“Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.” Francis of Assisi
I wrote a column three years ago, directed at colleagues dead set against the Affordable Care Act (ACA); little did I know it was only the beginning. This morning, the LA Times front page served up some irony I couldn’t help but notice.
So today, the Times published an above-the-fold front page piece titled, “What’s at stake in health law’s repeal.” Just under the fold, I read “Unearthing atrocities in Iraq’s newest mass graves.”
And when you begin doing the math that says you’ve now walked the earth way more days than your dad; for me, it’s cause for reflection. I wonder; if like me, my dad cultivated a finer appreciation for irony as he nurtured a closer relationship with AARP?
Like many fortunate sons, I don’t assume I’ll ever be nearly the man my dad was. To a fault, he believed everyone deserved a chance; last time I looked, that was an American ideal. Even for the 30,000,000 citizens who were one banana peel away from losing everything just a few years ago and the 30,000 Americans/year who lose their lives for the lack of effective health insurance.
If the only leader of the free world who’s ever tweeted out TV reviews, baseless accusations, and Twilight Zone head counts (at 3AM) ever has his way, he’ll be killing Americans. And I wonder what he’ll do about those mass graves? I wonder if he can even spell “atrocity?”
When I look at social issues, I personalize the consequences. How will the results impact friends and family (and that includes my co-workers and patients.) And what would my dad have said? And what if MY family was being denied the chance for the same sense of security available to the rest of the industrialized world?
I don’t have to go very far to find an example. Both of my parents suffered from diabetes. Had my dad been one of the 30,000,000 he would have lost his life instead of a leg. I would’ve never made it through college, and my mom and I would’ve probably qualified as part of that notorious demographic that lives the high life while relying on government support. My mom would have died years earlier; I wouldn’t be serving others today and I would’ve never had the privilege of meeting the friends and family I know as my co-workers and patients.
In California, an ACA rollback will be a catastrophic gut blow for the sickest and poorest among us. In Los Angeles County, since ACA was fully implemented in 2014, 350 community clinics have served 1.5 million patients who otherwise would have no health coverage. Statewide, 13.4 million Californians are covered by Medi-Cal, our version of Medicaid. With the planned cuts in Medicaid, millions stand to lose the only health insurance coverage they’ve known.
In return, the wealthiest families in the nation will receive an average tax cut of $7-million. Increased insurance costs for those between the ages of 50-65 are projected to range from 20-40%.
Supporters of the repeal and opponents of the ACA have had approximately 65-years to come up with a plan, a clue, or most disgustingly, the will to generate any kind of health plan; let alone a viable alternative. Apparently, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” really doesn’t mean crap to these so-called “Americans.”
And my question is; who are the 30,000 Americans the ACA repeal advocates plan to kill? Ironically, many of ‘em apparently didn’t have P.T. Barnum on their mind on November 8.
According to the President of the United States, “It’s (health insurance) an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew health insurance could be so complicated.”
If she still had a pulse and could respond on Twitter, Francis of Assisi could tweet back an old quote, “Where there is charity and wisdom, there is neither fear nor ignorance.”
Seems like these days, there’s a scarcity of charity and wisdom while fear and ignorance are all too often only an early AM tweet away.
