Have you heard what Sarah Palin is saying about healthcare access for people with chronic illness?
NO?
That’s because she hasn’t said a thing, Nor has any other candidate (and in case the media frenzy has caused you to forget, there are 4 candidates in this race.)
Am I surprised no one is talking about this? NO.
The words ‘chronic illness’ don’t slip off too many tongues (except those who have it). But ‘healthcare access’ does. And if the next administration works to improve access, it will no doubt include folks who really need it, the chronically ill.
The outcomes of this election matter – for many reasons. They matter to me and they should to you. But since I blog about career and chronic illness, I’ll stick to that point.
Too many people are struggling to get jobs and keep jobs — because the economy is lousy. And too many people are struggling to get and keep jobs they don’t even like –people who have real and debilitating illnesses – – because they need the health care insurance. And the worst of it is the system is so broken that most of the time, people who earn the least, have insurance that doesn’t cover the majority of their costs.
How do I know? My clients and the hundreds of emails I get from chronically ill people who want career help but are struggling and can’t afford anything other than food, housing and huge medical costs.
So, please, don’t be fooled into thinking that because Sarah Palin is a woman (you’ve gotta’ read Gloria Steinem’s words on this) that she’s going to work for your interests. Or John McCain – who, at his best, wasn’t interested in promoting legislation that helped the working class or the poor.
And yes, I do believe that Barak Obama and Joe Biden will work for the issues we care about. Will they be successful in turning around this downward cycle we’re in on too many fronts to count? I feel more pessimistic than I ever have about the state of this union so I honestly don’t know.
But if you know me and my work, you know I care about intention. I’ll give my vote to those who at least have the right intention.
Rosalind aka cicoach.com
Christina Gombar says
You can do something! Prompted by quadraplegic Becky Blitch’s post in Open Salon last week, I went to Barack Obama’s web site and under “issues” is a category: Disabilities. There is a space for comments and I just wrote in. All of you should too, with your specific dilemmas.
I explained how many people with chronic illnesses cannot even try working part time, or they will lose their employer-provided private disability insurance, and their Medicare coverage if earnings exceed $700 a month.
The system can be adjusted to both make it less punitive for the chronically ill to try to work again, and save employers’ paying disability costs, for the chronically ill who could remain employed, if only part-time, if accommodated.
If employers can be urged, given incentives by government, to think out of the box and be flexible with people who suffer a variety of chronic illnesses — for example, accommodating fatigue issues in addition to wheelchairs — employer disability insurance costs will be greatly reduced: a win-win situation.
All voters should know that their tax dollars pay into a system that denies the impoverished disabled and chronically ill health care and employment opportunities, while awarding John McCain, a multi-millionaire, an iron-clad, untouchable military pension of over $58,000 annually.
Marlyn says
I’m not surprised that Palin hasn’t said anything about chronic illnesses. She hasn’t said much about anything that matters. And doesn’t her son have a chronic illness?
Christine says
I saw your other post about unsubscribing and comments and wanted to make my comment.
Some people are DIEHARD towards who or what they believe in. I happen to agree that Palin talks but her actions are much different than her words. However, maybe offering a view from all sides showing people that they have other options and that people who suffer chronic pain shouldn’t fall back on someone who is all talk and no walk. What I would have preferred to see is a comment offering what each party’s views are – AND, not just Republican and Democrat. I actually believe in the 3rd part – Bob Barr.
Also with regards to Palin, and other candidates, I think that young children need their parents more at home than trying to run a country. When the children get older and start becoming more independent, high school/college, then parents should think about other ventures, like running a country 🙂 I think that by running for Pres/VP the question arises: What happens if it becomes the country or the children? Mommy can’t come to work today because child has the flu. Same goes for the other side too.
Keep writing, however, keep in mind that some readers (not me cause I don’t care what your view is, I have my own) don’t like thinking that someone they are dealing with is not more open-minded about topics, or they themselves are not open-minded.
Christine
http://AfflictedWithRSD.com
http://blog.christineleiendecker.com
Brad says
I agree with Christine! You see to come down rather harshly on Palin yet suggest that none of the candidates have mentioned anything about chronic illness health policy. I honestly believe that chronic illness probably hits her harder at home than Obama. Let’s remember that his wife served at the University of Chicago Hospital for years and did very little to extend health services to Chicago communities. Don’t believe all the hype!
Rosalind says
Hooray for all the comments!
I honestly don’t mean to be harsh about Palin – truth be told, I put her in the headline to draw readers here. I do agree with Steinem’s comments that Palin doesn’t necessarily represent a femininst choice and women should be wary of making that leap.
