Race Is a Biological Concept(?)

In Chicago in 1980, black and white women died of breast cancer at the same rate. Today, despite being slightly more likely to get breast cancer, white female Chicagoans are half as likely to die from it. Could the difference in death rates be due to genetic differences between black and white women?
. . .

Race is a political category that has staggering biological consequences because of the impact of social inequality on people’s health. Understanding race as a political category does not erase its impact on biology; instead, it redirects attention from genetic explanations to social ones.

Check out this article in Boston Review by Anne Fausto-Sterling: Bodies with Histories: The New Search for the Biology of Race.

In it, Fausto Sterling reviews these three important and thought-provoking books:

• Richard C. Francis, Epigenetics: The Ultimate Mystery of Inheritance. W. W. Norton, $25.95 (cloth)
• Ann Morning, The Nature of Race: How Scientists Think and Teach about Human Difference. University of California Press, $26.95 (paper)
• Dorothy Roberts, Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century. New Press, $29.95 (cloth)

I Couldn't Have Said It Better Myself!

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Gross
www.thedailyshow.com
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Is This What You Mean by "Pro" Life?

h/t racismreview

The Tennessee report has discussed the comments of a Tennessee state representative thus:

Rep. Curry Todd remarked during a Fiscal Review Committee presentation this week that the idea of government-funded care for pregnant women [Mexican immigrants] who cannot prove they have United States government permission to be in this country struck him as not unlike inviting a rat infestation. The Collierville Republican made the comments after asking CoverKids program managers whether the state checks the citizenship status of care recipients. . . . [They] responded that CoverKids doesn’t provide medical coverage to pregnant women, but it does offer “unborn coverage …. ”Rep. Todd responded: “Well, they can go out there like rats and multiply, then, I guess.”

Stinking Gringo! (Updated)

update: Here's racismreview discussion, and via racismreview Information on the 1946-1948 United States Public Health Service STD Inoculation Study

Yeah, an academic article is coming out soon by Susan  M Reverby (synopsis in pdf) who found that the US infected Guatemalans with syphilis and gonorrhea during the 1940s. Kinda like the Tuskegee experiment (update: different link via racismreview) for Latin America.

Now, don't get me wrong. This has nothing to do with AIDS in the black community and whether or not the US government invented AIDS. But the conspiracy theory doesn't sound so far fetched now.

More Healthcare Now!

Here's a message I received from the president:

I'm writing to you on a great day for America.

This morning, I gathered with members of Congress, my administration, and hardworking volunteers from every part of the country to sign comprehensive health care reform into law. Thanks to the immeasurable efforts of so many, the dream of reform is now a reality.

Healthcare Now!

Just wanna have a record of the immediate benefits of healthcare:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Damn.: ACORN Finally Cracks For Good

I can hardly even enjoy the signing ceremony for the health care reform bill and the little boy wearing the tie that matches Obamas's tie. Now, Stephanie Menciner thinks once people actually experience the bill's provisions and Grandma doesn't die, the tea parties just might. (Well . . . Grandma probably will die, but it won't be by the hand of some government bureaucrats.) But not even that makes me feel better. The tea pots just rallied around hate and fear and failed conservative policies. ACORN actually helped people.

ACORN Finally Cracks For Good
A right wing target falls for good; "community organizing" is forever marked as un-American.
By Adam Weinstein | Mon Mar. 22, 2010 3:35 PM PDT

Congratulations, Andrew Breitbart and James O'Keefe. You killed ACORN. Who's next? The Salvation Army?

Can't Make It to DC?

March virtually.

Lorda mercy!!
I've already signed up. I just think the concept is lazy and racist. Can you imagine a "Virtual March to Selma?" Yeah, we'd still be marching for civil rights. But maybe, instead of being killed, civil rights leaders who've been assassinated virtually.

BlueCross BlueShank

Here, make your statement:

Subject: Blue Cross

Hi,

We hear all the time about rising health care costs, but this really takes the cake.

Blue Cross has just announced that it's immediately raising premiums charged to hundreds of thousands of individual customers by as much as 39% -- even though their parent company's profits soared to a record $4.7 billion last year.

Remembering the Mover and The Movement

First, I'll just share a some of my own thoughts, then I'll share some good stuff I found online this morning.

