Republican Rep. Capito accidently tells the truth about healthcare reform

Health Care and Appalachia (4.00 / 2)

Teacherken has a significant diary about healthcare on the recommended list at DailyKos this morning. He has been volunteering at the Remote Area Missions of Mercy event near the Wise County Fairgrounds in Wise County Virginia. Wise County's demographics are very similar to those of southern West Virginia. His diary really brings home the truth about what will continue to happen to people of our country if the argument about health care is won by the medical industrial complex.  

You can read his diary be clicking here.  Then pass it on to those who believe that caring for people with a single payer option is socialism or communism.

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by: wvblueguy @ Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 08:58:50 AM CDT

Shelley receives clear message from the voters (4.00 / 1)

I like the end of this letter where the place she is supposed to sign is left blank beneath which is the non-descript title of "member of congress" or something to that effect.  Gee Shelley at least you could have put your seal of authenticity on it.....

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by: JBdem4usa @ Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 10:09:35 AM CDT

just (0.00 / 1)

 because they want it is no reason to give it to them...they are not entitled to it....hell i want somebody else to pay all my bills the rest of my life...i am not entitle to it...

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by: stevewvu @ Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 11:05:33 AM CDT

You're already paying at least $1,100 per year to cover the uninsured, pal. (4.00 / 3)

And those you're paying for through your premiums is lousy coverage, because in West Virginia alone about four working age adults die each day from the lack of health coverage.

You actually encourage Big Coal to screw up your neighbor's health, but then you whine and moan about taking responsibility for making them sick.

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by: One Citizen @ Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 12:37:44 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

hey, who is them? isn't it you, too? (4.00 / 2)

stevewvu, don't you claim to be in business and provide a health care plan for your employees? you are already paying for all the care the uninsured receive in the ER, times how many employees plus you, stevewvu?

a co-op with minimum standard of coverage would immediately bring down your premiums by having a non-profit statewide rating pool. you do know how insurance works, amirite? and it would include prevention and nutritional education since you like to tell others how they should act.

NFTT: Support My Team or I Will Dance

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by: CA Berkeley WV @ Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 17:22:33 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

just (0.00 / 0)

like you have no problem paying more at a mom and pop grocery store as opposed to feeding the walmart coffers i would rather pay more for private health care, i contract for, and i control...health insurance is not a right...

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by: stevewvu @ Sun Jul 26, 2009 at 09:22:32 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Oh, you assume too much. My family used to own a "mom and pop" business, pal. (4.00 / 2)

I worked in a "mom and pop" business most of my life, so I only buy from the "Big Box" stores whenever my locally owned businesses don't have what I need.

Now let's see if my assumptions about you are closer to correct than yours about me:

You think that it's fine for coal companies to inject coal slurry into the aquifer of all your neighboring communities and don't see any problem with underpaying your local public school teachers.

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by: One Citizen @ Sun Jul 26, 2009 at 11:36:26 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

OC, I think stevewvu was talking to me about ChinaMart (0.00 / 0)

he thinks they are great, i think they have strayed immensely from Sam's original Buy American (and keep your cousins employed) approach. we have had back and forth on this.

standing in line at the sewer board to pay the bill this morning. a young couple with their  3-4 yr. old daughter were filling out paperwork. the husband conversed with the clerk in non-accented english, but spoke to his wife in spanish.

after they left the woman behind me, 60ish, said to the man behind her, "it's W@lM@&t that brings them here, maybe we should shut it down and they will go away".

she did not look native american, the family did. i had to bit my lip to not give her un cumplido ambiguo.

NFTT: Support My Team or I Will Dance

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by: CA Berkeley WV @ Mon Jul 27, 2009 at 14:06:50 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

C'mon. Even the local media is far too wrapped up in the Skip Gates dust-up to care about a wonky public health issue. (4.00 / 2)

First President Obama's recent press conference was hijacked over a question about a police officer who arrested a black man for "disorderly conduct" in his own home. As if THAT were news (cough). While I'm sure that there's something still missing in all the sensational media coverage, (like perhaps discovering that the crazy neighbor who reported Mr. Gates' break in was Alan Keys), the important story regarding why bluedog democratic congressmen have been blocking decent health care coverage has been all but ignored.

Meanwhile, twice as many people die across the U.S. due to lack of health insurance than by homicide, while in West Virginia alone about four working age adults die each day from the lack of health care coverage.source

So even though the Charleston Gazette has recently devoted a gallon of ink to the Skip Gates arrest, not nearly as much has been dedicated to reporting lousy health care coverage in WV. Instead of dispatching intrepid Gazette reporters, its newsroom editors opted for Associated Press pap. Local reporters who appreciate Mr. Gates' predicament could have easily blended the two issues to include lousy health coverage in WV since there are studies revealing perhaps a whole slew of reasons (pdf) why Mr. Gates decided to leave here.

About 241,700 West Virginians do not have health insurance.

Most uninsured West Virginians are in working families.

For most uninsured West Virginians (79 percent), at least one person in the family works either full-time or part-time. Many (46 percent) have family members who work full time, all year.

Uninsured people include children, young adults, middle-aged adults, and people nearing or at retirement.

Because the Medicare program provides health insurance for most people age 65 and over, the uninsured are almost entirely under the age of 65. The largest number of uninsured are those aged 30-49, but the rate of uninsurance is highest for young adults, aged 19-29. (data compiled by Families USA)

Now since that was all actually culled from pre-recession (2006) census data, it's a safe bet that today's coverage is far worse.  Families USA's latest press release reports that at some point in 2007-2008, a whoppin' 497,000 West Virginians had no health coverage.

One might think that because family health care premiums cost an average of $1,100 more per year just to cover the uninsured, source (pdf) even the bluest of blue dogs like Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) might want to get more of the public covered. Turns out that although Baucus may be a bluedog, his pockets are have been revealed to have a green lining.

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by: One Citizen @ Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 12:22:52 PM CDT

thanks for making that connection (4.00 / 1)

One Citizen -- Thank you for making that connection with Skip Gates.

It's a shame that someone bright enough to make it as a Harvard professor isn't attracted to return to W.Va. That is indeed a background story the W.Va. press ought to be digging into... how do we stop decades of brain drain?

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by: Clem Guttata @ Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 12:48:32 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Skip, come on back home, it's safe here in W & W (0.00 / 0)

Even though our Gov. Joe "build a fence around the mansion" Manchin is worried about security around his (the peoples) abode you (Skip) need not be.  You could run for office, you could be president of a university, but you wouldn't have to worry about being arrested in your own home.  Is there a correlation between the governors penchant for paranoia and Skip's untimely arrest?

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by: JBdem4usa @ Sat Jul 25, 2009 at 16:53:45 PM CDT

[ Parent ]