tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509187841033628660.post586645919947142914..comments2024-03-28T22:28:39.087-07:00Comments on Medicine and Social Justice: The real face of lack of access to health careJosh Freemanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10248920527894775520noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509187841033628660.post-43472589757766458522011-06-19T10:00:38.049-07:002011-06-19T10:00:38.049-07:00Josh, I am on the inpatient service at TMC-Lakewoo...Josh, I am on the inpatient service at TMC-Lakewood this week and have many similar stories. We have a great program in our safety net institution for folks who fall below 200% of the poverty line and live in KC or Jackson County. Those folks can get free meds from drug company programs. A patient on the inpatient service today with asthma had the discount. She was able to find a job that allowed her to pay rent and food for her and her daughter, but then lost her discount because of her meager income. So no preventive asthma meds, lots of the rescue inhaler and a spiral till she is now uninsured (her new employer does not provide insurance), desperately sick, and in the hospital generating a huge bill that will haunt her for a long time. If there is anyone that thinks that universal healthcare coverage is not important, I wish he or she would tag along with me for a day or two.<br /><br />Steve GriffithSteve Griffithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13192247899341882573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1509187841033628660.post-53569623762548653172011-06-19T09:04:24.676-07:002011-06-19T09:04:24.676-07:00Let's get off it! The time is long past that w...Let's get off it! The time is long past that we need to share these tragic anecdotes of societal failure in the moral imperative to have a healthy citizenry. As a family doc I have been collecting and disseminating stories like this for 20 years. The make no difference either to my small audience or the through the bullhorn of Michael Moore. These anecdotes were little more than window dressing in 2009 during the health reform debate which was controlled by the insurance companies and which focused on "cost control" in the "best health care system in the world."<br />Let's face it, there are few truly publicly spirited politicians in Washington such as Senator Sanders and Congressman Kucinich. We need to spread the word and recruit professionals and patients alike in the name of SOCIAL JUSTICE to articulate our communitarian and humanistic morals and values and bring this country to its senses.Jeoffry B.https://www.blogger.com/profile/13729308876028989074noreply@blogger.com