Always, my in initial thought is amazement. Even though we're two days away from the first full year of a sitting black president, I still surprised we have a holiday for a black person. Don't get me wrong, after Christmas and New Year's Eve, I'm winding down the holiday juices. And MLK Day usually sneaks up on me. So I can be a little shook that there's another holiday so soon. But that it's a holiday in remembrance of a black man is usually what keeps me shook until the day after. Just can't get over it.

And while I'm thinking about it, let's not forget today is a national day of service. But starting a tradition of having an MLK fish-fry or cook-out couldn't hurt, could it? (Now, for those who may not know, a cook-out is the same as a BBQ, as in "neighborhood BBQ" not pulled-pork. I don't know another word for fish-fry, but it's pretty much what it sounds like.) I mean, we eat on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the 4th of July. Why not MLK Day? True, I haven't had breakfast. I'm hungry!

Another thought is something I got in an argument about with my mom, but my history professor agreed with me: too much emphasis is put on Dr. King, Jr in terms of the Civil Rights Movement. He didn't start it. He didn't lead it. He was an incredible voice for it and gave his life for it.

But he wasn't the only participant. Not the only leader or speaker, or person to give his life. He made some great moves and used some great strategy; he made some bad moves and used some bad strategy. That's not to disrespect the youngest person of color to win the Nobel Peace Prize, as he was certainly a major voice for peace. The truth is, he was human. Just like the rest of us. As he said, all it takes to be great is to serve and anybody can be great cause anybody can serve. And he was a champion servant! Don't get me wrong, he did some prodigous serving. I just wish we paid more attention to other champion servants.

A very recent thought is irony of the Civil Rights Movement/Black Freedom Movement by comparison to the Tea Party Movement. The point of the CRM was to pull everybody into citizenship on equal status. What is it that the tea party hopes to accomplish that will lift up all of America? The CRM looked to the past and said, "It's damn time for black folks in particular finally to get the rights gauranteed to us nearly a hundred years ago!" What's the tea party hailing to history for? They reach to a time when only white men who owned a certain amount of property had say, in the little European settlers had say in, in colonial government, then completely misunderstand and revise the history of American Independence. Their heroes are racist and sexist nominally Christian men who dressed like Iroquois to sneak on a boat and overturn crates of tea in part to protect settler-owned "big" business. These men weren't fighting for freedom and liberty for anybody. Just money.

What's most disturbing in terms of history are the threats of violence coming from the tea party. Gotta water the tree of freedom with the blood of tyrants sometime. They come unarmed this time. As though true revolution involves blood.

And, well, maybe they have a point. The goals of The Movement haven't been accomplished yet. The eldest surviving child of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King prefers to observe the national holiday in honor of his father as opposed to celebrating it. Martin Luther King III said there is simply too much work to be done around what his father called the "triple evils." As MLK, III puts it,

"We can't celebrate when the triple evils of poverty, racism and militarism are still very much existing in our society. The holiday always gives us an opportunity to begin anew."

Read the entire article, a great article, here.

The last thing I want to address is the santaclausification of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. So much of what he said and did is forgotten in collective/white memory. The true MLK doesn't serve the purposes of white supremacy. Few whites, and no political conservative or libertarian of any race, would hold up MLK as an exceptional black all other blacks should aspire to. He supported affirmative action and reparations. Let's not forget that.

All right. The video that follows is a clip Dr. King giving a speech few people quote today. Yep, Dr. was "black and proud," not American and ambivalent.

But before that, if you can, help Martha Coakley (D-MA) beat her tea-party endorsed opponent Scott Brown. The dude coming strong with the stupid in the video in my previous post.

A'ight, Ladies and Gents. Hope to hear from ya soon. Holla.

Sickening

I'm experiencing a sort of brain . . . I can't think of a good word to describe the heaviness I feel in my head and the effort it takes to do anything beyond the most shallow of thinking.

So, not having read this entire article, I forewarn you that I may take it down later. Until then, what I have read is important for everyone to know in the midst of the battles around healthcare reform. ~ No1KState


Health Study For Chicago: Health Gap Widens
Between Blacks, Whites
Problem is worse in Chicago than nationwide,
Sinai Urban Health Institute study says.
A new study finds a widening gulf in the health status
of blacks and whites in Chicago, even though
disparities between blacks and whites nationally
have remained static.
By Deborah L. Shelton
Chicago Tribune
December 18, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/chi-chicago_health_gapdec18,0,628023.story

A widening gulf in the health status of blacks and
whites in Chicago comes even as disparities between the
two races nationally have remained relatively constant,
a new study has found.

