Jonelle Simons

The USA is currently ranked #37 in the world in health care by the WHO (World Health Organization). THAT is pathetic. We currently spend 40% more than France, who is ranked at #1 by the WHO. Yet we get so much LESS! Here's a great article I found on the NY Times. CLICK HERE. This is pretty right on... please take a few minutes to read it. I am still so blown away that some people don't think Americans should have access to BASIC, AFFORDABLE, health care... and I can't understand why everyone is so afraid of the public option. Without the public option, there will be no real reform. As long as companies are motivated by their bottom line to DECLINE people and DENY procedures, it's not going to work. There must be a public option available to people. Those who like their 'employer based' coverage can keep it. Those who don't have the OPTION of 'employer based' coverage -- and who are DECLINED by private companies, like me, can have a good, affordable public option. Sorry - but #37 just is NOT good enough. Here's a funny video :)

OH MY GOD!!! We can't cover ILLEGAL ALIENS in the new health care bill! NEWSFLASH- We already do!! And honestly, would you want it any other way?? Would you want to live in a country where if a person went in to the emergency room who was badly bleeding, or had a broken bone would be TURNED AWAY and told "Sorry, we can't treat you, you're here ILLEGALLY!" Would you want to live in a country where people would be let die just because they don't have "proper documentation"? I certainly hope not. This is an article I came across from a very reputable bi-partisan source. The claims that are being made by opponents of health care reform are nothing but lies, and it was passed around in a very large chain email to try to scare people. Here are just a couple of my favorites. See the link at the end of this article for the full story from FactCheck.org.

• "YOUR HEALTH CARE WILL BE RATIONED!" FALSE!!!! It says nothing whatsoever about “rationing” or anything of the sort. Actually, it’s favorable to families and individuals, placing an annual cap on what they could pay out of pocket if covered by a basic, “essential benefits package.” The limits would be $5,000 for an individual, $10,000 for a family.
• "A GOVERNMENT COMMITTEE WILL DECIDE WHAT TREATMENTS AND BENEFITS YOU GET" FALSE!! Actually, the section starting on page 30 sets up a “private-public advisory committee” headed by the U.S. surgeon general and made up of mostly private sector “medical and other experts” selected by the president and the comptroller general. The advisory committee would have only the power “to recommend” what benefits are included in basic, enhanced and premium insurance plans. It would have no power to decide what treatments anybody will get. Its recommendations on benefits might or might not be adopted.
• "ALL NON-US CITIZENS, ILLEGAL OR NOT, WILL BE PROVIDED WITH FREE HEALTHCARE SERVICES." FALSE!! That’s simply not what the bill says at all. This page includes "SEC. 152. PROHIBITING DISCRIMINATION IN HEALTH CARE," which says that "[e]xcept as otherwise explicitly permitted by this Act and by subsequent regulations consistent with this Act, all health care and related services (including insurance coverage and public health activities) covered by this Act shall be provided without regard to personal characteristics extraneous to the provision of high quality health care or related services." However, the bill does explicitly say that illegal immigrants can’t get any government money to pay for health care. Page 143 states: "Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States." And as factcheck.org has said before, current law prohibits illegal immigrants from participating in government health care programs.

I'm so tired of the scare tactics and lies. And I really don't understand - WHY is everyone so 'scared' of a public option?? As the video from my last post points out, a public option is simply competition. If it's better and more affordable, then it works, and we all win!! If it's NOT, then it will simply fail. The reason 'everyone' (ie. the insurance companies and everyone who believes their lies) is so scared, is because then they might actually have to be FAIR with people. They might actually have to STOP DISCRIMINATING against people with pre-existing conditions (like me). They might actually have to PAY for preventative care for people in situations like mine. Please take a few minutes out of your day and read the full article from factcheck.org. Educate yourself on what the bill ACTUALLY says. As always, please feel free to comment.

This video is a good, simple terms idea of what the "public option" really is, to follow up on my post from yesterday. It's less than 2 minutes long - Please take the short time to watch it, and feel free to comment with your thoughts if you want.

MY situation: I’m among the millions and millions of uninsured Americans. I’m 27 years old, and extremely healthy. I hardly ever get sick. I eat healthy. I exercise. I’m not overweight (at all!). I don’t use any prescriptions. I am a non-tobacco user. I’m completely, 100% LOW RISK with one exception. 5 years ago, I had a spot of melanoma on my back. I go to the dermatologist to get checked twice a year. If I have any more melanoma, It will likely be caught very early, and will be a very minor thing (a small surgery to remove the spot and a 2” section around it) as it was the last time.

ANY past history of melanoma = AUTOMATIC DECLINE for ALL insurance companies. And even in “high risk pools”, such as Utah’s “HIPUtah plan”, my melanoma is excluded for a minimum 12-month period. This means, even if I sign up for this RIDICULOUS policy that covers very little, and is very expensive (OVER $400/month for even reasonable coverage!!), if within 12 months of coverage, I get another spot of melanoma, no costs associated with it will be covered. Any costs associated with even getting CHECKED for melanoma within that 12-month period will not be covered. Do the insurance companies want me to NOT get preventative care, and to potentially let what would otherwise be a very minor thing turn into something that could be a lot more serious, just so they don’t have to cover it? The simple answer is YES! They don’t really give a shit about me. They only give a shit about their bottom line.

