Utah Health Care Reform

HuffPo: Teabaggers' money is green too

2009-11-06T11:37:00.000-08:00

TELL me I didn't just see an ad for the teabaggers organization
on HuffPo!!?

I did!

WTF HUFFPO? Is everyone's money equally green?
EVEN THE TEABAGGERS' MONEY? Stop Government-run Healthcare?

Hands off my Healthcare?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

The People's Lobby

2009-09-09T02:00:00.001-07:00

Are you fed up with special interest lobbyists who get to bend the ear of the politicians? Please come join us as we create a lobby of the people, by the people and for the people! Join with a broad coalition of groups and interests who want to help end the injustice, greed and corruption which characterize politics as usual today.

Meet for a mass rally at the Federal Building at 100 South State St. on Monday, Sept. 14th at 5:00 pm to let your representatives know how you really feel about health care reform along with a host of other issues.

Our Message to Rep. Jim Matheson

2009-09-01T14:40:00.000-07:00

One message came through crystal clear from last night's street-side town hall for Rep. Jim Matheson - Utahns are fed up! Monday night rush-hour is not the ideal time to hold a rally of any sort. People are generally only in a mood to get home, put on dinner, get their kids started on homework and get their own obligations taken care of. Despite this less-than-ideal timing, we had dozens of people respond enthusiastically to the proposition of standing on a hot dusty street corner holding a sign for an hour or more, taking the boos as well as the honks and cheers in favor of health insurance reform. Our final head count fell in the range of 150-175 (we had more than one person counting) so we definitely consider the evening a success and want to thank everyone for your support.

Many people wanted to know "Is Jim coming? Will he see us?" and I am glad that I can answer, yes he did come by, and yes he did see all of you, and all of your great signs and your frustration with his lack of communication. We were holding out hope that he would at least stop and address the crowd, if even for a few minutes, but it was not to be. However, he did drive by and several people did see him as he waited at the light on 3800 South and turned into the entrance to Millcreek Canyon.

We also want to thank all of our participants for helping out with the die-in! This was our "flash mob" action for the evening to help represent those thousands of individuals who die every year due to the lack of adequate, affordable coverage.

Finally, another great effect of the rally was that we got some good media coverage, with a spot on Monday's Fox 13 evening broadcast and articles in the Deseret News and two separate mentions in the Salt Lake Crawler blog on the Salt Lake Tribune's site - Jim's Surprise town-hall meeting and Rocky kicks the Blue Dogs

I also saw a camera from channel 23 which belongs to one of the local independent Hispanic media outlets. We were not asked to give a statement to their representative, so I cannot confirm any coverage on that end. We are trying to get a clip of the TV coverage, so if you have it on your DVR, please contact us ASAP.

So what's next?

We are committed to helping support real reform through showing that Utahns, like a majority of Americans, do want affordable, real coverage. We want the insurance companies regulated in order to end the terrible practices of denying coverage to those most in need, whether through recission or "pre-existing" conditions. We want to counter the media coverage of people shouting down their opponents and spreading lies, through showing that we can come together peacefully and present a united front that works toward a solution that will cover everyone, nationwide. We CAN do it, and you can continue to help. We want to help other, more established groups do public actions and events such as these which will capture the attention of the media and our fellow Utahns and Americans. Please join us at the following events coming up so we can keep the momentum going and help convice our representatives that we support real reform for everyone.

MoveOn Candlelight Vigil
Weds. Sept. 2nd - 7:30 pm
Utah State Capitol Building

People's Lobby for a Better America
(we are one of the groups in the lobby)
Mon. Sept. 14th - 5 pm
Federal Building
100 S. State St., SLC

You can also see all of the photos for our street-side town hall here in this slideshow:

Flyers en Español

2009-08-27T22:06:00.000-07:00

Utahns trae la Presidencia municipal a Matheson

Jim Matheson ha negado tener reuniones públicas de "Presidencia municipal" con sus componentes para explicar por qué él es uno de los "democratas conservadores" que bloquea la reforma de seguro medico. ¡Le hasemos este llamado a todo utahns a traerle la presidencia municipal a él!