The disparity is particularly jarring in five areas:
death from all causes, heart disease mortality, breast
cancer mortality, rates of tuberculosis and the
percentage of women who received no prenatal care during
the first trimester of pregnancy.

Nationally, the racial gap got worse from 1990 to 2005
for six of the 15 health indicators researchers studied.
However, in Chicago, disparities worsened for 11 of the
15 indicators, according to research by the Sinai Urban
Health Institute, published online Thursday in the
American Journal of Public Health.

Poverty, segregation and access to health care all
appear to play a role, researchers said. In Chicago
neighborhoods and medical offices, doctors and patients
see the same factors.

Dr. Charles Barron, medical director at Access Southwest
Family Health Center, said many of his patients struggle
to pay for health care.

"Access is definitely an issue, even at federally
qualified health centers such as Access Community Health
Network, which offers treatment on a sliding-scale
basis," he said.

Tonya Jackson, 39, of North Lawndale, takes seven
medications to treat heart failure. She is a patient at
Mount Sinai Hospital, which is widely known for its
initiatives to treat low-income and poor patients.

"Even with health insurance, a lot of medicines are very
expensive," she said. "When you're a single parent,
you're trying to pay rent, you have your child, and
you're trying to pay bills and buy food, so it's
difficult. A lot of people don't get the care they need
because they have to decide whether they want to eat
that day."

Dr. Niva Lubin-Johnson, an African-American physician,
has witnessed the disparities firsthand in her 20-year
solo practice in Chatham.

"Based on what I see," she said, "we have a greater
disease burden, and part of that comes from lifestyle,
part of it comes from income, part of it comes from
health literacy and people not understanding what they
need to do to live a healthy lifestyle."

An author of the study, institute director Steve
Whitman, previously has compared breast cancer
disparities in Chicago and New York. He said the health
of African-Americans in Chicago fares worse than blacks
elsewhere.

"The underlying issue here is racism and poverty,"
Whitman said. "In Chicago, it's exacerbated by
segregation. Black people in Chicago are forced to live
in neighborhoods where there are no stores to buy fresh
fruits and vegetables, where schools are failing, where
they don't have parks to exercise in and where they tend
to go to segregated health facilities that are poorly
funded and, in different ways, failing."

Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American
Public Health Association, cautioned about making
geographic comparisons.

"While it is important to measure an urban city like
Chicago against national numbers," Benjamin said, "the
national statistics include lots of places where some of
the challenges of racial disparity don't exist.

"When you average numbers out -- even though researchers
try statistically to correct for some of those things --
you have to be cautious."

But he agreed that racial disparities appear to be
worsening in Chicago.

"Despite Chicago's ... transit system, it still has
pockets of people where people have tremendous problems
accessing care, and that's a huge overlay," Benjamin
said. "Part of it is lack of insurance, and part of it
is access to care."

Ultimately, money might matter most when it comes to
good health, Benjamin said.

"If we were serious about doing something about
eliminating these disparities, we would pay attention to
the social determinants of health that put people in
these situations to begin with," he said. "At the end of
the day, there is very strong correlation between health
and wealth."

Sinai researchers analyzed the 15 measures using data
from city communicable disease records and Illinois
birth and death records.

The study builds on work published in 2004, believed to
be the first to examine the health of blacks and whites
in a major urban center over time and put findings in
the context of national trends.

Researchers reported that the African-American death
rate from breast cancer was 99 percent higher in Chicago
than for white women, a fivefold increase since 1990.

In 1990, blacks in Chicago were 8 percent more likely
than whites to die of heart disease.

In 2005, blacks were 24 percent more likely to die.

In 1990, black women were two times more likely to go
without prenatal care in the first trimester of
pregnancy. By 2005, they were three times more likely to
go without prenatal care.

Most of the measures showed improved health for both
blacks and whites nationally and locally, but whites'
health status improved much more, widening the gap.

If health indicators were equal, 3,200 fewer African-
Americans in Chicago would die every year, or about nine
a day, the study estimates.

Joseph M. Harrington, assistant commissioner for chronic
disease for the Chicago Department of Public Health,
agreed that the problem in Chicago is significant.

