"While few know this history, health care has gotten so far
away from the notion of caring for the population of our state that we need a
reminder of why our growing health care system was created in the first place."
After breakfast with a colleague and a visit with my
octogenarian mother, I headed north on Marquette Street from Davenport towards
Interstate 80 and home. Marquette takes me past my birthplace where Mercy
Hospital stood a few yards from the road. The building where I was born is
gone and is now a construction site where workers were hanging vast expanses of
glass on a new building on Friday. According to the sign, the new building
would be home to yet another medical group.
As I crested the hill, on the left was the wrought iron
fence around the
cemetery where Mother Mary Borromeo Johnson of the Sisters of Mercy is
buried. Mother Borromeo and four other sisters opened the first hospital in
Iowa. They admitted its first patient on December 8, 1869 in Davenport. It is
noteworthy that the medical staff was not organized until after the
hospital opened. The hospital was established to serve the “neglected insane”
and the “sick poor.” For that, they did not need a medical staff right away. In
1873, Mother Borromeo established an emergency clinic in downtown Davenport to
serve cholera victims during the epidemic. Today one can still see the unmarked
mass grave of some of its victims. In some ways, the Sisters of Mercy were the
public health system during this cholera epidemic.
In 1873, Mother Borromeo and three other sisters arrived in
Iowa City and opened the second hospital in Iowa. Mercy Hospital was to serve
as a clinical setting for the University of Iowa Medical College. When we look
at the medical complex that has grown in Iowa City to be the University of Iowa
Hospitals and Clinics, the Veterans Administration Hospital and Mercy Hospital,
it is hard to imagine those
four sisters riding from the train station sitting on bags of grain in a
farm wagon to open the hospital. When the H1N1 ethics
committee was counting the number of medical service providers for vaccine distribution
last year, we figured that there were some fifteen thousand of them in Johnson
County. The health care system has grown since that initial wagon trip.
The Sisters of Mercy are no longer directly involved in
managing the health care enterprise that their early efforts helped spawn in Iowa. There
was talk about moving the cemetery where Mother Borromeo is buried in 1994 when Genesis Health System assumed
management of the Davenport hospital from the Sisters of Mercy. I am
glad they didn’t. While few know this history, health care has gotten so far
away from the notion of caring for the population of our state that we need a
reminder of why our growing health care system was created in the first place.
Sometimes it seems like only a few of us remember the work of Mother Borromeo
and her sisters.
As Leonard Cohen wrote of the Sisters of Mercy,
"If your life is a leaf that the seasons tear off and condemn, they
will bind you with love that is graceful and green as a stem." Their work now belongs to us.
If you get a chance, read Sister Mary Brigid Conlon R.S.M.’s
From Obscurity to Distinction: the Story of Mercy Hospital. A few
copies are still available in thrift shops and on Amazon.com.
More importantly, for what must seem like the hundredth time, contact your US
Congressman and Senators and urge them to do something to reform the broken
health care system. If not now, then when?
~Paul
Deaton is a native Iowan living in rural Johnson County and weekend
editor of Blog for Iowa. He is also a member of Iowa Physicians for
Social Responsibility and Veterans for Peace.E-mail Paul Deaton
**BFIA ACTION ALERT**
Click on the links to write our elected officials now and ask them to vote for the health care reform bills before the congress. If we don't do this now, then when?
Report on SEIU/Change That Works Health Care Affordability Summit By Caroline Vernon
Washington, DC - On January 13th, SEIU/Change That Works and health care reform coalition partners mobilized labor members and health care advocates from across the country for a national day of action, calling on legislators to adopt 3 essential aspects of the House & Senate bills; The 3 A’s:Affordability, Accessibility, and Accountability.
Before a crowd of 150, many pro-reform legislators spoke passionately about the need to make health care more affordable, as the conference committee decides the fate of meaningful health care legislation.
