 3 Who is an American?

It’s that time of year again. Dreaded by children of all ages across the country. The slow gradual progression from long summer days to even shorter hours of daylight is upon us.  The time of year when school bus yellow makes a come back, family members dash out the door, carpools are arranged and Friday nights are spent cheering for high school football heroes blessed with amazing coordination.  Kids and families are back in the swing of things, getting used to all that homework again and making last minute peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.  Pretty soon every stoop on the block will have a pumpkin and climbing rose bushes will be replaced with hardy mums.  Say goodbye to summer.  But as we reflect upon another season passing, there is also excitement, a feeling of opportunity as a pall of doubt slowly dissipates and the economy recovers from a year ago.

This country remains poised on the cusp of change.  The new administration has set a tone that it is not afraid to tackle the tough issues like health care reform.

Last November, citizens made history electing the first African American president, Barack Obama and not in my lifetime have I ever seen so many people interacting in the process of politics.  Obama made his campaign and now his administration about people and the needs of American people.  It is this grassroots strategy that continues to resonate a new level of participation.  No longer is the president just the most powerful man in the world, leader of the free world but he is also just a man.  This defines Obama’s appeal to so many who still believe “Yes we can!”

While some worry he will falter under bipartisan pressure, others back Obama’s position on health care reform and look to a future where every American is treated equal, fairly and this continues the movement started on the campaign trail.  Much of the future starts with access to affordable health insurance and quality health care for all Americans.

While the issue of health care reform has created an impassioned debate with the potential to overwhelm dinner conversation and possibly divide families, there remains a weak link in the reform that many conservatives believe will lead to a failed bill.

What we know: Many cannot see eye to eye on the status of the current system. Broken or unbroken, ineffective moneymaking machine or providing quality care, it is anyone’s guess.  One thing for sure, until it is your child, your parent, your own life in the balance, or your lack of money, this issue remains impersonal.  Many people still do not know exactly what the public option is but also on the other hand many believe; could it get any worse? The issue with reform’s ideology: It is very difficult to envision a one thousand page document, a multitude of theories, definitions and complicated legal ease being put into practice on such a grand scale.  This is reform could take years to implement as we transition from the old to the new system.  This reform has the potential to protect our infrastructure.  I am not talking about roads, bridges, canals, airports railroads, or even the Internet but I am talking about people.  The infrastructure is made of people; the working class that make so many lives comfortable.  I am talking about the bus drivers, the trash collectors, waitresses, short order cooks, cleaners, and mechanics, even the cashiers at Wal-Mart.  These are the people that make our country possible.  So then why are they short changed quality health care?

Two things have gone wrong with the reform so far. First it has been rushed and therefore hastily written to a point few can understand it without a law degree.  How is that fair to the infrastructure? For something so monumental, what is the rush?  Campaign promise or not, such a broken system took years, if not decades to build, a solution cannot happen overnight.  The sad truth for over 47 million Americans who remain uninsured and possibly ill, this is the one time as a society we desperately need instant gratification or a magic wand in solving this problem.

Second, many have been quick to judge and look to negative attributes of why reform will not work.  The main concern is how the reform is worded. The language is evasive and generalized.  As with most legal ease and even statues, tried and true laws of this land, this language is open for interpretation by those who practice it, lawmakers.  Such open definitions can lead any law to chaos.  While the language of the reform bill starts by saying “To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes” (H.R. 3200, 111th Congress, 1st session) one cannot help but wonder what the bill means by “all Americans”?  Shouldn’t “all Americans” be replaced with all legal citizens or better yet, all tax paying citizens? If you pay taxes, you qualify for the public option because this seems most fair, right?

Still this issue has been a major point of contention many conservatives consider to be the weak link that opens the door to socialism, even Marxism.  Conservatives enjoy their politics in black and white; the gray areas of uncertainty bother them. This bill bothers them because they believe it opens the door for non-resident aliens to be entitled to our health care system, a system they describe as the best in the world. The reform language uses the word beneficiary but does not state the criteria for establishing who a beneficiary will be.  All Americans could include legal resident aliens, right?  On page 170, it does state non-resident aliens will not be allowed to partake of the benefit. What do we do about the non-resident aliens already taking advantage of the best health care system in the world?  What about people with green cards?  Never in the bill does it state the type of identification process a beneficiary will have to complete in order to get approved for the public option.  Besides many forms of identification can be forged, bought and sold for the right amount money.  Conservatives worry this reform will encourage further identity theft to include not just bank or credit cards but also health insurance coverage.

While the above are legitimate concerns every American should consider as we wait holding our breath on such a crucial issue, I cannot help but think about weighing out the options.  Yes there are many negatives to the reform but on the flipside, there are also positive impacts for so many individuals and families that I cannot deny the potential seen in Obama’s vision.