Lunes Augusto 31 a las 5:30 pm

¡Deje que tu voz se escuche sobre el valle! Trae carteles,las bancartas, los disfraces y Sus amigos, la familia, los
colegas y cualquiera más que quiere mostrar a jim por qué
nosotros necesitamos cambiar el statu quo, AHORA

Abrir > http://drop.io/uthealth

Password: reform

Town Hall Debriefing

2009-08-27T00:15:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to Rep. Jason Chaffetz' Town Hall meeting in West Jordan. The event was not so much eye-opening as it was frightening. Certainly, I knew that the 3rd District Republican majority would be very much in evidence, as they were. Of course I expected that they would be spouting the current talking points against health insurance reform. However I was a bit unprepared for the way in which Congressman Chaffetz was ready to whip his audience up into a snarling froth at the drop of a hat, and at the way that the crowd was all ready to snarl, shout and even physically confront those who dared to disagree, in public. One man even got whacked with a CANE (yes, from a guy old enough to be on Medicaid) for standing up to disagree with Jason.

You had the usual suspects, of course, the "don't take my Medicaid" crowd, and the teabaggers, the people with pictures of Obama with a Hitler moustache. That one certainly takes the cake for me, how a biracial black man could be compared to you know, Hitler. The cognitive disconnect that I witnessed time and time again was just astounding. The way that our supposed representative was feeding into the idiocy was all the more frightening because he is supposed to be the responsible adult at the party and instead he was the hooting fratboy, overjoyed at the tinfoil hat brigade's response to his statements. I daresay he seemed proud of the fact that he "owes the Republican Party NOTHING!" because he is so far to the right wing of his party that he is not a Republican anymore. Seriously GOP folks, you have sold your party down the river to the loonies, and he's proud to be one of them.

He mostly stayed away from calling on anyone he thought would question him, but even the few real challenges to his statements were met with vague generalities. One poor woman who has been struggling with cancer read a statement about how her insurance company would not approve of a "port" for her chemo treatments (because they cost too much) and instead forced her doctor to use an IV, which almost cost her her right arm. She asked him what he was going to do about insurance companies rationing care and coming in between a patient and her doctor, and Rep. Chaffetz responded by talking about how we needed to keep health care costs down!! Um HELLO!

One woman managed to ask him about the deficit coming from the war in Iraq, and his response went something along the lines of "It's all Congress' fault for approving that budget, and the Democrats controlled Congress"

Finally, one man asked Rep. Chaffetz about an interview that he had had earlier in the day today on KSL and when one caller asked about "death panels", why didn't he debunk it as nonsense.

Amazingly, instead of downplaying or debunking the lies, he actually perpetuated them by reading from the bill and telling the audience how it was "very easy to misinterpret" that part of the bill as a "death panel" and he can see why most people think that there is a death panel provision and how the government will FORCE doctors to do it every five years. He read from the bill, but utterly failed to grasp the meaning of the words he was reading, even when members of the audience spelled out the meaning for him.

His staff passed out an "information packet" with the misleading "Democrats Health Plan" chart (nice) and then Jason Chaffetz proceeded to pull out just about every single Wingnut Talking Point™ possible. Besides the "Guvmint wants to kill Granny" idiocy, we were treated to "They want to legislate away private insurance" and "The government can't run anything" and he even got a standing ovation for declaiming, LOUDLY, that he is completely OPPOSED to a federal Department of Education. This, while standing in a well-lit, air-conditioned large auditorium at a PUBLIC SCHOOL. Seriously. The mental disconnects there just about killed me.

I carried a sign simply stating my case. I WORK FULL TIME, BUT I HAVE NO INSURANCE. This is true. You can read my story here. Even doing everything "right" doesn't work sometimes and responsible citizens can fall through the cracks, and do so on a regular basis, and in shocking numbers. Of course this flies in the face of those who want to blame people for getting sick in the first place and/or not having enough foresight to be born healthy and with full medical coverage in a white, upper-middle-class home. But, I digress. I got a lot of nasty looks, and many snide remarks. One elderly lady told me to get a new job! Sure lady, because in the real world we have this little thing called "economic collapse". Some just could NOT believe that I didn't qualify for coverage. One person remarked "Isn't that illegal?" No, not until we pass this thing called health insurance reform, it's not.

