I had a great time in Grand Rapids. I went to an IMAX theatre and saw Monsters vs. Aliens, and then a great museum I spent 4 hours at. Then I went to the Taj Mahal of YMCAs--the Grand Rapids YMCA. They had a steam room and whirlpool just in the locker room. And then I went to a Goodwill thrift store outlet, that sold goods by the pound. I got 4 down pillows for a $1. The doctor's appointments went well, and the sleep apnea doc gave me good advice. The dermatologist did quite a few things, including taking off 3 moles on my back and sending them to be biospied. I'm not worried anything will be wrong as far as the biosopies.
Medicaid is still giving me heck. I got a call this morning from my worker's supervisor, ordering me to a meeting on Tuesday with her, my worker, and the supervisor's superior. I'm not sure how I feel about the meeting yet.
On with better news. I wrote a new letter to the Michigan legislator's and I am getting phone calls and return emails about it this morning. Here's the letter:
Re: dreams deferred...
Friday, April 3, 2009 11:26 AM
From:
"District 80"
To:
"Rep. Jimmy Womack (District 7)" , "Rep. Lesia Liss (District 28)" , "Rep. Tom McMillin (District 45)" , "Rep. Jim Slezak (District 50)" , "Rep. Kenneth Kurtz (District 58)" , "District 81" , "District 91" , "Rep. Tim Moore (District 97)" , "Rep. Andy Neumann (District 106)" , "Margie Hadsell" , "Michuhcan" , SenBHardiman@senate.michigan.gov, SenGJacobs@senate.michigan.gov, SenMJansen@senate.michigan.gov, "senator jelinek" , "Laurie alderman" , "Tracy Madden" ... more
hideAddress('addrExpand_to');
Cc:
"andy District 17" , "District 20" , "Sharon tyler other Rep. Sharon Tyler (District 78)" , "district District 105" , "fred upton" , "mr. ahmed" , "debbie stabenow" ... more
group",
----------------------------------------------
Laurie
Thank you for the e-mail and I appreciate your support and advocacy for House Bills 4707 and 4708. As per my voice mail, I wanted to give you a little more information on the status.
Along with Rep. Jim Slezak, I introduced the most recent Freedom to Work legislation this week. The bills will also be introduced in the Senate by Senator Gerald Van Woerkom and Senator John Gleason. We are hoping to arrange an organizational meeting in the next two weeks to determine if the proposals will need any changes. The meetings will include representatives from ARC of Michigan as well as the Disability Network. I will make sure that our offices keeps you up to date on any activity and we will do everything we can to get this issue moving.
Again, I appreciate your e-mail and please do not hesitate to contact my office directly if you have any additional comments or concerns.
Sincerely,
Tonya Schuitmaker
80th House District
(517) 373-0839
>>> Laurie alderman 4/3/2009 7:24 AM >>>
I spent a few hours yesterday watching the Michigan House and Senate tv broadcasts of a very busy day in the legislature. All it ended up doing was making me angry. I did not see one mention of health care. All the bills that were asked to be "sped up" for reading, didn't include 4707 or 4708, the Freedom to Work Medicaid reform act. Yet, health care reform is supposed to be a priority. Yes, you need to help fix the economy. But even the unemployed will need to remain healthy in this time of need. That is an immediate need..none of your "economy fixes" will produce short-term and needed help like health care reform would.
I watched a program on PBS this week on Frontline about health care. I can't get out of my head one of the points of the program, that under the American health care system, people's dreams are crushed or deferred because of health care needs or situations. One example was a talented college student who became sick during college. In order to get adequate medical care, he had to drop out of college and work at Lowe's. This is just one example of squashed dreams. How many other millions of people in the U.S. have had their dreams squashed because of health care needs??
My need for adequate health care, has trampled on my dreams. When I came back to the U.S. from Australia, where I received my master's degree in occupational therapy 4 years ago, I had great dreams and visions of my future. But at the same time, my health started failing... First, I had to deal with having a full time job (more than full-time--70 hours a week), and a crappy employer health insurance policy. I spent around 50% of my income on medical, even with insurance. I had to endure more than I should have with this employer...but I had to "put up with it", so that I could keep my health insurance during my illnesses. My need for access to health care came before my well-being or health. This situation nearly killed me 2 years ago.
From this work situation, I went to the "welfare" situation, and suddenly the Social Security Administration, the MI Department of Human Services, and Medicaid/Medicare rules were imposed on me, so that I could have health care access. This access has been life-saving, as I have recently learned from the University of Michigan. Yet at what price??
I am a highly educated person, who loves people, espeically others with little or no voice, i.e. the disabled. I am able to break barriers of the hardest to reach people in our society, i.e. I have a "gift" in reaching those people with autism. I have won human service and humanitarian awards. I've been called a saint more times than I care to admit as it embarasses me.
Yet, every decision I have made in the last four years and in the present make, is about health care access. My lifestyle is crappy, and I live in extreme poverty because all of you in the chambers of both parts of the MI legislature have chosen to do so. I fight with Medicaid and the DHS every week, just to have my income limited to $420 a month after my Medicaid spend-down, because all of you in the legislature can't enact fair and just legislation, that allows people like me health care access. You can't even make a bill that would help me and from what I gather 19k cohorts in Michigan, a priority, to allow us on SSDI awards above the poverty line, fair access to Medicaid under the Federal Freedom to Work Medicaid act. You all allow this unjust situation in that you have done nothing, as evidenced by a report I found from 2005 stating the unjust nature of the MI Medicaid system and need for reform. You have failed to make Medicaid a fair and just program for those us on SSDI. Instead, you reward laziness and make incentives for people not to work. How many dreams have you all caused to be deferred or crushed because of this inaction?? You have caused my dreams and hopes to be crushed over the last four years.
I didn't understand until now, the true reason why socialized medicine and universal health care is so important to those residents of countries practicing it. It is a matter of dreams and providing for equal access to those dreams for all. Universal health care allows people who are ill, and who work hard to achieve success, to have the same shot at achieving their success as healthy people. What cost has the U.S. as a whole had in that people have their dreams and achievements crushed by health care needs and costs? Yet, we are the country that believes in the American dream, that if you work hard enough, you can achieve your dreams and have equal opportunity to do so?? I guess the writers of the "American Dream" forgot a caveat that you have to be healthy or not need health care to do so.
Please, please, put House Bills 4707 and 4708 (the Freedom to Work Medicaid reform acts) on the fast track, instead of burying them. Give me an opportunity to dream again about my future and be hopeful again.
Sincerely,
Laurie Alderman
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