Single Payer HC Forum in the News

[Kittycat]

http://www.kcchronicle.com/articles/2008/08/15/news/local/doc48a51394751e6919440753.txt

Single-payer health system best for Illinois, state lawmakers, activists say

GENEVA – State Rep. Mary Flowers believes that insurance companies have a place in the market.

She just doesn’t think those companies have any place in providing health care.

Thursday night, Flowers, a Democratic state legislator from Chicago, hosted a special forum at the Kane County Government Center in Geneva to discuss legislation she introduced that would fundamentally alter the way in which health care is funded in Illinois.

The law, called House Bill 311, would in essence remove health insurance providers from the state’s medical system, creating a single-payer taxpayer-funded health care system in Illinois.

“I don’t know how to be rational and responsible about this,” Flowers said. “We are not for sale.

“This is finally about us.”

Introduced in the General Assembly last year by Flowers, the bill was authored by policy analyst Nicholas Skala and others at Health Care for All Illinois, a group lobbying for a statewide single-payer health care system.

--snip, more at link

Missing from the picture (of me) on the page was the caption that was printed in the actual newspaper, along with an expanded article on the bill. I was one of the people that showed up to speak about insurance problems, and plead for public support of HB311. I couldn't contain my tears as I discussed my son, Kyle (age 4 1/2), who was recently diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy after waiting 2 years to see a Neurologist. We're a family that has always had insurance, and my husband has always been employed. However - we've been through 3 employer insurance changes, and with it - medical team changes, for Kyle because of it.

The changes resulted in Kyle shifting between drs and waitlists, and in the case of Neurology, it took 2 years for his DX. We also found out that Kyle has a seizure disorder (manifested by blank staring), something his general pediatrician dismissed or associated with hearing issues, but was easily diagnosed during testing for his CP. We know the seizures caused some damage, damage that could have been limited or avoided with medicine - should he have been able to get proper testing and adequate care 2 years ago. Further more, the changes also created waitlists for various therapies in the past year (8mo for OT, 4mo/each for PT & ST). And none of this covers the fact that as our premiums have doubled (now up to $900/mo), benefits have decreased - which keeps our annual out of pocket (not counting premiums, travel and other special needs) at over $14K/year.

Whether or not a single payer system is implemented - something must change. Shifting critical care children from doctor to doctor, waitlist to waitlist is a recipe for disaster.

[mopinko]

1. hey there kiddo

sorry i didn't answer your pm- been so busy.

it was so great to meet you, and the emperor. the whole day was a lot of fun.

thank you for telling kyle's story. i would have such a hard time doing that and not screaming at people. i would be in a perpetual state of pissed off. (ok, like i'm not.)

take care of you little sweetie, and i send all possible hope for kyle.

[Kittycat]

2. Thank you so much :)

We've screamed a few times, trust me... Now we're speaking out - whatever it takes to make people wake up.