Everyone in attendance agreed, our #1 priority should be making real reform affordable for working families and setting premiums and out-of-pocket costs at levels that are fair and reasonable. Adequate subsidies are seen to be essential to the fundamental goal of guaranteeing quality affordable health care to all Americans. SEIU and coalition partners, PICO, Families USA, and other community groups called on legislators and the Obama administration to adopt the following 5 components of the House & Senate bills:
• The safety net for the most vulnerable in our communities is stronger in the House through an expansion of Medicaid to those making 150% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) or less. • The House bill offers lower premiums and caps out-of pocket costs at levels that lower income families earning less than 250% of the FPL (less than $41,000 for a family of 3) can better afford. • The Senate bill makes care more affordable for families who are between 250% and 400% of the FPL. • The House surtax impacting only the wealthiest Americans, is more favorable than the Senate’s excise tax that would adversely impact millions of middle class families, resulting in benefit cuts, increasing premiums and out-of-pocket expenses. • The House approach to ensuring employers share responsibility and contribute to the coverage of part time workers. If not, employers will have a strong incentive to reduce the number of hours for full time workers so they are not penalized for not offering coverage – there must be accountability.
Reformers also advocated on behalf of seniors having expanded access to affordable medications by closing the gap or “doughnut hole” in Medicare prescription drug coverage.
Overall, the House bill makes coverage much more affordable for working families. To give you an example of the difference, a single worker earning only $17,500 per year will pay 16% of their annual income for health insurance ($2,801) under the Senate bill, while paying only 8% ($1,416) of their annual income for insurance under the House bill – a very substantial difference. Additionally, under provisions found in the Senate bill, a low income family of 3 that earns $41,000 a year would pay an annual average of $7,000 or 17% of their annual income on healthcare; $2,134 more than under the House bill. The same family could pay a maximum of $9,000 a year on healthcare; $2,175 more than the maximum under HR 3962.
SEIU members who were interviewed during the day of national action spoke about why they and their families need affordable, comprehensive coverage as a part of reform. Their personal accounts are truly moving. Watch it here.
Some of the Congressmen and women who spoke at the Health Care Affordability Summit included, Congressman Ensign from New York, Donna Edwards from Maryland, Christopher Murphy and Rosa DeLauro from Connecticut, and Congressman Dingle from Michigan who put the fight for health care justice in historical perspective by reminding us, the fight to enact Social Security and Medicare in this country was as intense and controversial as our current struggle to pass meaningful health care reform legislation in 2010. Congressman Dingle, has been a member of Congress for 54 years.
After the summit, advocates lobbied their members of congress on affordability. SEIU Iowa President, Cathy Glasson, and I had an opportunity to meet with Congressmen Loebsack and Braley who both said they were in agreement and supported adopting the 5 key components we had outlined from the House and Senate bills that would make health care more affordable. Both Congressmen indicated they had met with President Obama just the day before to discuss compromises in the House and Senate bills. When we addressed the issue of favoring the House surtax over the Senate’s excise tax as a funding mechanism, both congressmen expressed disappointment that the president was “bent” on adopting the Senate’s version which would place the burden on working families rather than the wealthiest Americans. As you may recall, this is NOT what Obama campaigned on. Since our visit, we know organized labor has fought for acceptable compromises which would tax cadillac plans costing over $8,900 rather than $8,000 as outlined in the Senate bill.
I also addressed the need to fix the 2 year waiting list for individuals who qualify for Social Security Disability with our Iowa congressmen. As it stands today, recipients are told they must wait 2 years before becoming eligible for Medicare. This is nothing short of cruel. Why would anyone deny disabled individuals access to healthcare? I have to wonder, what was Congress thinking? Why would anyone intentionally withhold health care from people who have met all the many difficult requirements to demonstrate they have a serious medical need which resulted in disability? Is it their hope that folks will just die off or what? Do they not understand what kind of impact this has on people’s lives or the amount of damage that can ensue if a chronic condition goes untreated for 2 years? Neither the House or Senate bill addresses this issue. I ask you to please raise your voice and advocate on behalf of these individuals who arguably have the greatest need for care.
Congressman Braley also shared with us his concerns that pro-reform advocates have not countered the “tea baggers” or anti-reform protestors who he and others see everyday on the steps of the Capitol and outside House and Senate offices. Unfortunately, they also garner ALL of the media’s attention, since there is no “visual” pro-reform presence on the Hill. Congressman Braley expressed frustration over the fact that progressives and pro-reform advocates have not mobilized a massive demonstration and show of support for health care reform, countering anti-reformer claims that they are in the majority.