As I was trying to leave the school, I was mobbed by several people who wanted to make sure I KNEW that the public option was just SO WRONG. Picture me being surrounded by 4-5 people, all talking at once for about 15 minutes. One man harassed me repeatedly, first telling me that he would NOT support a public option because he didn't want to PAY for MY coverage. (With a private option, people pay for their OWN coverage, unless they are too poor to do so, and I told him as much) Then he had the nerve to tell me that HE is on the Utah HIP plan. WHICH THE STATE PAYS FOR. WITH MY TAXES. So dude, you won't support a public option, even though you yourself are on government-funded and regulated insurance. NICE. He insisted again and again that I should go apply for it. But, under their rules I am NOT eligible because I am employed and my "coverage", as nonexistent as it is, because it is a "group plan" disqualifies me.

So he and several others who were mobbing me outside the auditorium insisted that I should go to IHC and apply for their charity coverage. Again, HELLO? You won't support people being able to pay their own way through a public option, but you're okay with me going to try to get charity. He called our President "Barack the Magic Liar" several times, even though I told him I disagreed with that statement. MOST disturbingly, one of the individuals talking at me told me she was a teacher, and her attitude toward her "immigrant" students was possibly one of the most hateful things that I've seen in some time. She was practically hissing at me about how much the "immigrants" are stealing all of our money and how they get free lunches and vouchers for food. Like it's so bad to feed hungry children!! I wish I'd gotten her on camera. I am scared to have her in the school she's in, with how much hatred she was exhibiting. I can only hope that she does not subconsciously take out her hatred on those poor children that she's responsible for.

What I witnessed tonight was an object lesson in how much people who are tolerant, open-minded, intelligent and compassionate need to come forward to combat the hate, latent racism and misinformation being spewed by the likes of Hannity, Rush and Beck, and by those who buy-in to their lies and distortions. There is a lot of noise on the teabagger's side, and in my opinion we are all being too polite about it. We need to make our own noise, not that of hate or divisive politics or of racism. We need to make the noise of care, concern and compassion for our fellow humans, and insist that universal health coverage is a right and a decent thing to do for all Americans. Please consider coming out to the Town Hall on August 31st and show your support.

Some of Rep. Jason Chaffetz' lies during his Town Hall Meeting:

Private insurance will be abolished
Bill includes a "death panel" provision that REQUIRES doctors to review "end of life" options every 5 years.
Americans will be forced onto government run health care.
The current plan will mandate government run health care
We have the best health plan of any country in the world!
Illegal Immigrants will be covered

(This report filed by your UHCR Instigator-in-Chief, Tara. The opinions and thoughts expressed here are entirely my own, as Steph had to work and could not attend the event)

Dying for health insurance reform

2009-08-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

Theron David Read was one of the millions of working Americans who have been left uninsured over the past two decades. Like many small businesses in Utah and throughout America, his employer did not offer group health insurance.

Born with congenital heart disease, he was also among the millions of Americans who are currently unable to purchase private coverage, due to pre-existing conditions. As a single male, he was not eligible for Medicaid coverage.

Living as a frugal individual, Theron did not own a car or a home, and although he worked full time he was not as interested in material wealth as other men his age so often are. He was a poet, an actor and a philosopher, and was often described by his friends as one of the kindest, most generous individuals they had ever met. He was a doting uncle to his niece and nephews, and treasured his family ties.

Because he did not have health insurance coverage, he went without his required medications for most of his adult life. Many of his friends would try to help as they were able to, by purchasing his prescriptions or through other means, but in the end, their efforts were not enough. On July 20, 2009, he had a heart attack and passed away on the TRAX train, on his way to work. Theron was just 44 years old at the time of his passing, and was mourned by hundreds of people on the Facebook group memorial page which was set up by his friends after his death. His writings are set to be archived by the University of Utah as a way to preserve his legacy for the future.

