The State of the Nation - collection cans and spaghetti suppers fund health care in Maine

[jpak]

I don't know if they do this elsewhere in the country, but more and more gravely ill Maine people - who work - but can't afford insurance or can't afford copays and deductibles are turning to the kindness of strangers for help.

A handmade sign on the door of the country store or restaurant.

A notice scrolled across the local bank sign.

A donation can inside by the cash register.

A $7 a plate spaghetti dinner for someone's chemo.

A potluck supper for someone's operation.

And these people HAVE jobs.

This is something you never see in Canada or Europe or New Zealand or Chile or anyplace else I've visited.

Only in America.

I'm fucking sick of this shit.

Thank you Olympia and Sue

not

:thumbsdown:

[piratefish08]

1. yea for healthcare reform!!

my insurance just jumped 35%.

it's no longer hard to imagine finding oneself in that position.

heartbreaking.

[davidinalameda]

2. it's pretty common here as well

I live in a very small town and people are constantly holding fundraisers for someone with cancer or for a child who needs some sort of serious operation

[madmom]

3. My volunteer group is holding a fundraiser for a child with cancer, this weekend.

[Vinca]

4. Actually, I once found a report of a fund raiser in Canada.

It was for the purpose of funding travel for the family to visit the sick person who was in a specialized hospital in another province. In Canada you might get lonely. In this country you die.

[madrchsod]

5. i`m making flower wreaths and baskets to be auctioned off ...

for a 9 yr old who has brain cancer. since people have no extra money we are figuring she`ll get enough to pay for her transportation back and forth to chicago more than a couple of times...

welcome to the land of begging for dollars to help keep a 9yr old alive...


disgusting isn`t it

[jpak]

8. what's more disgusting is that people accept the present dysfuctional US system

when the rest of the civilized world does healthcare right...

[hedgehog]

6. I could eat out every week-end at a benefit. True, some of them are

for families that have lost their homes to fire or a breadwinner to an auto accident. Most are for people who own a small business or run a farm. These are the people who will benefit from the insurance exchange once it's up and running. It's not perfect, but it's a start.

[jpak]

9. agreed

2014 can come soon enough

[peacefreak]

7. Sadder still,

the fund-raisers for funereal expenses of those who didn't make it. Been to a few of those also.