I know there are so many of you who have worked long and hard on meaningful health care reform but NOW is the time to step up the pressure on our elected leaders and hold them to their word -- that includes President Obama. I believe it is also long past time to demonstrate a massive show of support for our elected leaders who continue to work hard for health care reform on behalf of ALL Americans.
I call on organized labor, people of faith, community groups, grassroots organizations, and all other health care advocates to come together and organize/mobilize a Health Care for All March on Washington this Spring; if meaningful legislation is already passed, we can thank our leaders for making it happen, if not, we can address what we need in order to ensure meaningful health care reform. Either way, it’s a win-win and an opportunity to show media pundits and the American people that WE ARE the majority of Americans who overwhelmingly voted for CHANGE in November of 2008. So far, it’s been politics as usual. We need a change we really can believe in…
What do we need? HEALTH CARE! When do we need it? NOW!!!
Iowa Book Blogger Makes 2009 Tweet for Literacy Campaign a Big Success by Linda Thieman
The First Annual Tweet for Literacy campaign took place in November, 2009, during National Family Literacy Month. Four authors and three mom/book bloggers got together for a month-long Twitter-based event to shine a light on the importance of family reading time together.
One of the bloggers who participated was April Pohren of SE Iowa. April is a popular blogger who runs the book review website Café of Dreams. The authors and bloggers who sponsored Tweet for Literacy blogged in support of the campaign and also contributed prizes of their own work or that of others for the giveaways. Having an experienced book blogger involved was crucial as April was able to round up donations from authors and publishers that covered close to a third of the $2000 worth of literacy giveaways that Tweet4Lit handed out to entrants to help get more books into the hands of parents and children.
But the good works just keep coming. Here on Blog for Iowa, in reporting on this contribution to literacy made by an Iowa book blogger, we were able to raise $100 through MAT@USC: Masters in Teaching Hope for the Holidays event. One Iowa elementary school has received $100 in gift cards to help them purchase books. Known only as Mrs. K’s class, this Iowa school is a high-poverty school and is sorely in need of help with supplies and materials. You can donate, too, through this link or through the program below by blogging about a literacy event in 2009. The gift cards expire on January 1, so do it now!
This post is part of the MAT@USC: Masters in Teaching Hope for the Holidays event. Did you have an experience or witness something in 2009 which gave you hope for the future of American education? If so, please see this post for more information on how to share it.
HCAN "Health Care Can't Wait" Rally at the Iowa State Fair
By Caroline Vernon
Last Friday on August 21st, Eastern Iowans from Progressive Action for the Common Good, the Quad Cities Federation of Labor, and NAMI of Scott County boarded a bus and traveled to the HCAN "Healthcare Can't Wait" Rally outside of the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines. We joined others from the area and around the state. Senator Grassley was finishing up his Ambassadorial tour - we were hoping to get his attention somehow, but by dumb luck and a little synchronistic guidance by the Universe, a few of us stumbled right on top of him.
Shortly after we got into the fair, it started to rain so a few of us sought cover in the closest building. It turned out to be WHO radio/TV station. Surpisingly, we could hear Grassley's
voice coming out of the speaker system but we could
not see him anywhere. We finally realized he was inside the small glass
booth at the back of the room - they had been recording live. When he came out of the recording session, I called out to
him, raised my bag full of money and said. "Senator Grassley, I have your money!
Thank you so much for your support!" He immediately came over and started talking
to me as if I were his long lost friend. I actually appreciated his engaging us as his handlers could have swept him off immediately but there were many people around and I imagine he was attempting to save face, or perhaps he was just feeling frisky.
It bears mentioning that I was dressed in black business attire, sporting a lapel pin that read, "Wealth-Mark Insurance CEO." I was carrying a black leather bag stuffed with $100 bills spilling out of the top. A picture of Senator Grassley was taped to the bag, framed by dollar signs.
Dan DeShane accompanied me. Farmer Dan was wearing his bib overalls and chewing on a stalk of grass when he walked up and joined our conversation while Vicki Walters took pictures of the exchange. Dan told the Senator he was
a farmer too and wanted the same health care as the senator -- Dan also
said, "Oh by the way, I get farm subsidies too just like you and your son and your
grandson." This put Grassley on the defensive, somewhat, as he replied, "oh, you don't want to listen."