"But," he said, "what do we do about it? You can keep
talking about how bad the numbers are, but the real
question is, what do you plan to do?"

The city health department has initiated programs to
address the problem, including a federally funded
project focused on cardiovascular disease among blacks
and Hispanics living in North and South Lawndale,
Harrington said.

"These findings should provoke us to think about what
can be done, that's the call to action," Harrington
said.

"This should provoke us to do something."

Most People Would Die for a Screening

Literally. And opponents say we can't have a public option because it would lead to healthcare rationing. Here's what you need to know. ~ No1KState

Poor Being Turned Away From Cancer Screenings

ALBANY, N.Y. (Dec. 13) -- As the economy falters and more people go without health insurance, low-income women in at least 20 states are being turned away or put on long waiting lists for free cancer screenings, according to the American Cancer Society's Cancer Action Network.

In the unofficial survey of programs for July 2008 through April 2009, the organization found that state budget strains are forcing some programs to reject people who would otherwise qualify for free mammograms and Pap smears. Just how many are turned away isn't known; in some cases, the women are screened through other programs or referred to different providers.
. . .
The Cancer Society doesn't have an estimate for what percentage of breast cancer diagnoses come from mammogram screenings, but says women have a 98 percent survival rate when breast cancer is caught early, during stage I. That shrinks to about 84 percent during stages II and III, and just 27 percent at stage IV - when cancer has reached its most advanced point.

"I already know there are women who are dying whose lives we could have saved with mammography and other detections," said Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer for the society.

In New York, the Cancer Society says providers in Manhattan, Brooklyn and western Queens, and in Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester counties project they'll perform nearly 15,000 fewer free mammograms for the fiscal year ending April 2010, compared with the previous year.

The Cancer Society has no way to count how many women are being turned away, and many providers don't keep track of how many are denied screening, or whether those women find another alternative. The cost of screening varies, but the average mammogram is about $100, while a Pap screen can range between $75 and $200, according to the society.

Project Renewal Van Scan, which gives mammograms around New York City, usually targets 6,000 women a year but has cut back to 3,100 this year, director Mary Solomon said.

Each state handles free screenings differently. Some use state funds to supplement federal funding, while others get private assistance from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation and other groups.

At least 14 states cut budgets for free cancer screenings this year: Colorado, Montana, Illinois, Alabama, Minnesota, Connecticut, South Carolina, Utah, Missouri, Washington, Ohio, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Arkansas.

Some states that have cut their budgets have found ways to maintain services; some states that haven't reduced their budgets still find themselves having to turn women away because they don't have enough funding.

"This is rationing of health care by offering (screenings) only in the first half of the fiscal year, or by cutting back on those programs," Brawley said. "It's rationing that is leading to people dying."

New York, which has fought for two years with deficits in the billions, used to screen women of all ages for breast cancer, but after $3.5 million in budget cuts this year, women under 50 - like LaBarge - are no longer eligible unless they have the breast cancer gene or a serious family cancer history. Despite [one patient]'s family history, she was denied screening because of her age and a lack of funding.
. . .
In 2009, the Cancer Society estimates, 34,600 women between 40 and 49 will be found to have breast cancer nationwide; in that age group, 4,300 breast cancer deaths are projected this year.
. . .
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that since 1991, the free screening program has provided more than 8 million exams to more than 3.4 million women, detecting more than 39,000 breast cancers, 2,400 invasive cervical cancers and 126,000 pre-malignant cervical lesions.

You Just Too Damn Fat!!

Lincoln University, an HBCU in rural Pennsylvania, is getting international attention and coverage, and lots of heat for requiring students with BMI over 30 to take a specific PE in order to graduate.

Okay. Let's deal with some particulars. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women. BMI Categories:

• Underweight = 18.5
• Normal weight = 18.5-24.9
• Overweight = 25-29.9
• Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

Personally, I'm just on the edge of normal weight. Whew. You can calculate your BMI at the link. Remember, though, the muscle weighs more than fat, so you could have a high BMI and still be considered normal weight.

People with a BMI over 30 are obese and at risk for lots of health problems including diabetes and heart disease. Now, perhaps with the exception of white women, there is nothing definitive that weight has a negative impact on income. But, a higher BMI, with its associated health risks, in the end costs more.

