Posted by Benjamin on: 02.27.2007 /
is the headline of a New York Times article today about the debate as to whether the federal government should be increasing funding to provide health care for children of poor families.
“Governors clashed with the White House on Monday over the future of the popular Children’s Health Insurance Program, an issue that some members of both parties said was as important as money for the Iraq war.
In the session at the White House, when President Bush reported on progress of the war, governors pressed him to provide more money so they could guarantee health insurance for children. In response, administration officials said states should make better use of the money they already had.”
Just for comparison:
What would you say if could be part of the above mentioned session at the white house?
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Comment by: Helen
1 02/28/07 5:33 AM | Comment Link |I’m not sure what I’d say but I guess these are my thoughts:
1) War is staggeringly expensive
2) Even though it has its own issues and problems, I’m glad the UK has a national health system, giving everyone basic healthcare. It seems amazing that me there is such unequal access to health care in this country.
3) It might be true that states should make better use of the money they already have - I have no basis upon which to know how well they are using it. But if that’s true I have to think that may well be true of money going towards the war too - and the amounts are much bigger, so the likelihood is that much more is being wasted! And that’s even before even getting to considerations of whether the war strategy which costs such huge sums of money is appropriate.
Comment by: ncxian
2 02/28/07 1:19 PM | Comment Link |Did you all see this story today, about a child who died for lack for lack of dental care? This is just heartbreaking, and so unnecessary. I can’t imagine being a parent and knowing that I can’t afford to keep my children healthy. Or that I can’t afford to live in a neighborhood where it is safe to play outside, or where the school grounds are safe.
This kind of situation makes me feel hopeless. If we, as a society, can’t respond to dying children in our midst, what kind of people are we?
Comment by: Benjamin
3 02/28/07 2:26 PM | Comment Link |Helen,
Yeah, so does Australia. So when you are very young, you get your medical care card, and when you need to go to the doctor, you make an appointment, and you go, and it’s paid for.
Meg has found it really difficult adjusting to this country! We’ve had no health care for about half the six years we’ve been married. Fortunately, it looks like we’re about to get back on it. Yippee.
At least we live in Washington which has provided health care for our little ones. I honestly can’t imagine how horrible it must be to have small children and know you can’t afford to have basic and/or emergent care for them.
The whole war thing just wierds me out (pisses me off). One way of looking at it that we’re spending $100 Billion/year to kill 196,000 Iraqis per year. … works out to $510,000 per death. I don’t get that.
Comment by: Benjamin
4 02/28/07 2:39 PM | Comment Link |ncxian,
good god that’s shocking and heartbreaking. what does it do to all the arguments about welfare creating dependency? I guess he’s not dependent anymore, now that he’s dead!
Maybe Part of the answer is: We are … selfish, consumeristic war mongering people.
But I’d like to ask the question back to you. what gives you hope in the midst of all this stuff?
Comment by: Julie Clawson
5 02/28/07 5:16 PM | Comment Link |I have a friend who had to call to report a neighbor to Child Services. The neighbor’s child fell out of a tree and broke his arm. She wasn’t taking him into the doctor because it would cost too much. I’m sure the lady has other issues, but if we can throw a lot of money into killing people can’t we put a little into making sure our kids stay healthy? (if for nothing else to ensure that they are fit for military duty later on… ;) )
Comment by: trissa
6 02/28/07 11:14 PM | Comment Link |The whole idea that States need to better manage their money is BS! I work for a state that manages its money VERY well. High accountability prevents us from doing otherwise. If my agency mismanages money is gets splashed on the front of the Oregonia (which is not a government friendly newspaper).
On the other hand the pentagon flushes money down the toilet all the time. There is over 10 Billion, I’ll repeat that number, 10 billion dollars that are unaccounted for that was supposed to be used to rebuild Iraq. Until recently there has been absolutely no accountability on the money spent in Iraq.
I recently heard a disturbing statistic: The cost of the war so far could literally pay for health insurance for every non-insured person in this country…for FORTY YEARS.
Comment by: benjamin ady
7 02/28/07 11:46 PM | Comment Link |trissa,
wish I could have gotten my hands on that $10 billion for 24 hours. Even at a measly 5% APR that’s $1.4 million. How much health insurance would $1.4 million buy?
Sometimes it boggles my mind how much money is floating around out there and how much lack-of-money related suffering there is. It seems like these two things aren’t meeting up in the ways that they should.
Julie,
that sounds like a hard situation for your friend to see happening. Has your friend been able to connect with the neighbor at all since then?
Comment by: Rachel
8 03/1/07 8:53 AM | Comment Link |Trissa, welcome to our blog from a fellow Oregonian! That is a disturbing statistic indeed.
Comment by: ncxian
9 03/1/07 1:30 PM | Comment Link |Benjamin asked:
Well, I’m still cogitating about that. But I guess a preliminary thought is that I am encouraged by the fact that I and a million other people who have, by default, MSNBC as their homepage heard the sad story of Deamonte Driver. Granted knowing about something and doing something about it are two different things. But somebody who cared heard the story first (perhaps the woman in the story who had been working with the family?), who told it to another person who cared . . . who told it to a reporter who had the sensitivity to present it in this sympathetic way (even though I’m sure the ultimate issue for the reporter and the editors was its newsworthiness.)
Maybe I am thinking that the fact that the story is deemed newsworthy at all is a sign of hope, that we as a society have the capacity to care what happens to children like Deamonte?
Comment by: benjamin ady
10 03/2/07 12:17 AM | Comment Link |Ncxian
Good point. Dr. Paul Farmer was pointing out that the political will and the capital are both very much there to see everyone in this country have basic health care, and that the reasons it still hasn’t happened are … complex. It’s enheartening that he and many others like him are working to see this situation corrected.