I mentioned mental health parity and the need for a public option for
so many who have been systematically denied treatment by private insurers for decades. Grassley laid claim to the work he did on the Wellstone/Dominicci legislation (even though it took a Democratic Congress
to pass the bill last October and the provisions have yet to be implemented). Ultimately, Grassley said a public option would be rationed care, to which we replied, "We have rationed care now!" He rushed off right after that. Vicki took pictures of the
whole exchange - I will share them with BFI once they are developed.
Meanwhile, other rally participants were canvassing the neighborhood focusing their efforts on continuing to encourage Congressman Boswell to support Reform and a public option. The rally started at 2pm. I don't know what our final count was but I estimated about 50 of us were holding signs along the 30th St/Grand Ave entrance to the fair. Counter protesters showed up to join us -- approximately 10 of them.
Farmer Dan got into a passionate debate with one of the "teabaggers," who was complaining about the cost of health care reform and asking how we were going to pay for it. Here is a mock transcript of their exchange:
Teabagger: "We're spending too much money - where's it going to end?" Farmer Dan: "Where were you guys when the Bush administration squandered the huge surplus left by Clinton -- Where was your voice when they invaded and occupied two countries without even declaring war?" Teabagger: "We are moving toward socialism - where is it going to stop?" Farmer Dan: "Socialism? We just came out of eight years of fascism." Teabagger: "What do you mean?" Farmer Dan: "Bush
fired federal judges for their political leanings, he started illegal wiretapping without an order from the FISA Court, he catered to big business - we
had a president that was basically a fascist." Teabagger: "That's the president's perogotive." Farmer Dan: "No. that's fascism, and he is still being investigated for all of his abuses. If it weren't for social programs like Medicare which came out of the Johnson administration, my father would not have been able to retire - it gave him peace of mind so he could retire and it kept him on his property. By contrast Grassley is a rich farmer who gets subsidies whether he works the land or not - he's not really a farmer - he's a career politician." Teabagger: "Well, they all gotta go - Harkin, Grassley, Boswell - they all spend too much." Farmer Dan: "Our tax dollars pay for the sidewalks your standing on, the street out in front of us, the lights, fresh water, the sewers, our fire dept, public schools, our parks -- all of these things are paid for through our tax dollars that provide us with the standard and quality of life that we enjoy. I don't know about you but I like 'em."
The entire exchange was recorded live by Rob Dillard of Iowa Public Radio. Once we arrived home on the bus, a few of our fellow activists welcomed us back and reported hearing the exchange on NPR - unfortunately, we were unable to find it posted on their website.
Below are photos and some of the press coverage of the event. Thank you ICAN for taking the lead on this! It was well worth traveling across the state to join our voices with all of yours.
NOTE: Caryn Unsicker asked the reporter for the Register to relay how many of us there were in contrast to the counter protestors - to which he replied,"No! That's not my job -- my job is to report both sides!" Caryn said, "Your job is to report the facts." The numbers went unreported. ACTION: Call the Register and tell them to report ALL of the facts!
Iowa Public Radio broadcast a story including a debate
between a health care opponent and a health care advocate (farmer Dan) from the
Quad Cities – but I have not found a link to that online.
There was passing mention of HCAN “protest” in Grassley
state fair interview with Radio Iowa:
Blog for Iowa’s Running Conversation! Current Hot Topic: Health Care Several
people have expressed an interest in being able to have a running
conversation on Blog for Iowa. It seems feasible now that we
actually have quite a few people who are interested in posting!
So, I’d like to re-introduce our “new” feature called Open Threads.
Blog for Iowa will keep an open thread up and running in a prominent
position – top, right sidebar of the blog. This way, people can
post in the open thread and a real back-and-forth discussion can take place.
How to Post a Comment on Blog for Iowa
Blog for Iowa now accepts anonymous comments in addition to those of readers who have first logged in to our BlogHarbor / blogware system.
If you do not wish to post anonymously, you need to first create a reader
account. Go to the Log In component on the left sidebar, and
click on Create Reader Account. Then, once you’ve confirmed your
email address, you need to Log In on the main page of BFIA (left sidebar). THEN
you’ll be able to post a comment.