As for the university, they don't have the resources to offer this course to everyone, which is what they'd like to do. So they make a requirement for people with BMIs over 30 not to be discriminatory, but to target the class to those who need it most. And there's no doubt they could've done a better job communicating the specifics to students and others.

That said, I completely agree with the universities decision to make this a requirement. The health risks to our community of obesity are too large and have too much of an impact to big ignored. Now sure, some of the problem in the Black community is related to poverty and urban planning, ie lack of access to healthy food. And of course, the older you get, the less likely you are to lose weight, and policies like these would have a greater impact on school children. But college students aren't exactly adults, sorry. Though, this is more about whether or not you're set in your ways than it's about being qualified to vote. And regardless of the neighborhood, we need to empower ourselves to make healthier decisions. If you can't run outside because it's not safe, I'm not suggesting you by a bullet-proof vest and go jogging; but maybe you can do some jumping jacks or push-ups in your house?

And, I don't know. I just think the black community stands to gain a lot by improving our overall health. First off is the lives that'll be saved not to mention money spent on on health care! It's important to send the message that healthiness is important. And who knows? Once we're healthier, maybe we'll have the energy and time to invest in anti-racist activities. We don't know the impact this can have, yet.

Even if they change the particulars, Lincoln definitely needs to keep the idea. Definitely. Go Lions!

Oh, Yes He Did! (Updated)

Yes, there're other things in the news; and yes, I gotta give big props to the Congressional Black Caucus as black America is officially in an economic depression; and yes, this happened almost a month ago. But there is no excuse for

to be on an 8th grade pre-algebra assignment!

The good news is that some of the kids complained. The bad news is that one child teased the only black student in the class. Personally, I don't know what's more racist: that the teacher decided to use the picture, or that the teacher claims to have seen nothing wrong with it. Trust and believe, he had other options. I had to get to page 6 to find the picture myself.

In trying to find more information on the matter, since it did happen almost a month ago, I came across one blogger who commented that the fact that the mother went to the NAACP hurts her credibility, even though it was the county office. Don't get me wrong, this particular blogger ultimately decides what the teacher did is racist, but he also disagreed with the mother of the only black student in the class keeping her child out of school. So, I think I'm gonna have to do some of my best work.

Now, if you don't find the picture offensive, then I don't know what to say about that. I can hardly stand to look at the picture myself. I'm only displaying it to grab your attention.

But here's the thing. Blacks in Bucks County, PA where this happened make up just 3.2% of the population there, 10 points less than the national average. Now, there's a general feeling of vunerability among black Americans. Being less than the national average can only make things worse. I don't blame the mother for bringing in her county's NAACP office or keeping her child out of school. And this is allegedly one of the best schools in the nations. It's not about fear of physical danger. It's about the psychic toll such an assault can have on the child. It's not an emotionally safe place to learn. As someone who's had to learn under similar circumstances, I can tell you it takes extra mental juice to overlook something like that and learn. Think of it the same way you think of sexual harrasment. Would you have your daughter in class with a teacher who plastered Pamela Anderson on a homework assignment?

Listen. We're not going to solve race by colorblindly acting like it doesn't matter any more. So stop denying that it exists. And if it shows up in an 8th grade math teacher, it's probably down at those tea party rallies, too.

That's my first point.

Here's my second. Studies have shown that allowing someone to tell a sexist joke leads to an environment where sexism is tolerated and women are discriminated against. Other forms of "disparagement humor," whether they're about racial minorities or a lower socioeconomic class, also have the "potential to be a powerful and widespread force that can legitimize prejudice in our society."

And so this teacher gave us a perfect example of how this operates. He pastes this picture on a math worksheet. He probably really didn't see the problem with this disparagement humor. (Hint to white people and men, if your "joke" puts someone down, it's offensive. Don't get me wrong, I can understand how white people would find jokes about smelling like wet dogs offensive. But, first, I feel quite safe in saying you don't know our white jokes because you haven't heard very many. After all, Bernie Mac and the man from 227 went through a list of "nicknames" for white people, but Ashton Kutcher told 4 jokes. And if your anti-black jokes work the same way our yor-mama jokes do, then I know there are hundreds of other jokes, maybe more; and, the ones Ashton told have are probably no longer in fad.) White people rarely do, even if the only way to get the "joke" is to already be familiar with the historic racist stereotype of black people and watermelons. (If you're not, I mean really not, please watch this mockumentary.) I guess that's because if you tell the same joke dozens of times around white people, it may never occur to you that others would be offended.

