Life is just a bundle of jaundice for little Sidney Markie's parents.
Sidney needs a 7-organ transplant, but the real battle is with her insurance company:
Recently, after waging another insurance war, the doctors in Miami agreed to accept payment for their services at whatever the state of Minnesota deems it would pay if the surgery and care was taking place here. However, since insurance will not cover the $10,000 medical helicopter flight and the family doesn’t have access to a private airplane, they have to hope that a commercial flight is available when they get the call.
And, once the surgery is performed, Sidney will have to remain in Miami for three to eight months — including a month-long stay in the intensive care unit — during recovery so the family will need to find temporary affordable housing there.
Murray said that she’s not a big fan of Michael Moore but, as she watched his movie, “Sicko,” which compares health care in the United States as provided by profit-oriented health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to free, universal health care in other countries, she saw a lot of similarities to the experience she was going through.
“It’s frustrating because there’s a lot that’s not covered,” Murray said. “People don’t understand the realities of insurance until you have a medical crisis. No average person could go through a financial situation like this and come out OK.”
CLiCK here to read more about the little pink burden who is quickly turning yellow...
At the Blue Moose Cafe in Morgantown, local nurse Catherine Forman, far left, of the California Nurses Association and the National Nurses Organizing Committee, joined in a discussion of health care reform along with local PNHP doctor Peter Wentzel, far right, and West Virginia State Legislator Barbara Evans Fleischauer, next to Dr. Wentzel. Other local nurses joined the group as did Laura Jones, director of the Milan Puskar Health Right Clinic.
The SiCKO Cure Road Show crew spent the day in West Virginia meeting with medical students, physicians, local activists, nurses and community members though a heavy rain fell and threatened to leave flooding in its wake. Just as they have found in every city and state they have visited since leaving Chicago on Nov. 11, the road show team met concerned Americans with thoughtful questions and deep worry. Many mentioned friends or family members with no health care coverage or who had suffered at the hands of the current health care system. And all knew the time for change has been upon this nation for some time.
CLiCK here to read more about the road show in West Virginia...This meeting was another stop on the
SiCKO-Cure Road Show. To donate to this effort and keep the show on the road,
CLiCK here.
The Road Show crew meets with the local Black Workers for Justice in Rocky Mount
When the road show crew from Healthcare-Now rolls into a community, it isn't as if one of the current presidential candidates has arrived with a flashy and spirited entourage. The crew brings news of the possibilities for organizing local support for pushing Congressional members for their co-sponsorship, and the road show builds on community and shared vision not celebrity or the political winds of a primary election season.
CLiCK here to read more of Donna Smith's dispatch from Rocky Mount...
This meeting was another stop on the
SiCKO-Cure Road Show. To donate to this effort and keep the show on the road,
CLiCK here.
The SiCKO-Cure Road Show in Goldsboro, North Carolina...
Rev. William Barber of Greenleaf Christian Church and Liv Boykins of Rep. Conyer's staff at the pulpit
But Barber shared more with his flock. "We must remember," he said as he spoke in support of Conyers' universal health care bill, "we must always know,'Power concedes nothing. It never has and it never will without a struggle,'" the pastor hearkened to the words of Frederick Douglass. He told his church that being ready for a fight to secure this most basic of rights should underscore the validity of the cause.
CLiCK here to read more of Donna Smith's blog...The screening was part of the
SiCKO-Cure Road Show. To donate to this effort and keep the show on the road,
CLiCK here.
In spite of the ugly weather on Monday night in Seattle, the community made a strong showing to see 'SiCKO' and discuss health care with Donna Smith...
Though hurricane force winds and torrential rains blasted the Seattle area throughout most of the day on Monday, students, local activists and interested community members took the weather in stride as they gathered to watch ‘SiCKO’ and to talk health reform with me – since I am one of the subjects of the film, they had sponsored my trip to the area and I am deeply involved in the health care reform movement...
CLiCK here to read more of Donna Smith's blog entry...
The guests enjoy some refreshments before the free screening of 'SiCKO'
This screening and discussion was part of the
SiCKO-Cure Road Show. To donate to this effort and keep the show on the road,
CLiCK here.
