I had the awesome pleasure of participating in the Obama Healthcare Advocacy Summit held on Saturday, January 17, 2009!
With all the hustle and bustle of people arriving from around the world, Washington, DC was in full Inauguration set-up mode. What was most amazing to me was the friendliness of the people moving about the already-crowded transportation lines as I journeyed into Washington, DC by train, plane, and automobile, so to speak!
The second most amazing thing for me was to see the emergence of green and blue immaculately clean Porta-Potties - LOL!J
Ok, so the Healthcare Advocacy Summit was a piece of the larger Obama Advocacy Summit on every topic such as Education, Foreign Policy, the Economy, etc.; however, my focus is healthcare so I was involved with that (Healthcare) Advocacy Summit.
The Advocacy Summit was held at the Navy Heritage Center at the Navy Museum. The maximum seating in the auditorium for the entire event was 200. Can you believe that 188 people from as far away as Washington State, down to Texas, and up to New York attended the Healthcare Advocacy Summit!!? We were needlessly thrilled by this awesome turn-out. I say this because the whole world was in full celebration mode by Friday evening so to have people committed to attend the Summit on a Saturday is truly a sign that America is ready to move healthcare Change into Action!
So, let me share with you the best information to encourage you to not only embrace a very progressive healthcare system in America, but to motivate you to do your part to ensure that the Obama Healthcare Policy Agenda gets passed in your state. Be very clear that this is going to be an uphill fight because Congress has never, ever “thought outside the box before!” The shift coming down the pike under the Obama Administration is extremely progressive away from healthcare organization and pharmaceutical leaders getting filthy rich and towards providing accessible healthcare to EVERY American; man, woman, and child. It can happen. It will happen.
Alright, so the Healthcare Advocacy Summit opened up with a healthcare industry 101 crash course by Judy Feder, Professor and former Dean, Georgetown Public Policy Institute and Senior Fellow, Center for American Progress. She was every bit citizen-friendly as she explained the broken healthcare system to the audience. I hung on to her opening statement, “Healthcare is an emotional issue in America.”
Wow! Doesn’t that sum it up perfectly? We know we need affordable healthcare. We argue with insurance companies to prove we need medical service coverage (i.e., who strolls into labs for blood work simply because there is nothing else to do? Of course, the darn lab work is medically necessary!) We fight with dollars to wrap around one more prescription (i.e., the size of the ‘donut’ has grown soo much that 32 munchkins can fit inside!) We swell with anger each year when employers take more and more out of our paychecks for those non-coverable medical needs (i.e., we don’t pay for oxygen use in the home…). How much longer will we forfeit food for expanding deductibles and shrinking family plans (i.e., parent and child is the affordable limit even if you have four children)?
So, by the time Judy Feder briefed the audience on just how darn awful the American healthcare system really is, everybody was waiting with baited breath to learn just what will relief look like. Well, the first thing we each must understand is to transform our conventional healthcare mindset from pay-as-you-go-as-much-as-possible-then-die, to prevention, prevention, and prevention! Does this sound anything like you have ever heard before? Well, if it does it is because “we” got it as far back as the 1980’s; however, the healthcare providers (i.e., insurance companies and drug companies) did not either get the memo or read the memo!
Under the Obama Administration, his healthcare agenda calls for each and every healthcare provider to read the memo and then read it again!
The steps to changing the American healthcare system will be a steep one because the healthcare providers will be losing those lofty profits. The cost benefit of their loss means more children will have access to healthcare and the American healthcare system will gradually model the British and Canadian healthcare systems making sure the poorest person has equal access to healthcare as the richest person.
In short, here are the main highlights of the Obama Healthcare Policy Agenda:
1) Mandate that insurance companies put a cap on the cost of medications!
- Insurance companies in America have a glove-and-hand relationship with drug companies. Rather than force drug companies to keep the cost of medications low, insurance companies force the individual to pick up the cost and when we cannot afford the medication, we will stop using the medication. The message is then either lost or ignored because the cost passes on to the next person rather than force reduction in costs.
- The repercussions of stopping a medication cost America more in the long run (i.e., Medicare/Medicaid over-burdened, illnesses, diseases, etc.)
2) Mandate that the Federal Drug Administration implement regulations to expedite the availability of over-the-counter or generic alternative drug choices.
- Because of the current lengthy and complicated FDA regulations, drug companies take advantage of being the only drug-maker on the market and they reap millions because of that privilege.
3) Implement an educational loan forgiveness program to assist medical students to complete medical school and enter practice. This sounds like a good idea any way you look at it. Do you think more African-Americans will take advantage of this opportunity if implemented?
4) Implement a physician re-entry program to bring doctors back into the medical practice. This is definitely a win-win strategy to increase quality healthcare. I say so because many good doctors have retired prematurely due to sky-rocketing insurance premiums ad insurance companies putting caps on medical services provided. These doctors can also serve as excellent mentors for doctors starting out in practice. Do you think that senior doctors will help or impede the practice of modern medicine?
5) Implement political accountability!
– This is probably the most needed immediate change. If political
leaders are in bed, so to speak, with healthcare providers, the
average citizen is not a consideration factor. The problem here is that while we complain and take it, we do not create a strong voice to force the political change necessary.
– How do we force political leaders to jump out of that bed of
healthcare-dollar roses (i.e., the allowable lobbyist perks such as
gifts, dinners, trips, etc.)? We must unite and flex our muscle
which is the most successful means of forcing any change from the
federal level down to the local levels.
Ok, that is what I thought was most value in terms of fully understanding the basic structure of the Obama Healthcare Policy Agenda without the spin doctors. Smile. I also wanted to end here so that you completely understand the power of a united voice.
Having said that, currently, the organization Healthcare For America Now provides a much more in depth look at holding the government accountable and responsible for ensuring quality affordable healthcare for everyone in America!
Please visit Healthcare For America Now at
www.healthcareforamericanow.org today! You will have the opportunity to join millions of Americans supporting the Obama Healthcare Policy Agenda and there is true strength in numbers!
Please watch for future information on supporting the Obama Healthcare Policy Agenda from the convenience and comfort of your own home.
Agnes B. Levine
Author of: "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An African-American Bipolar Woman" ISBN 0975461206 Winter 2009 Release Pending
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Posted By: agnes levine
Friday, January 30th 2009 at 1:43PM
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