Wow. That's privilege.

So, there are some students who protest the picture, but the teacher hands out the worksheets still. Then, one classmate turns to the only black child and asks if that's his daddy, cause we all know most black kids don't know who their father is.

This teacher doesn't mean a class on tolerance or sensitivity. He needs a history class and an, pardon my languagne, ass-whooping.

This Is Why Healthcare Should Never Be Left to the Free Market

. . . er, duh!

Goldman To Private Insurers: No Health Care Reform at
All Is Best

Sam Stein
11-12-09

The Senate Finance Committee bill, which Goldman's
analysts conclude is the version most likely to survive
the legislative process, is described as the "base"
scenario. Under that legislation (which did not include
a public plan) the earnings per share for the top five
insurers would grow an estimated five percent from 2010
through 2019. And yet, the "variance with current
valuation" -- essentially, what the value of the stock
is on the market -- is projected to drop four percent.

The More Things Change . . .

On the one hand, the House passed healthcare reform legislation. Fantastic. On the other hand, in order to secure support from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, no company participating in the exchange will be allowed to cover abortion. See, even though there are 2 or 3 amendments already in place that prevent federal funding for abortion,  they were so concerned about the few pennies that might slip over to cover abortion due to the fungible nature of things.

What a load of crap. It wouldn't be so bad if there were no federal funding for groups to lie and coerce and con women into having unwanted babies, but there is. It wouldn't be so bad if there were no federal funding for groups to lie about the efficacy of contraception and side effects of abortion, but there is.

It's bad enough that we aren't moving to a single-payer system or even a "robust" public plan. We didn't have to participate in bullshit masquerading as religion.

Healthcare and Women

This is Michelle Obama on why women need healthcare reform. I mean really, pregnancy of a pre-existing condition? We need coverage for pap smears, mammograms, and abortion. Yes, abortion. (Not only is it not your body, it won't be your child.) And let's be clear ladies (and gentlemen), women make up the majority in this country. If we want it done, it will get done done.

Take a Number via SEIU Healthcare

I've gotten my number. Just trying to keep "Diana Prince" and "Wonder Woman" separate. Don't ask why. I don't know. ~ No1KState
__________________________________________________________________________________


We sent more than 10,000 letters to Congress in response to Peggy Robertson's story. Her insurance company had required that she get sterilized if she wanted to receive health insurance.

Members of Congress heard about it. The media reported on it. But we wondered, do our friends, family and neighbors realize how insurance companies have turned being a woman into a pre-existing condition?

Take your ticket for gender equity. Get yours, here: seiu.org/ticket

Women want equal coverage for the equal premiums they pay - plain and simple. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) is leading the charge, but we've got to get the word out. We built a tool to do just that - to demonstrate that it's time to deliver on health insurance reform.


When you take your "deli counter ticket," you'll receive a unique number. Post the number, along with this automatically-generated status update to Twitter, Facebook, and elsewhere: I'm [your number] against discrimination by health insurers. Women deserve equal coverage for equal premiums. http://seiu.org/ticket #hc09

Your ticket is waiting. Take it, here: seiu.org/ticket

Right now, millions of American women aren't involved in the health care debate. They haven't called or written Congress. They haven't thought about health insurance reform much at all. But they're dealing with the health insurance system every day - paying more and getting less.

Women pay 30-40% more on the private insurance market as men. Common pregnancy and c-sections are considered "pre-existing conditions." And in some states, insurers can even deny coverage to victims of domestic violence.The bills before Congress will guarantee, once and for all, that women are treated fairly and equitably by insurers.

Let's demonstrate that women (and men!) across the country are calling for an end to discrimination against women by health insurers. Take your ticket now.

Thanks for speaking out,

Jessica Kutch
Online Campaign Manager
SEIU Healthcare

In Need of Aid?

I don't have any commentary except to maybe say I hurt for these people. Just thought you should that over the past several years, billions of money has been wasted by non-profit groups not ACORN. The money was supposed to go to help AIDS patients, or rather, as much money was wasted, maybe just people who're have AIDS.