Part of what bothers me most is that the current system is killing people, making children and families suffer unnecessarily. So many have shared devastating stories of having to make life changing decisions based on either lack of coverage and affordability this directly contributes to weakening the infrastructure.  We need to take care of the core before thinking of anything else.  No longer should families have to be faced with losing their child because of being on a waiting list or being refused insurance due to a preexisting condition.  There must be a way to unveil the true American experience to those unable or unwilling to see exactly what is taking place around them.  It is my belief that health care reform is just the first piece in the puzzle of creating a new America one voice, one story at a time.

The Road to Health Care Reform: The Human Right To Quality Care

This issue of health care reform in recent weeks has become so politically charged and divided.  I believe this divide represents a great disparity between the “haves” and “have nots”.  Many people worry the reform in the wrong hands cannot possibly work but also will lead to many falling through the cracks.  For one, issues of elder care as our population ages needs to be addressed.  Still, there is a matter of cost. Conservatives believe the reform will tax us too much (at least 50%), but also give the government power over who lives and who dies.  There will be the forgotten.  Still, have the conservatives put a face on health care reform?  Do they know how reform may bring about a change so grand no one can possibly understand its impact?  It has never been tested at this level and we will never know unless we try.

Meanwhile, young working families struggle to put food on the table and purchase “Back to School” supplies.  Many worry about their jobs and the rising cost of gasoline.  Also, many are living the nightmare of a broken system that does not value the right to quality health care and makes access to such care frustrating and tedious.  So this week before I put a face to health care reform, I ask the following question: When did health care stop being a human right? Why are there no options in the existing system for the poor and working classes?  What is wrong with the option of having a choice instead of being forced into subpar insurance coverage like the high-deductible plans many working class Americans are offered?  Affordable coverage means taking the risk you will never be chronically ill but what about those who fall into a large demographic of people with preexisting conditions?  Many conservatives state that Health saving accounts (or HSAs) can work.  I don’t think they understand.  Most Americans do not have savings, nor do they have the income to save and some even struggle to eat.  Many working families are surviving just above the poverty level.  Conservatives believe that charities can aid in the health care dilemma by filling in the gaps of private insurance.  Do they not know that many charities are already overburdened?  Many do not think the system is broken and nor do they think health care is a right for all Americans because it is not addressed in the Constitution. Still, do not the building blocks for American government and law come from the tenants of Judeo-Christian belief systems?  Does this not mean we must as a society take care of each other, especially those less fortunate and do good deeds?  Still I believe life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the essence of our forefathers’ message, suggest the right to good health.  Access to health care should be an inalienable right, a fundamental value for this nation to embrace.  Instead, many people disagree that health care coverage is indeed a right but instead a choice.  For many, they believe it comes down to an option like any other insurance.  You choose to insure your car, your life, why not your health? Point taken: Many believe health care should stay out of the hands of government.  Health care and the choices it represents should be in the hands of families or, in other words, the consumers.

Rev. Sophia DeWitt, Director of Health, Housing and Senior Services Ministries, Fresno Interdenominational Refugee Ministries (FIRM, Inc.) expresses her concern over the attitude toward health care as being a privilege. “From a faith perspective, I would say it is immoral because it denies human dignity to so many, rations care based on income and costs lives– and yet our political system is totally incapable of solving the problem.”  Our existing systems do not want health care in the hands of people but rather big, moneymaking corporations.  Still, the liberal view also has drawbacks to the reform because it seems too socialist.  Regardless, the chances of the reform passing are small because the legislation lacks the language to define who will benefit from such reform.  Truly, this issue is not about fancy words or which side of the political coin is right; it is about families torn apart every day by real-life altering health care decisions and a system that does not focus upon those who really need quality care. These people are out there, each with a different story of how the current health care system has failed them.  They may be your neighbors or even a family member.

Picture this: You have been sitting in a hospital emergency room for three and a half hours with a sick child running a fever, a child with a history of infection to his central line.  The situation: You have no private health insurance coverage because you are a single mother taking care of two disabled children and therefore are unable to work.  You are at the mercy of government health care programs like Medicaid. Imagine also: You have been evicted from your apartment because your landlord does not like the fact there is a constant stream of health care professionals coming in and out of your home to take care of your son, who is deathly ill.  To further the nightmare: You are now on a waiting list to travel to Boston for further testing of your son’s gastrointestinal tract.  Mind you, the doctors have taken a tissue biopsy sample twelve weeks ago.  They said the sample was sent to Germany; you have not received any results.  Still, you wait to go to Boston and your son in the meantime has repeated infection after infection affecting his ability to maintain a healthy weight.  When he should be playing and enjoying the sunshine, he must sit in his “chair” to receive the nourishment and medical treatment he needs to stay alive.  And still you wait for Boston.  Next, you were told there may be a problem getting to Boston because you have a car, an old hand-me-down clunker.  Owning a car disqualifies you from free medical transportation via government guidelines for income.  Unless he is in the hospital, you must find your own transportation.  Your brother has agreed to drive to Boston but now you’ve found out that the Ronald McDonald House, where you have stayed in Albany, the Boston chapter only caters to parents of cancer patients.  Where will you stay in Boston where the less expensive motel is $150 a night?