I don’t believe any of the hype, one way or the other. What candidates say — and do when they’re elected aren’t always the same. For all sorts of reasons.
I just want chronic illness healthcare benefits to be part of the conversation – –
Amy Clouse says
I believe Obama’s promises as well as McCain’s and both of their running mates’ promises are as empty as every other politician’s promises. Sorry – too many years of broken promises and lies. But I will still vote and try to do so intelligently. But for reasons stated below, I am not sure if anyone will ever really help us with CI unless we push buttons.
I feel that Sarah Palin’s son is quite young for everyone to expect her to suddenly start thinking about 18 years from now when he’s of working age, and what he’ll need to work with CI. She’s still trying to adjust to what he needs right now adn to being asked to run to be the VP of the US. So possibly the best way to do this would be to ask her to think about it, to think ahead to when her son wants to work and can’t unless she and McCain deal with things. I don’t think this is something to condemn her for, but something to ask her about. We would like others to be considerate of us; why would we not extend to her the same courtesy we wish her to bestow to CI sufferers in the US? The courtesy of being asked and being heard? I don’t think we’re being totally fair or compassionate to her.
As far as McCain, I believe he has probably got undisclosed CIs himself. Perhaps he’s thinking that someone will out HIM – and some of us remember what happened when Mondale “outed” a mental condition in his past, his career was over. I know that he is probably struggling now with this issue. JFK had terrible CI and never outed it because of his fear of losing the distrust of Americans. Face it folks, if they don’t make it into office they can’t help, and Barack Obama has not even a hint of physical disability nor does Biden. I believe in the long run that we’d find McCain and Palin do more in office than Obama and Biden for that very reason. They KNOW. I’m not sure Obama or Biden know at all. They’re making promises of national healthcare; well, how about that article about that “ethicist” in the UK who says old people who are mentally disabled have a duty to end their lives due to the drain on the National Health? I lived over there; waiting lists in the 80s for a total knee were 7 years and for a total hip 5 years. And if you were ever more than 10% over your ideal body weight for more than a certain period of time, you could not get the surgery, period. In other words, yes the care is free, but it’s rationed. Heart patients who had smoked back then, even if they didn’t do so for even a decade prior to the development of cardiac disorders, were denied bypass surgery and in some cases, angioplasty. I don’t think it’s gotten any better. Taxes back then were 34% of a person’s income before they saw a paycheck. It’s now reputed to be between 45% and 48%. In Canada and the UK, they look at the US healthcare system with envy. Ex addicts and alcoholics aren’t eligible for certain types of care, either. They ration it. They can’t contain costs unless they do. All we hear is how Medicare costs too much. And then in the next breath the politicians say to make it the national health of the US. If you’re over 85, Medicare questions whether or not you are worth treating for cancer; just go on the website and look at things. As your age goes up, what Medicare pays for goes down. With people now living well beyond 80 and even 90, and many of them sick, we will soon see things like in the Netherlands, where sick elders stay home because they know they will come out of most hospitals feet first. Let Europe sugar coat it as much as they want, they ration healthcare and they pass euthanasia laws then go ahead and euthanise elders who get pneumonia – people who’d go home OK and probably never get it again, who can recover and live many more productive years.
Now, on top of that realize that even though over half of us have some chronic illness, Americans HATE people who are not totally healthy; if it were any other way, none of us would have to be afraid of outing ourselves and our CIs or how to disclose once they weill affect any job we could get and we know we have to say something. What will they do if we enact the national health here? How quickly will people encourage their representatives and senators to pass laws blocking access to healthcare to many of the very same people who have trouble getting it now ?
I’d give both a chance to give us a hearing. But keep in mind, McCain was a POW and there’s a better than even chance he has a hidden CI that he dares not disclose, but once in office, he’d probably be a lot more sympathetic than Obama and Biden. And if Sarah Palin thinks ahead to her son’s future, she’s also more likely.
Here’s something that concerns me, too: Obama was raised by a mom who hated America so much she refused to raise her son here in his early years. And early training is the most deeply ingrained. I don’t dislike the person, but I do wonder how he’s going to be president of a country he was taught from birth to disdain or even hate. I don’t think the US is totally right but the only reason I was overseas living was because my husband was active duty military – therefore, I was there because I LOVE my country even though I know Americans can get pretty nutty at times. Believe me, after living outside the US for 7.5 yr, gratefully and CAREFULLY enjoying everything my host countries had to offer, I really saw how nuts we can get at times! But I would never have my child raised outside of America because I disagreed with American policies.
