Just My Humble Opinion...

Rarely am I political on the blog. But I have a few things on my mind lately…

Having recently started a new job, I have been learning about the company. I work for a Community and Migrant Health Center. What does that mean? It means I work for an organization that, through federal funding from the Community and Migrant Health Center Act enacted in the 1970's, provides basic health care for the underserved population. The act was intended to recognize that, despite Medicaid and Medicare, there was still a population that needed access to health care, like the homeless or the migrant farm workers.

So you're probably still asking what that means, right? It means we operate clinics that provide basic medical and dental care. Some of our patients have insurance and pay for services through insurance and copays, just like many of us. And some of our patients have Medicaid or Medicare. And some of our patients qualify for a sliding fee program, where the amount they pay is adjusted based on their family income. The money we write off through the adjustment is covered by federal funding.

So here's where I start to get a little political. There are 47 million Americans without health insurance and 35 million without access to a doctor. I realize my view of history is somewhat arrived at by the compelling stories and beautiful cinematography of films like Seabiscuit and Cinderella Man. I'm sure this is not the true reality. But I also believe, there is some basic truth about the values of a nation in those stories. During the Depression and the rebuilding years after, Americans helped one another. Americans took care of each other. They cared about people they didn't even know, because they were people. Where has that gone?

Right before I left my old job I was telling someone about InterCare and what they do. She made a flippant comment about why are they helping those migrant workers when there are people from our own country that need help. I've also heard comments made about people needing to work hard and not simply taking handouts. I agree people should do what they are capable of doing. But some people ARE doing what they are capable of and can't find a job, or work full time but are not paid enough to afford health insurance or to pay medical bills. They are stuck between a rock and a hard place. And Migrant workers come to our country to work hard. I hear people complain about them coming into America, but I never hear a complaint from someone that their fruit is too damn cheap. Farmers depend on migrant workers to do the jobs that too many Americans think they are too good for or are too much work.

I have heard heartbreaking stories since I started working here. One that I can't seem to forget is about a migrant worker in Michigan this summer. He came here to earn money to take back to Mexico to support his family. His family stayed behind, while he came here to work for months. While he has been here, his wife got ill and died. He could not afford to go back home. This poor man has lost his wife, has not had the opportunity to go home and say goodbye or to comfort his children. He is stuck in a foreign land, doing incredibly demanding physical work every day, worried about his children. He is just one of the stories of an entire subculture of depressed men working in the fields. They are away from their families doing what they have to do to survive. So their children can survive.

I took my new job because I want to make a difference. I believe in taking care of people, not because they have earned the right to health care, but because they are human beings and deserve respect and deserve basic health care. Being healthy and alive should not be a privilege of the rich. You hear America referred to as a "rich" nation. We are not a rich nation, we are a nation with rich people living in it. We are a nation where when the debt crisis was being debated soldiers that are willing to sacrifice their lives for the lives of others were told they were not guaranteed a paycheck, but the rich were assured they would not have to pay more in taxes.

Shame on all the multimillionaires out there who fight to not have their taxes raised. Is having 4 million dollars really that different for them than having 2 million? Does it make their lives better enough to sacrifice the life of a single mother working at a grocery store and dying of breast cancer because she can't afford treatment, but because she works, doesn't qualify for government assistance? I'm not rich. There are many times when we are watching the bank account closely the day before pay day and hoping everything balances out. And some people might say I spend foolishly, but even though I know finances are tight sometimes, I am always willing to donate to a cause that helps people. That is who I am and what I believe in. I am proud to be making a difference for people that need help.