Well I guess two things could be said: with a better health care system, a lot of this could've been averted; fixing this, doing right by people who have AIDS, or are HIV positive, is what I mean by "justice and righteousness."

So okay, two more things. First, there's an epidemic happening in DC. In affluent, white neighborhoods as well as poor, black neighborhoods. That's unacceptable. Completely unacceptable. Not just because people die; but also because we should treat each other and ourselves better. I know getting millions of people to all practice abstinence is something of a pipe dream; but just because you're sexually active doesn't mean you can't pass up it up sometimes! Please. Take time to ask yourself if you really want to share your body with this person. You are increasing your risk of infection and pregnancy. Is that what you really want to do? You're also increasing the risk of your partner becoming infected. Is that something you really want to do? Lots of people who're HIV positive may not even know it, including you. And your partner.

Which brings me to my next point: if you are sexually active, for heaven's sake, get educated, get tested, and use a condom! Don't just practice safe sex, perfect it. Don't get all full of yourself men and go out and buy condoms you know are too large. If you use illegal drugs, please use a clean needle. Or, better yet, try quitting altogether.

Okay. That's it. No more commentary.

Die Quickly!

Okay, so Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fl) is one of my new heroes. I have some other new heroines after watching Oprah yesterday (Oct 1, 2009); but more about them in another post.

Recently, the minority leader in the House of Congress, Rep John Boehner claimed not to have taked to a regular person who supported the public option. I think he's lying, but I called his DC office, hoping to talk to him, anyway. He wasn't available. Probably somewhere lying some more. So I talked to the staff person who answered the phone. Boehner's objects to the public option are standard 'Publican dribble. But, as you know, there are somethings in their argument I just can't figure out.

So first off, a public option could eventually take over the private industry, according to Boehner. I'm left to wonder how exactly that would work, as though people would "opt" into it against their will. So of course, I point out that the option would have to operate like a regular private company, collecting revenue and premiums and all. Then the guy said something about Medicare running up the national debt. And I was confused on a number of levels.

Sorry, but genius though I be, if you say something stupid enough, you can leave my speechless.

I responded that I didn't think the guy was being completely accurate, but as the point was to record my support for the public option, I went ahead and ended the call. But, still bothered by the issue of the of Medicare adding to the national debt. "Huh?" The first thing that came to mind was that Social Security was running low, but I knew that was because previous administrations had been raiding the Social Security trust fund in order to afford tax cuts. But that wasn't the case with Medicare. Also, if Medicare is rising to the national debt, and it's not because we're just printing money to fund it (If that were the case, I'm certain we'd have heard it by now.), then isn't the problem the rising cost of healthcare altogether? What does that have to do with Medicare? Doesn't that mean that everybody's being hit?

So I do some quick research. I discovered that healthcare costs are being driven up by over-treatment. "Huh?"

From the AARP:

Of our total $2.3 trillion health care bill last year, a whopping $500 billion to $700 billion was spent on treatments, tests, and hospitalizations that did nothing to improve our health. Even worse, new evidence suggests that too much health care may actually be killing us. According to estimates by Elliott Fisher, M.D., a noted Dartmouth researcher, unnecessary care leads to the deaths of as many as 30,000 Medicare recipients annually.

To his credit, the guy did mention that the public option wouldn't contain rising healthcare costs, and would end up in the red like Medicare, which is how Medicare got brought up. But as I recall, the public option isn't supposed to contain costs; there're other parts of the president's plan that would do that like adjusting provider compensation. And that's something the president wants to do (via his Minnesota townhall transcript):

Now, think about that if car -- auto repair shops operated the same way. You take your car in and you get it fixed, and a week later the thing is broken again. You go in. The guy says, well, let me charge you all over again, and I'll do just the same thing. That doesn't make sense. So what we've said is, let's give hospitals an incentive. Let's say to the hospitals, we're going to charge you for overall treatment of whatever the problem is. And if you get it right the first time, you get to keep a little extra money. But if you keep on having the person coming back again and again, then there's a disincentive.

But he doesn't meant to use the public option to do so.

Some other reasons we've been spending more on healthcare than on food is probably how much we spend on food! We're just not doing enough to take care of ourselves and prevent illnesses like diabetes.

Two other sites where you can find some answers to any questions talking to a conservative might raise are Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Coalition on Healthcare.

But, if I made any news, it's that Republicans don't like Medicare as much as they've been recently saying.