How would the current ideas set to be voted on regarding health insurance reform legislation have helped Theron?

First, if the proposal passes to repeal of the ability of these companies to "pick and choose" people without pre-existing conditions, this will help people like Theron to purchase health coverage that they currently cannot buy. Many people are born with conditions that place them in the pre-existing condition state, and ending this type of discrimination is one of the most important pieces of the current legislation. If insurance companies are required to cover everyone, the first barrier to universal coverage will fall.

Second, an expansion of the eligibility requirements for Medicaid may have placed Theron in a position where he might have qualified for coverage through an assessment of his income level. A proposal to expand Medicaid coverage so that more lower income individuals will qualify for coverage is another part of this current bill.

Third, he might have been able to qualify for a public option type of insurance where governmental assistance could have covered some or all of his premiums. A public group pool with subsidized premiums will allow millions more Americans to have access to solid, quality health care.

We mourn Theron along with all of his friends and family, and we have vowed to fight for reform so that his story will not be forgotten, and so that others who are in a similar position will not have to suffer as he did.

--

Theron Read on IMDB
Man found dead on TRAX train was Utah actor (SL Tribune)
Theron David Read Memorial on Facebook
Theron Read (Obituary)
Farewell, Theron (City Weekly)
A memorial to a friend (Youtube)

Flyers! Please Print and Distribute!

2009-08-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

Dear friends, please help us get the word out about the big event coming up on Monday, August 31st.

You can download and print these flyers on your own home printer, send them to a service like fedex office or staples, or just email them to people you think would like to have the information.

We have created a drop.io account for the files, you can access it by clicking here - http://drop.io/uthealth and the guest access password is - reform

Please check back soon as we will be adding a flyer which has been translated into Spanish.

My ticking time bomb

2009-08-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

I've been paying for group health insurance for years through my various employers. When I signed on to my new job, I signed up for their insurance. I have always had decent if not spectacular levels of coverage through my employer provided plans.

I have suffered from migraines for a long time, but in the past few years they have been getting much, much worse. I've gone from having them once or twice every 3-6 months to having them as often as 2-3 times a week, and very often they are extremely disabling.

This past May (09) I was having some very severe ones that would just not go away and I decided enough was enough and looked up a migraine specialist and made an appointment with him. He sent me to get an MRI to make sure that there was nothing else going on, like tumors, masses or other icky things. There weren't any of those things, but what he did find was little white spots called "Undifferentiated White Matter" and said it was possible that I had a heart defect called a PFO, which has been found in up to 50% of individuals with migraine. He said that the spots were indicative that there may be uncleaned blood passing through the defect and going up to my brain. I went to get another test, this one called the "bubble test" or trans-cranial doppler (TCD). This one is the definitive "Yes, you have this condition" test, because no bubbles = no hole. Of course, it was positive, and so I went for my final test, the TEE which would tell the cardiac surgeon just how big the hole was, the location of it, and give them information which would be helpful during pre-surgery planning. My cardiac surgeon told me that it was possible that my more severe migraines were actually a form of TIA or transient ischemic attack and that I could be at a higher risk for a form of stroke called cryptogenic stroke. He wanted to put me on anti-platelet medication and schedule an operation as soon as possible to close what he called a "pretty large" opening in my heart.

Soon after all of my tests were completed, I started getting unpaid bills back. When I investigated, I discovered that I do not have health insurance coverage of any stripe. Instead, I have something called limited medical coverage that basically caps any payment on a per-person, per-calendar year basis. I get $1000 toward doctor visits, $750 toward tests and a few other "benefits" such as $3000 toward hospital stays (but not toward doctor visits, surgeries, tests or care while in a hospital. Just the stay.)

I thought I was getting actual insurance, because of the fact that I'm paying just as much for this coverage as I did at my previous employer ($450 per month) and that the "plan" was administered through United Health Care, which we've been on before. I was also misled by the plan documents which told me I had a "comprehensive" plan. FORTUNATELY I guess for me, I discovered that I didn't have any coverage before I went into surgery and got even further into debt.

