Saturday, September 19, 2009

Racism

Tami says it better than I ever could.

Check it out:
http://whattamisaid.blogspot.com/2009/09/ism-that-dare-not-speak-its-name.html

Please don't just gloss over and then discount what she's written.

If you do, you've joined the masses that trivialize and marginalize our Brothers and Sisters of Color, discounting their truths because you just don't want to see the pain that still exists in this country.

When you deny another person's truth, you deny their very being.

Think about it.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Medical Coverage For All

You know, I'm tired of the misinformation and just flat out BS that's being put out regarding health coverage in the US.

Let me tell you, I make decent money, and I'm being bled dry by the costs of my health plan. It's HELLA expensive and gets more expensive every year. In addition, my work is trying to mess with the plan we have. (I'm not getting into the details of that, I don't risk my job for a blog -- sorry.)

No matter how it all falls out, this is what I want to see:
  1. Free vaccinations for EVERYONE. You get a little shot card, you walk in anywhere and get free vaccinations. No questions asked. No status, no nothing. This is about everyone's health and the more people who choose to be vaccinated, the better off we all are. Think of how many cases of Hep A that could be avoided just by encouraging everyone to get vaccinated. Free. No questions asked.
  2. Free TB tests and treatment. This is the same thing, all about public health. People blather on about undocs bringing TB into the country. Well, first, many are NOT undocumented, and most are NOT Hispanic! TB is an important public health issue and should be treated, no matter what a person's economic or citizenship status is.

No matter what else the powers that be decide, these two things should be free and available to everybody in this country.

In addition, I think that we should take health care a step further with:

  1. All prenatal care should be free. This is obvious, healthy babies make healthier adults.
  2. All health care for kids up to age 24 or graduation from college should be free. This would be a HUGE help to parents, to know that their kids are covered. And a large part of the coverage should focus on preventive medicine. Once a young person starts working, a health plan should be available through the employer. By age 24, a person should be established enough to manage this. If not, there's always the public health clinic...

Anyway, that's my not-at-all-humble thoughts on health coverage in the United States.