The
usernames have to be one word - no spaces, all lower case. But you can
choose a nickname which will be displayed when you post a comment, and
the nickname can include spaces, like My Full Name.
We will
not harvest your information after you create a reader account.
You are actually creating a reader account for the entire BlogHarbor
system, our host company, and we have no access to the list.
Blog for Iowa will moderate all comments.
This post will host the Running Conversation, so comment here.
Of course, you are still welcome to comment on other posts. You can use the same procedure mentioned above.
Please note: Try as we might, we could not "fix" the fact that new comments will appear at the bottom of the comments, older comments at the top.
So, speak up! We’d love to hear from you! Trish Nelson, Editor Blog for Iowa
Call to Action: Don't Let The Haters Bully Us re Gay Marriage! You've probably received a robocall from Iowa's former Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson about One Iowa's campaign to fight the lobbyists/haters who are trying to bully the Iowa legislature into allowing a vote on an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.
Don't let the haters bully those of us who are socially tolerant!
Please contact your legislators now. Here's a quick and easy webform set up by One Iowa. Just enter your name and address and your Iowa legislators names will pop up for you. Thank you.
EVENT POSTPONED: Join I-Renew to Celebrate Renewable Energy on Winter Solstice Tonight in Iowa City Postponed: watch this space for new date and time...
I-Renew Winter Solstice Event for tonight...Due to unfavorable weather conditions for today and this evening, I-Renew has decided to postpone the Celebration of Renewable Energy scheduled for tonight. A new date will be TBA, though we hope to get together soon to celebrate our accomplishments and collaborate on new endeavors together! Stay safe and warm!
Sunday December 21, 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm Mill Restaurant, 120 E. Burlington St. Iowa City Admission: $5 suggested minimum donation. Public welcome!
Never Too Young to be an Activist: How Your Kids Can Help Save the World by Linda Thieman,Katie & Kimble Blog
If you've read Katie & Kimble: A Ghost Story, you know that Katie is the kind of girl who likes to HELP people and animals (um, and ghosts!). Now, here are three ways that YOU can help people and animals, too.
It's fun and it's important.
And you can learn great things at the same time!
1) A 12-year-old girl named Mimi Ausland from Oregon started a website called FreeKibble.com.
Kibble means pieces of dog or cat food. Every day, Mimi adds a new Bow Wow
Trivia question about dogs. If you answer the question
(correctly or not), Mimi will donate 10 pieces of kibble to dogs who
live in shelters. This really adds up! Mimi has provided dogs with
thousands and thousands of pounds of dog food. That must be very heavy
to carry!
2) Mimi also started a site to help feed cats. So if you go to the FreeKibbleKat.com website and answer the Meow Trivia question every day, Mimi will donate 10 pieces of kibble for cats!
3) The third way that you can help is found at FreeRice.com.
Here, if you answer questions correctly, FreeRice will donate 20 grains
of rice to a hungry person for each question you answer. This can add
up quickly, because you can keep answering questions as long as you
want.
FreeRice has all kinds of questions. You can start at the
lowest level and build your English vocabulary. Or you can do the same
thing in other languages, too, like Spanish and French.
They
also have questions about art and famous artists, where you get to look
at famous pictures. You can also look at maps to answer questions
about countries and world capitals. And you can practice your
math and multiplication tables and earn rice for hungry people at the same
time! You also get to keep track of how much rice you've donated.
So, have fun, learn things, and help dogs, cats and people! Here's to saving the world!
*IBLTV is a group of citizens from the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids area who are concerned about the decline in the quality of local television. Fight local media consolidation, as it leads to an unaccountable medium that enriches itself while disregarding the need to serve the public good.
*The rational counter to 'The Point,' 'The Counterpoint' critiques and corrects the daily editorial by Sinclair Broadcasting's corporate vice president, Mark Hyman, that is broadcast on all Sinclair-owned television stations across the country
by Linda Thieman
Several
people have expressed an interest in being able to have a running
conversation on Blog for Iowa. It seems feasible now that we
actually have quite a few people who are interested in posting!
You've probably received a robocall from Iowa's former Lt. Gov. Sally Pederson about One Iowa's campaign to fight the lobbyists/haters who are trying to bully the Iowa legislature into allowing a vote on an anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment.
