Presidential Election, the Economy, and Health Insurance

[wynddancer]

October 24, 2008.   For immediate release.

FORGET ABOUT JOE THE PLUMBER, LOOK AT PAT THE PROFESSOR

Forget about Joe the Plumber! McCain and Obama should have interviewed me, Pat the Professor! My husband and I attribute our ‘sanity’ lately in these financially troubled times, to the line in the Janis Joplin song: “Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose!” As our ‘richer friends’ wallow in misery about the 40% drop in their hundreds of thousands, and even millions in savings; we just thank God daily for the abundance that surrounds us in the love we have for each other, our health, and where we live on the California’s beautiful central coast.

But our day to day picture looks like this:  I am a 63 year old Ph.D. former college professor of Health Education, retired a year ago by budget cuts (directly related to the cost of the war). The most recent ‘required’ course I taught that was cut was in Service Learning, an admirable field where students volunteer in the community and learn to be multi-cultural community builders. Now I collect early Social Security of $1,111 a month, and am now starting to work as a freelance writer.

My husband is a 59-year-old former plumber who, thanks to a student loan, was able to return to college and work toward a degree in Instructional Technology. An experienced web designer and developer, he is currently unemployed and collecting $1800 a month in unemployment insurance. The current financial crisis, the resulting job losses countrywide and the shipping of many jobs overseas, not to mention his age, makes his search for gainful employment difficult.

We do not have health insurance, and haven’t since 2001 when President Bush cut federal funding for all PT-3 grants, ending Larry’s full-time job providing technology training for teachers. Our out of pocket costs per month for prescription drugs alone is close to $300. In 2006 we documented $38,376.71 worth of health expenses on our tax forms, and $15,997 in 2007.

Much of our health care debt is dental, for which we used our Sears and other credit cards, rather than have the dentist not treat us anymore. McCain’s $5000 tax credit wouldn’t do us any good because if we tried to buy health insurance, we would both be denied due to pre-existing conditions.

We have been postponing all but the most essential health care and have managed that only by using our over extended credit cards. Larry has two shattered teeth, I should see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist for a chronic allergy related cough, and we both are getting to the point we need hearing aids. We often watch TV using close captioning. Too many rock concerts? Normal aging? It doesn’t matter, we strain to hear and ask people to repeat things all the time.

Until recently we had managed to pay down all but $3,100 of a $28,000 student loan, a car loan with only two more payments left, and meeting minimum payments on close to $44,000 in credit card debt at exorbitant interest rates. We have no more savings, and have been living month-to-month, hand to mouth doing side jobs in elder care and handy-man work to survive. Closely tracking how much credit limit is left on our cards, we watch the last sands of hope fall into the bottom of the hourglass.

Our debt, while above average, is not from living extravagantly. Lacking steady employment, we do not qualify for credit consolidation from any of the many agencies that call unsolicited. Funding for the equipment and expenditures to start a business of our own is out of reach. In spite of our relatively clean credit record, we are facing bankruptcy.

That said, our choice for president is obvious. We hope that Barack Obama’s ‘socialized’ plans for more universal access to health care, and reviving the economy are instituted immediately. We realize that any president has quite a mess to clean up, and are sickened at the $10.2 trillion deficit (http://www.federalbudget.com) that has accumulated in eight years. The total cost of the Iraq war is $565,270,842,596 not to mention its trickle down effect: $341.4 million a day, thatÕs $4,681 per household, $1,721 per person http://www.nationalpriorities.org/costofwar_home). Imagine: what it would look like if even a small percent of that was spent on the health, education and welfare of all of our people? Vote Democratic!

This came across a health education list that I'm on. I agree with every word of it. I don't really understand why people are against mandatory health insurance for everyone. We--the USA--already has it for older people and the really poor. It's called Medicare and Medicaid. So why can't the rest of us have it? ;I spent 10 years in a job that I hated and that damaged me mentally (I have Complex PTSD because of my coworkers--I was mobbed, bullied, and sexually harassed) because I needed the health insurance (health problems). No one should have to put up with that just to have health insurance.