OK, let’s see what sort of discussion this leads to…
Christina Gombar says
Senator McCaine has a well-known chronic illness — melanomic cancer. But he, like you, benefits from being part of the socialized medicine of the military system. He is also married to a fortune of over 400 million dollars, so a few thousand dollars in health care are neither here nor there to him. The poor and lower middle class disabled are very likey far from his mind, especially right now.
I have also lived and worked overseas and I experienced a very different aspect of the European health care system. It sounds like you were stationed behind the iron curtain, not in the U.K., where there is a two-tier system of public and private health insurance. I’m not saying we should use any other country’s system as a model — we should learn from their mistakes, as well as our own. The fact is, most bankruptcies and foreclosures in America are due to medical funding disasters.
Jeanne says
Rosalind,
Hi. I finally came across your blog tonight and felt compelled to comment on this post. First, I should say that I believe I had spoken with you on blogtalkradio during Invisible Chronic Illness Week in September. I’m quite sure that was you that took my call on a seminar?
Anyway, on to the subject at hand… I am going to word this carefully because I try *really* hard not to get political or partisan online. (It’s not easy for me but I try).
My blog is about health issues and if I start talking about politics on my blog… it will quickly cease to be a health blog and will turn 100% political. There is nothing wrong with poltical blogs. It’s just not my intention for my health blog to convert to a political one. 🙂
“Friendly hint” to readers here: please refrain from posting political comments on my health blog because I really want to stay on-message for my blog’s intent. While healthcare has a ***HUGE*** impact on me and my family, there are some very strong viewpoints on this subject and I simply DON’T have the health or energy to debate healthcare politics on my blog. *THANK YOU* in advance for respecting my wishes on this. 🙂
That said, here is why I felt I must comment here. I actually DID hear 1 of the 4 candidates use the phrase “chronic illness” on at least one occasion.
I totally agree with you that *ALL* candidates should be talking about “CI” FREQUENTLY when there is such a terrible healthcare crisis in this country and when the #1 cause of bankruptcies is medical bills… “CI” doesn’t come up much. IT SHOULD!!!
I must say though that I did hear one candidate use the CI phrase. I wish I could quote you exactly when he said it but I can’t remember. I saw all but 1 or 2 debates (meaning I watched *both* parties’ debates and *both* conventions).
The only person I remember using the chronic illness phrase was Barack Obama. He used it in the context of explaining that the crisis in our healthcare system is a massive problem and that fixing healthcare is absolutely essential to getting improvement in the economy. This was probably about 2 months ago. I definitely heard him say this “CI” term at least once (possibly in one other debate or stump speech that was on TV).
I remember turning to my husband incredulously and saying, “did you hear that… he said ‘chronic illness’ “. This really struck me because, as you said, this CI term isn’t just rolling off everyone’s tongues. I swear I heard him say it, though. My husband and I were just sitting there in a “holy cow!” state because it was the first time I’d heard that exact term used by the Presidential or VP candidates. There has been plenty of talk about healthcare during the campaign (since long before it was narrowed down to the current 4 candidates). I just never heard anyone else say CI besides Obama.
Like I said earlier, I totally agree with you that *ALL* of them should be talking more about chronic illness. MANY, MANY Americans are chronically ill!! That “roller coaster video” for Invisible Chronic Illness Week” has some startling and staggering stats about the prevalence of invisible chronic illness!! It’s just amazing there isn’t more talk about it.
Anyway, I am not getting into who I’m voting for or any of that! That’s between me and the voting booth. I will say that I did hear Barack Obama say “chronic illness” on TV and it really hit me because of its uniqueness.
As a patient with a LARGE number of chronic illnesses resulting in very poor health and significantly diminished quality of life, I have to say that this caught my attention amidst the din and commotion of this whole campaign. So I just felt compelled to “put it out there”.
Thanks for the interesting post! 🙂
Jeanne
Rosalind Joffe aka cicoach.com says
Jeanne
I did speak on the National Invisible Week seminars so it probably was me. I’m glad that this resonates with you. Sometimes, though, I’d like to hear from people with CI who don’t agree . I feel like I’m always preaching to the converted!
Rosalind
abiton says
abiton,
This month’s blog carnival at Somebody Heal Me, is up. The topic is creating migraine friendly environments.
Are you employed and living with a debilitating chronic illness? I’ll bet you’re dreaming about the day you no longer work.
Sure, a job can do a lot of things for you, including giving you a paycheck [..
career hunting uk
Jack Mender says
It seems like business is still getting hit hard. Is anybody seeing an upswing in their respective niches? Health reform seems like a mess. I generate long term care insurance leads and annuity leads for the insurance industry, but volume has been terrible in the last two months. I am afraid the worst is yet to come, but maybe it is just my attitude.
gears says
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