Someone recommended that I post this as a separate thread, so here it is.
Dear Sen. Landrieu,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/ns/msnbc_tv-countdo...
From what I understand, you were unable to attend Saturday's free clinic at the Morial Convention Center due to a prior engagement. Thus, I send the attached link, which provides a very good summary of what you would have seen had you attended. Also, I would like to to tell you about some other individuals who had scheduling conflicts and were unable to attend the event.
B is a nurse who works with the homeless. She has no health insurance. M is a stay-at-home mother who was uninsurable the day she turned 18 due to a chronic disorder diagnosed when she was a teenager. She is able to receive health only at a clinic downtown, where she must wait upwards of 5 hours to receive a prescription, something she can't do with an active 1-year-old while her husband is at work. M is in her late 50s: too young for Medicare but apparently not ill enough with a disabling disease to qualify for disability. She was hospitalized last fall after passing out in a Wal-Mart. She couldn't afford her insulin. The irony: She spent decades working with the disabled in an assisted living facility.
I know scores of others from New Orleans community groups, religious circles, and my neighborhood. They all have two things in common: They have no access to health care, and they are all your constituents.
When you prioritize your corporate clients above the human beings who elected you to represent them, you are doing them a grave injustice and shaming the state of Louisiana. For their sakes, and those of the 700,000 other Louisianans who do not have access to health care, I implore you to support the public option in the upcoming legislation.
Sincerely,
MountainLaurel
New Orleans, LA