Derek StaffansonUtah Politicians on Health Care
I received several comments to my previous post on the working poor. Emily Hollingshead shared a recent experience she had at a meeting which was attended by many Utah politicians. One line in particular caught my attention. I hope Emily does not mind if I quote her.
I was shocked to hear some of our legislators talk about the “lazy people†who use medicare, and who “abuse the system†and who “make lifestyle choices†that put them in the hospital in the first place. The most shocking comment came from a gentleman running for the county commission who said the people who use medicare or medicade “use it all the time†because it is available to them and they have unending access to it. (Paraphrasing).
Interesting. I am not familiar with the situations about which this potential county commissioner is speaking. But it seems an odd perspective on health care.
Please correct me if I’m wrong; but isn’t a quality health care system one in which the patrons are able to make frequent and regular use of the system? Where regular check-ups are the norm, so that potential health issues can be detected and prevented before they become catastrophes or expensive emergencies? “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,†I’d been led to believe. Is that only true for those wealthy enough to afford health care?
Are we supposed to turn away those whose lifestyle choices lead to health problems? How charitable.
I shudder to think what that would mean for the increasingly sedentary population, whose diet consists of increasing amounts of sugars, salt, and fats. My own church community may not drink or smoke, but they are certainly vulnerable to lifestyle choices which put them in the hospital.
August 3rd, 2006 at 11:01 am
This is how many people think in Utah despite PCN and CHIP covering so many of Utah’s middle income working class.
Half the population goes to the food bank at any given time and most people declare bankruptcy in Utah due to medical bills even with insurance.
With the death of a young girl in Syracuse who was mentally ill, I have to say the government and system in Utah is not doing it’s job. The state receives a ton of federal dollars meagerly matched by the state. The legislatures are well, not bright people.
Spend some time on fed. govt websites and read up on the federal dollar funding for Utah. Money is simply being wasted. Stricter audits and oversight needs to be put in place. A person on medicaid and medicare never sees a bill. Dumb. It leaves the system open to rampant fraud by the hospitals.
Just my informed two cents.
August 3rd, 2006 at 5:04 pm
Derek - no problem in posting my quote. I feel the same way you do about it, but didn’t have time yesterday to elaborate more than that.
You are so right that this thinking is backwards. Really, here is the bottom line: our Utah community is very proud and very committed to the ideal of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility. For too many years the message has been that if a person uses government services, they must not be responsible with money, with their lives, or with their morals. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Through my volunteer work in my community, I am *very* aware of the individuals who use these services, and I can promise you that they are not lazy, irresponsible, or immoral — I even go to church with some of these people and know from personal experience what they stand for.
Of course we should all strive for self-sufficiency and personal responsibility. To assume that a person who uses government services is lazy and irresponsible is not fair to them and it is not accurate. It is a FACT that most who use government health services are single mothers. It is a FACT that most of these women who use the services have dead-beat ex-husbands who do not pay to support their children. It is also a FACT that most of these women use the services for a very short time, just long enough to get their lives back on track so that they can better provide for their children.
I think it is incredibly responsible of these women to admit that they need help. It is very commendable that they have the courage to do the right thing for their children, even though it is not the popular thing to do. I can think of nothing *more* responsible than making sure that their children’s healthcare needs are being met.
Likewise, I can think of nothing more *irresponsible* than an elected official not finding out who the real recipients of these services are, and nothing more immoral than an elected official making blatantly wrong statements about the citizens whom they have sworn to serve.
August 3rd, 2006 at 5:37 pm
Cathy -
I agree with you that the system is subject to abuse, and that the abuse occurs within the hospitals, not by the people who use the services.
It seems to me that the people like the elected official at the meeting yesterday like to blame the people for the problems, when it is very likely that it is the other way around.
August 3rd, 2006 at 10:44 pm
Lifestyle choices — gahh!
It’s not my lifestyle choice to drive a gas guzzling SUV, but I get to breathe in the pollution from one which could adversely affect my health. It’s my lifestyle choice to purchase windpower shares, but my lungs are affected by those who don’t.
It’s my lifestyle choice to avoid harmful chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides, but my body is absorbing other’s lifestyle choices to spray their lawns (these chemicals can spread as far as 50 miles from where they were applied) or spray their buildings and grounds.
Our health is affected by the actions of others as well as ourselves. Poorer people are hit disproportionally as they usually live where pollution is at it’s worst and work at jobs that tend to be more dangerous and harder on the body than the white collar jobs that better off people have.
August 5th, 2006 at 11:21 am
Derek, will you give me a call?
801-706-6203
August 5th, 2006 at 5:33 pm
I found it ironic when doing any research on say http://www.hud.gov, imo, one of the best governmental uses of public funds, with links to public data research, facts, stats and resources, that you often see some of the best groups working for a good cause to end hunger, homelessness and the like in Utah, are the non lds groups like Utah Issues, Crossroads Urban Center. HUD uses many of these groups on it’s website in Utah than it does in other states.
Do not even get me going on the polygamist and their need to need “milk the beast” the government on their use of food stamps, medicaid all the while flaunting the laws but oh so well in using it to their advantage!
I had a good link to California budget for the health and human service and in particular those for the disaled. They simplydo more for less money. We are always keen in government here it seems to take fact finding trips but oh so often never use the info obtained on such wasteful junkets!
I am old enough to remember the vote on trax, public overwhemingly voted against it and the govt went ahead and got it anyway, ditto with porn on cable. Why waste the voting money on issues when the government is not going to do the peoples will?
Utah’s governemnt is no longer a government for and by the people, it is governemnt for itself. Ever go to the state legislative site and see what the legislators do? Many pass bills that would benefit their businesses.
The people say we want this or we want that, and it almost never happens!
If you spent anytime living out of the state, not on a mission, we all know people think Utahns are well, odd. Our legislators are NOT helping!
Some stats:
over 300,000 people are disabled in Utah
over 300,000 have no insurance at all for medical coverage
Half of all Utahns, and according to the lsat figures I heard we are now at 2.600,00 million half of us have to go to food banks monthly and half of all children say they are hungry at some time.
Half of all utah kids are supposedly on free or reduced meals. What does that rally say about Utah in right to work state?
We once had some of the lowest college tuition around, not anymore!
Utah shortchanges it soldiers that serve as well from housing to education to not always honoring the soldiers sailor relief act.
Shame on the legislators!
BTW for those of you who do battle for the right thing, thank you!
Utah is supposed to be Christian bastian, then why do christian values not exist at times within the legislators?
August 5th, 2006 at 5:40 pm
BTW I submitted this idea to the legislators and the gov.
Some states and Utah is supposed to allow this too allow even older disabled adults to sue thier more well off parents for lifetime child support. I say open the flood gates.
There is a law on the book that does allow this even in Utah.
Heck, think of the medicaid and medicare dollars saved! If insurance companies allowed people a more cost effective way to buy long term health insurance then hey that saves even more tax payer money!
The whole irony is those who are minorites, families who work for the feds and bused disabled kids, bring in tons of cash more than your avg person does, in tax dollars.
IF a person is found eligble for SSI or SSDI then the state can actually get more federal funds. Imagine that!
Go to say, WY, ID or Calif where govt building are not constantly “retrofitted” remodeled, newly built, and they all have more funds to do more for the people.
Oh, finally, if ORS, the child support agency did it’s job right, according to a recent audit by the auditor general they will not make changes to be able to collect millions of unpaid child support, then those families could use less fed funds as well.
ORS refuse to suspend license and almost NEVER goes after deadbeatss for criminal non support and often closes out cases witout notify the person who is owed the money. Broken system?
I will run for office. Any supporters?!