You can do something about health care now

[pop goes the weasel]

I posted about this yesterday in the Disability (and Texas forums), and didn't get but one bite. But it's really important, so I'm trying again.

One of the worst, most foolish, and cruelest money-saving measures inflicted by the federal government on the needy is the 2 year delay in Medicare for people who have been approved for SSDI. That's right, people who have successfully been through a difficult screening process for disability pay, a process that also qualifies them for Medicare, still have to wait for Medicare benefits to kick in. The actual wait time after SSDI approval varies, since it is set according to date of application and not date of approval, but it can be up to two years. The result is that people with life-threatening disabilities that prevent them from working are forced to go without health care. Sure, there's emergency room health care, but you don't get MRIs, chemotherapy, or daily insulin through ERs. The result is that people, people already known to be at risk, get even sicker. Some die. My own daughter, already suffering from daily seizures, went over a year before she could at last have an MRI and begin treatment.

The state of Texas has passed a resolution calling on the federal government to change this practice. What if we could get every state in the nation to pass a similar resolution? Would you call on your state rep to sponsor a resolution similar to that of Texas?

Regardless of what might be done with national health care in the near future, the Medicare disability situation needs to be changed immediately.

From http://www.dpctexas.org/newsletters/2007-08-31.html#h3 :

Without a lot of fanfare, the 80th Texas Legislature passed House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 35, authored by Rep. Eddie Rodriguez of Austin, urging Congress to pass a law to eliminate the 24-month Medicare waiting period for SSDI participants. Texas is the first state to pass such a resolution. Last week, the secretary of state’s office forwarded the resolution to the U.S. president, vice president, speaker of the house and members of the Texas Congressional delegation, requesting that it be entered in the Congressional Record.

(link to text of resolution also at this site).

[area51]

1. k&r

Republinazis are pro-death. That's why they don't want single-payer, that's why they are happy that people have to wait for Medicare to kick in.

[pop goes the weasel]

2. hmmmm, only a slight improvement

I hope that people have read this post and are planning to contact their legislative reps this week. A groundswell of public opinion could reverse this cruel, inappropriate regulation.