It may seem like I have nothing to do but harp on healthcare reform. However, I am committing to helping African-Americans understand several things: (1) We must be our own advocates for change and no longer rely on systems, etc. to look out for us because we know it does not work that way; (2) We must stop making excuses with the false comfort that the next guy will do it; (3) brain disorders such as Bipolar affect nearly 4 million people who do NOT have health insurance; (4) approximately 1 in 5 families is affected by a mental illness; and (5) about 5 - 9 percent of children between the ages of 5-17 have some form of mental illness and will eventually become an adult with a mental illness!
We must realize that healthcare reform is a mighty big fight for President Obama because many, many people and businesses do not want to part with profits. We must also realize and accept that in order to have access to affordable healthcare, we must speak out in strong numbers!
With the staggering numbers provided by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, it is imperative that we not only advocate for ourselves for healthcare reform, but that we make our political leaders understand and be accountable that the US has suffered too long without universal access to quality healthcare by a specific population of people living with a brain disorder!
We know that mental illness is a real issue in the African-American community because often we deny we have a mental illness because of the shame and embarrassment as part of the national stigma against individuals with a brain disorder (i.e., Schizophrenia, Bipolar). In addition, we suffer more than other race groups because we fail to seek mental health treatment. Seeking mental health treatment is one half of the process to mental wellness. The other half is obtaining affordable treatment such as maintenance medications, therapy, etc. If healthcare reform is to be successful, it will include access to affordable medications and therapies which will only improve the stability of individuals with brain disorders making them viable contributors to the family, community, and the US.
Therefore, we must keep the fire lit under Congress and the House of Representatives to pass President Obama's Budget. Remember, our political leaders are afraid, too. Not only are their careers on the line for supporting a policy that breaks from tradition, they have to be able to stand up to the healthcare industry knowing they truly represent the people! We are a significant percent of the people! Each of US who cannot receive quality mental healthcare and enjoy a quality of life with mental stability should commit to changing America's current healthcare industry!
So, I am asking each of you to please send a message to your Congressperson and House of Representative to support the passage of President Obama's Budget. The Budget includes Healthcare Reform.
If you visit
www.senate.gov you can locate your Congressperson and send a message right from the sight in just a few quick steps.
If you visit
www.house.gov you can locate your House of Representative and direclty send a message encouraging him or her to support President Obama's Budget.
You can really do both in less than 10 minutes and doing so will represent 100 people. If you do this once or twice a week, you can speak for victims of domestic violence, homeless persons, youth, small businesses, AIDS/HIV affected persons, children, poor people, teen mothers, and of course, individuals with a brain disorder.
Let me know exactly how long it took you to send your message...!
Thank you for allowing me to continue to keep you up to date and the opportunity to encourage you to be an advocate for change!
*********************** (to get your creative motivation started)
Dear Senator Mikulski:
I am contacting you from Health Care for America Now to ask you to take immediate action to get Congress to support President Obama’s program to get the economy moving again.
President Obama has said again and again that to fix our economy, we must fix health care and we must do it in 2009. Therefore, I urge you to please support President Obama's budget now.
The Administration’s budget puts money behind those words.
President Obama identified $634 billion in funding over ten years as a down payment on fixing health care. This is just a start. Congress must match the President’s commitment and work with the President to provide sufficient funding for doing health care reform right.
We need to make the investments in health care now in order to achieve longer-term savings in health care.
As an individual with a brain disorder, I struggle for affordable healthcare. This means that I cannot afford maintenance medications and beccause of my therapeutic needs, I must constantly juggle which health issue to seek treatment for. That means that I am often forced to ignore important health issues. For exampe, I must receive regular treatment for my brain disorder and take maintenance medications. However, that means that I have to pick and choose which months to take my blood pressure medications!
I am now writing to ask you to help everyone by supporting this budget that will provide affordable healthcare for every American regardless of income with a public healthcare program.
I ask that you and other members of Congress to stand strong with me and individuals with a brain disorder (i.e., Bipolar, Schizophrenic, ADHD, Anxiety Disorders, etc.) and support the President’s commitment to health care reform in 2009. I am counting on you and members of Congress to please make health care reform happen this year.
I attended the Obama Healthcare Advocacy Summit in January 2009 and listened to many experts, including Professor Judy Feger from the Georgetown University School of Public Policy, explain the advantages of having a public healthcare program in the US. I am convinced this is an ideal alternative to the rising cost of healthcare and the diminishing of quality healthcare today.
In addition, I understood the Lake Research preentation emphasize how it is possible for a public healthcare program to provide quality services in the US by meeting the needs of Americans and not lobbyists and those profiting in the healthcare industry!
We need quality, affordable health care in 2009 that includes the choice of keeping the private health insurance people have or the alternative new public health insurance plan with benefits that meet our needs under President Obama's Healthcare Reform Plan (Budget). The public health program will also provide much needed relief for Medicare and Medicaid.
We need equality in health care access, treatment, research, and resources for people and communities of color faced with healthcare disparity which gives US universal access.
Thank you in advance for your time and support of President Obama's Budget. You can always count on me to support you in your political endeavors as well.
Visit the US Congress at
www.senate.gove Visit the House of Representatives at
www.house.gove Join Healthcare For America Now at
www.healthcareforamericanow.org Visit Health Reform and send a message to President Obama at
www.HealthReform.org Visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness at
www.nami.org Visit the American Association of Pastoral Counselors at
www.aapc.org Visit African-American Doctors at
www.nmet.org Agnes B. Levine
Founder/President, Levine-Oliver Publisher
www.levineoliverpublisher.com, Author of: "Cooling Well Water: A Collection of Work By An
African-American Bipolar Woman" ISBN 13 978-0-9754612-0-4
Available NOW at
www.levineoliverpublisher.com or Amazon.com
Posted By: agnes levine
Thursday, March 26th 2009 at 12:15PM
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