When It's Personal, It's Significant!

As President Obama pushes for passage of his first major domestic policy change, I've once again pulled out my activist hat and have spent considerable time in recent days in correspondence to my California State Senators and California Congressional Representatives. Some have received emails from me, some have received phone calls from me, some I've left voice messages for, while still some I've had the good fortune to actually speak directly to their staff members to voice my concerns (granted, these were only after waiting on the phone for as long as 30 minutes due to the sheer volume of calls the State Senators and Congressional Representatives are receiving on the healthcare debate, but it was well worth my time to wait it out in order to speak live to someone). It's one of the many perks of being a stay-at-home mom - you can become more involved in grassroots efforts and activism in issues and causes that are personally significant to you and you can dedicate a portion of your time (in your "spare" time) to making your voice heard.

The Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 - which in my estimation based on what I've researched and read amounts to little more than nationalized medicine that will result in inferior patient care from doctors around the country as they are innundated with new patient lists, waitlists for existing patients and as a result, are forced to ration health care.

In the words of one doctor, "This is war," says Dr. George Watson, a Kansas physician and president-elect of the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons. "This is a bureaucratic boondoggle to grab control of health care. Everything that has been proposed in the 1,018 page bill will contribute to the ruination of medicine." Another telling statement which caught my eye was that from the Mayo Clinic, the non-profit organization and internationally renowned medical group, in which they stated, "Although there are some positive provisions in the current bill - including insurance for all and payment reform demonstration projects - the proposed legislation misses the opportunity to help create higher quality, more affordable healthcare for patients. In fact, it will do the exact opposite." (July 16 statement from Mayo Clinic web site).

When It's Personal Folks, It's Significant...

This issue is personally very, very significant to me and my family. As many of you know, family, friends or otherwise, who follow this blog fairly regularly, one of our twins has a mild disability (cerebral palsy) that has impacted her ability to walk and to coordinate some of her overall motor movements. For the past 3-1/2 years, our family has provided Taylor with the best specialists and doctors that our private insurance plan could offer to her in an effort to give Taylor every opportunity to live her life to the fullest potential and with the level of dignity and care that she deserves. Often our commitment to maintaining our private insurance plan has come with hard choices and personal as well as family sacrifices. Could my husband and I use the $300.00 - $400.00 per month that we pay out of pocket to our health insurance plan for something else? Certainly, but we choose not to. We choose not to tradeoff the quality of our healthcare for our children, particularly Taylor, and at times, it's not been easy but it's always been worth it. When Taylor has suffered a seizure as a result of her cerebral palsy, we've been able to schedule the necessary tests - EEGs and MRIs - without delay or a moment's hesitation. When Taylor has needed a consult with her pediatric neurologist or pediatric orthopaedist surgeon, or team of physical therapists, we have always been able to access them in a timely manner, sometimes appointments were made within the same day, within 24-hours, or at worst within a week or two.

The government takeover of the practice of medicine is going to ultimately threaten all of this! The government takeover of medicine is going to destroy the private health insurance which our family, and our daughter Taylor, has relied upon in our hours of need. I fear the rationing of the healthcare services, the long lines, and the lost access to the specialists and physicians which Taylor has so desperately needed and will continue to need for years to come. What happens when Taylor needs to be fitted for a new pair of leg braces in order to walk and she is unable to be seen or even scheduled for an appointment with her orthopaedist for six or more months? What happens when Taylor has another seizure and needs to have her dosage for anti-seizure medication adjusted and she is unable to be seen or even scheduled for an appointment with her neurologist for six or more months? Our little girl's life is literally at stake, her future well-being, her ability to thrive and to live a full life to her greatest potential is at stake.

While I know that there are millions of families who desire healthcare and who have their own personal stories to tell in this healthcare debate, I also know that for those families who face special medical circumstances raising special needs children and who day in day out do the best they can to care and manage the extenuating health issues of their loved ones, this debate is largely an open/shut case for us. The families I see each week in Taylor's physical therapy sessions who are wrestling and managing real quality of life issues don't want to lose their private insurance healthcare that gives them instant and open access to the doctors and specialists they need. The mother of the little boy, whose name is Cody, who sits in a wheelchair and relies upon feeding tubes whom we see each week at one of Taylor's therapy appointments would tell you the same - what do we do when our little boy needs a new feeding tube placed in his stomach in order to maintain his proper nutrition? Do we wait six or more months? Do we just sit idly by and watch the medical needs of our child become further compromised? And, only after waiting six or more months for the consult to be seen by the gastroenterologist, do we then have to wait another six or more months in order to schedule the surgery to replace the feeding tube?

It's against this backdrop and within this context that I have done what I can in recent weeks to protest the passage of the Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009. I protest its passage for my family and my children but also for the millions of other families who are likewise being threatend with losing the quality healthcare that they've needed for their families and their special needs children. In closing today's blog post, I would like to ask that if any portion of this message resonates with you - perhaps you have your own extenuating personal or family medical circumstances that requires timely access to specialists, perhaps, like us, you are raising a child with special needs who won't fit the cookie-cutter health and wellness checks offered under the new nationalized public health plan - then please contact your local state senators and congressional representatives. Don't delay, and make your voices heard.