I’m self-employed. I’m a real estate broker, and an “independent contractor”. I don’t have an employer-based option for health care. Even if I did, my ‘pre-existing condition’ would still be excluded for a certain period of time. I was browsing online today, and came across an article that had the headline: “REALTORS Covered by NAR With New Limited Health Insurance Program”. Sounds pretty good – right? Well, turns out that by “limited”, it actually means “COVERS NOTHING”. They are basically taking money for almost nothing. The list of “Plan Limitations and Exclusions Applicable to All Benefits” is so long it took me almost an hour to read and digest. One of the “exclusions” reads as follows: Treatment or removal of warts, moles, boils, skin blemishes or birthmarks, bunions, acne, corns, calluses, the cutting and trimming of toenails, care for flat feet, fallen arches or chronic foot strain; I called an agent with the company who administers this plan, and told him my situation. He rudely told me “NOPE, won’t be covered”. Not only WON’T they cover me, they won’t let ANYONE on their plan get checked or treated for melanoma. Checking for melanoma involves the removal and testing of abnormal-looking moles. Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer, but is almost 100% curable if caught early. These people would prefer if I DON’T EVEN GET CHECKED!!! Wow… I guess that’s the “free market” on health insurance. Pad the bottom line. Screw the patient!!!

Under Obama’s plan, there would be NO DISCRIMINATION against people with pre-existing conditions (ie. ME!). INSURANCE COMPANIES could not drop coverage on people when they get sick. It would create a new insurance marketplace, “The Exchange”, which would create a real competitive market. It would offer a PUBLIC OPTION (Hallelujah!) for people like me!! It would IMMEDIATELY offer low cost coverage to people with preexisting conditions (ie. ME). It all MAKES SENSE!!! This isn’t just about me. There are millions and millions of Americans in similar situations. Yet some ass holes in congress are fighting tooth and nail to block this plan. They are so deep in the insurance lobby’s pockets it’s sickening. They are spreading treacherous lies, and propaganda, and using the same old BS “Scare Tactics” to try to block real reform from happening. ONE OF THEM even had the audacity to actually YELL FROM THE HOUSE FLOOR “You Lie!” to Barrack Obama as he spoke. This is definitely a new low in American politics, and is SO disrespectful it’s beyond words.

So here’s my plea, to all who read this: Please, Please, PLEASE, call your congressmen. Tell them to SUPPORT Obama’s plan, and make a real change. This can’t wait ANY longer.

Click here to see details on the plan and send a letter to your congressmen.

Click here to contribute to Rob Miller’s campaign. Help him defeat that dick head Joe Wilson, who had the audacity to heckle president Obama from the house floor.

Participate in events and vigils to help pass real healthcare reform. And, if your congressmen don’t listen, VOTE AGAINST THEM IN THE NEXT ELECTION! ORGANIZE for their opponents. Donate to their opponents’ campaigns. That’s one thing that WILL get their attention.

Please pardon my language in this post, as you can certainly tell if you’ve read this far, this is something I’m extremely emotional about. As always, please feel free to comment.

Day 1: Landed in Washington DC, and caught a cab to my boyfriend's cousin's house in Bethesda. We spent the afternoon chilling out, and had a few beers. Later that night, we went out to downtown Bethesda, where we had a half pitcher of white sangria at a nice Mexican restaurant. We walked to the Hyatt, and had one more drink at a great little martini bar there, and then headed back.

Day 2: Breakfast at the Congressional Country Club with a couple friends, and then headed in to DC to pick up our inauguration tickets from the DNC headquarters. On the way there, we saw Obama's motorcade go by (cool!). We got to the DNC headquarters, and were invited up to the office of Howard Dean.
Later, we went up to Georgetown, and visited the Georgetown University campus. Then out for a couple of brews and lunch at Toombs. After lunch, we headed back to downtown DC, the Sofitel, where we stayed for the rest of the trip. We met up with my boyfriend's sister, and went to the bar in the sofitel, "le bar", for a drink and dinner. To bed early, big day tomorrow!

Day 3: Inauguration day. left the hotel about 8:00 am for the trek to the mall, where we got trapped in a huge crowd of people, and it became apparent we were not going to make it through the gates in time. To make a long story short, we did NOT make it in to see the swearing in, but instead, watched it on a huge jumbo tron, within the masses of people, and it was the coolest thing ever. People were crying, and hugging complete strangers, and it was a feeling of pure joy! It took us a couple hours after that to make it back to our hotel. It has NEVER felt so good to sit down! We had a couple beers and lunch at "le bar" and headed up to the room for a nap.
Later that night, we were invited by some friends of to the Western Ball. We got all ready for that, and caught a cab to meet them at the Hyatt Garden hotel. We had one drink there, then headed for the convention center. There was SO MUCH traffic, we ended up walking about 4 blocks in the freezing cold (I was wearing a dress and sandals!). The ball was neat, good music, including a live performance from Jennifer Lopez. The best part was that Vice President Joe Biden showed up, gave a little speech, had a dance... and about 15 minutes later, President Obama showed up with Michelle! We were probably 50 yards away... very cool.
After the ball, we ran in the freezing cold across the street to the Renaissance hotel. There were SO many people, and not enough cabs. We sat and had a couple more drinks there at the bar at the Renaissance, and finally, got a car back to the hotel, where we went to bed about 3 AM.

Day 4: We got up and just did a little walking around DC. I was amazed how CLOSE everything actually was... and at how far we had to walk the previous day to get the same place that was really only a couple of blocks away! We had lunch with a friend, then caught a car to the BWI airport!

Overall, it was an AMAZING trip. It was so cool to be a part of it all, a part of what will surely go down as one of the most important inaugurations in history!