Now, I'm almost $10K in debt just for 2 months worth of doctor visits and 3 tests, plus one ER visit for a reaction to a new migraine medicine I was taking. I saw my migraine doctor three times, and my cardiologist once.

I won't be able to get my PFO closed through surgery, which could alleviate my migraines permanently, and I don't have enough prescription coverage to buy the anti-platelet medication. I take a little aspirin every day to try to thin out my blood so it won't clot. My cardiac doc told me that the PFO surgery was "10 minutes and $30,000". I've investigated medical tourism but decided it was still too expensive at roughly ($10-15,000) on top of the other debt that I incurred from May-July. My heart is now a ticking time bomb. Having an unclosed PFO puts me at a much higher risk for a stroke, which could cost me thousands of dollars and potentially leave me partially disabled.

The big kicker though, is that I wouldn't have even been able to get private coverage even if I had discovered this before I switched employers, due to the pre-existing conditions that I had even prior to switching jobs. I've actually tried to do that since discovering my lack of coverage, and now it's even worse since I have been diagnosed with a heart defect, NOBODY will cover me. So essentially, my family and I are all un-insured for anything more serious than the common cold, and we will be lucky if we don't lose our house over our medical bills. I have no choices left. State-provided high-risk insurance coverage for my family would cost me nearly $1100 per month for my husband and myself, (IF we could get it, we can't) and we make just over the limit for getting state coverage for our kids. In addition, we would have to purchase a separate children's insurance policy for our children averaging an extra $130 a month, bringing our total health care cost to around $1300. Per month! This is almost as much as our mortgage, and would represent a huge chunk of our family budget.

I think reform is not just a necessity, it's a mandate. We HAVE to change how things are done. If insurers were not allowed to deny people based on preexisting conditions, my family wouldn't be un-insured. If we could choose a public-group pool insurance, I wouldn't have to stress out at wondering if my kids will be healthy, or always feel like the other shoe is about to drop. OH and I could afford to get my heart fixed!

Health insurance reform is easy to ignore when you don't need it. It's a sad state of affairs that most families in America are just one serious illness away from bankruptcy.

by Tara Sudweeks Willgues, Instigator-in-Chief
Utah Health Care Reform

(edit - added 2 more links to more information. Also someone asked me about my current coverage through my employer, and no, they do not even offer another type of coverage. I basically have the "best" insurance that they offer already)

(2nd edit - my husband insists that I include the part where we are still paying for our crappy excuse for "coverage" so we don't lose our COBRA rights, as the final indignity to this story)

(3rd edit - I do not qualify for Utah HIP insurance because I am employed and have existing "group coverage")

Flash Mob Protest - Aug. 31

2009-08-20T22:40:00.000-07:00

We here at Utah Healthcare Reform want to bring the town hall to Jim Matheson and to all of the Democratic Party fete-ing it up at Log Haven in Millcreek Canyon on Monday, August 31 at 5:30 pm.

Rep. Matheson has been shirking the responsibilities that we, his constituents entrusted him with by refusing to hear directly and in person the concerns we want him to address.

That is why we are meeting at the corner of Wasatch Drive and 3800 South, to make our voices heard.

We are also encouraging all who feel their voice has not been heard on any cause to join us in making sure he understands how vital it is to hear the opinions of his constituents.

We would like to drive home the reality of how many people die on a daily basis from lack of access to healthcare and the abusive action of private health insurance companies.

If you would like to help us with this street theatre, please bring a sheet to cover yourself so we can present a number of mock corpses to the attendees of the party. Additionally, if you would like to represent an actual person who has died due to this problem, you can make a cardboard headstone, or mark in large letters that persons name on your sheet.

Invite your friends, family and anyone who has been affected by any of the above issues. Big signs, placards and banners and any other way to get your message across are welcome.

Contact

2009-08-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

Contact:
Stephanie Bailey-Hatfield or Tara Sudweeks Willgues
Utah Health Care Reform
801-613-UHCR (8427)
uthealthcarereform@gmail.com
uthealth.blogspot.com
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