This is Sarah and Sheldon Wagner’s story.  Sarah Wagner of North Creek, NY has a chronically ill son named Sheldon, who without everyday medical care would die.  Sheldon will be four years old on October 8th and he has been hospitalized eighteen times this year for numerous infections including staph.  He has been sick since birth.  The doctors do not know exactly what is wrong with Sheldon, just that he has trouble eating normally. He has a central line, which feeds him and provides regular medications to his circulatory system.  This central line has been problematic because it is prone to infection but Sarah has been told without this device, he would die.  Sarah asks Sheldon, “Are you my wonder boy, my gadget boy?” because without the innovation of medicine Sheldon would not be here. His gadget needs constant medical attention from daily caregivers. While the year is not over, it is not unusual for Sarah to drive nearly two hours from her home in the Adirondacks to Albany, NY so that Sheldon can receive the best of pediatric care at Albany Medical Center.  In June, while most children were enjoying summer with an ice cream cone or riding bikes in the park, Sheldon was in isolation from visitors and the outside world so that he did not catch any more contagions.  Many times, Sarah has traveled in the middle of the night to a hospital with her mother or brother for reliable transportation but mostly moral support.  This situation has become her life.  For the sake of Sheldon’s health care, she has sacrificed her own well-being.  This situation has presented a strain emotionally and financially upon her family.  While Sarah receives public assistance, she is unable to work as Sheldon’s primary parent.  With the support of her family and continued treatment, Sheldon is able to be home until they leave for Boston on September 13th.

Sheldon has an endearing spirit, a radiant soul that touches all who visit.  His laughter is infectious and he’s got the talent for numbers.  He could be a future NASA rocket scientist.  Sheldon never questions the treatment, sometimes he is frustrated but he always has a smile for you.  Never is it, “Why did this happen to us” or “Why is my little boy so sick?” but really Sarah is more concerned with “What can I do to help my son get better?”  Like any parent in the same circumstances, she must trust the knowledge of Sheldon’s doctors but mostly she must play by the rules of Medicaid.  It seems this creates a whole new meaning to red tape and redundancy.  She has had to make some drastic decisions alone for Sheldon’s sake but many have been at the mercy of the Medicaid system and what that system has been willing to provide for Sheldon. She must ask questions and make sure all of Sheldon’s needs are met.  If this means calling the doctor’s service at four in the morning, she does it.  Still, this whole situation comes back to the waiting list for the Boston visit.  If Sheldon was the son of a doctor, lawyer, senator or even a celebrity, do you think he would have to wait?

While Sarah may not fully understand the health care reform, she understands that there must be a better way to ensure that every person in America receives quality care and is treated equally.  When asked if a public option might help someone like herself or Sheldon, she agrees that just talking about health care is the catalyst for change.  “The first step is admitting there is even a problem,” she says.

The Road to Health Care Reform: Understanding Obama’s Public Option

Many years have passed since the Clinton Administration failed to promote a universal health care approach to a system direly in need of revamping.  After decades of proposal and defeat, it is clear the American health care system is broken.  Instead, the health care system as many Americans know and understand, has been allowed to continue promoting an ineffective, outdated business model where profit supersedes the needs of patients.  What has been forgotten: the average American family.  Out of all Western nations, we pay the highest out-of-pocket costs for health care.  What should be an inalienable right has become a privilege and a luxury many worry will be in jeopardy.

Now the Obama Administration falls under scrutiny for living up to a campaign promise of tackling the health care issue.  While some consider Obama a socialist for facing social issues head-on, and many do not agree with his methods, others respect his focus upon the concerns of everyday Americans.  There is so much bad press about the Health Care Reform Bill of 2009, but still many admire his tenacity.  Still, there is much confusion; misconception about what the reform entails and how such an undertaking, while ambitious can be made possible.  Many remain doubtful and question how a “public’ option” will not mean an invasion of privacy.  One silver lining: As the controversy continues, at least people are talking regardless of political affiliation, statehood or economic status.

Fact one: this issue of health care reform is complex, emotional and fiscal.  While the existing system remains broken, should it not be fixed but instead replaced? Why not start over with a different blueprint?  Below, I will explore the complexity of this issue where so much is at stake for every American and the human right to quality care.

There are two separate issues at hand here that many consider only one.  There is the issue of insurance and the issue of quality health care.  They seem to become one and the same.  While each American should have the right to affordable health care and insurance that covers every need, at what cost? How is it possible Obama’s proposal can meet all the needs of every American when we are so diverse in ideology?  The way the current system is set up burdens every American but primarily the lower working class.  It impacts many living pay check to pay check and families struggling with economic blight.

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