Can we or can’t we?

Watch: John Boehner Can't

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE HEALTHCARE REFORM BILL

I am writing this on a day where a significant event in our country's history has occurred...the passing of the Health Care Overhaul Plan. In concept, I have always had a strong belief that health care and keeping our citizens healthy should be a main priority of our government. The insurance companies have been abusing the system ... and us.... for so many years we have gotten used to it. Many of us just feel lucky for what our employers provide, even though today most employers require at least some employee contribution to the premium. I recall when I first started working as a young lawyer just out of law school, not only could you expect to receive rock solid medical insurance coverage from your law firm, but you would never be asked to contribute toward its cost. In the 1990s, as insurance premiums soared for employers, everything changed. More and more employers required employees to contribute to the premium and not only that, the plans provided less and less coverage. We would complain, be upset at our employers, but our frustration was misplaced. It is the insurance companies and their continued efforts to put more zeros in their bottom lines, combined with the ever increasing cost of medical care that was killing the system. When I hear "opponents" to this health care plan, they spout that health care is not a right, it is a privilege and if you want it, go out and get a job that provides it. Not only is this a ludicrous statement given the state of the economy and unemployment, but don't forget, we are all only one step away from being on the unemployment line...or worse, homeless. All it takes is some catastrophic event in our lives, to set the wheels spinning. What passed on Sunday is far from perfect.

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ONE PHYSICIAN’S PLEA TO REP. DAVIS

I am grateful for the updates you send each week. I am responding on another issue and I hope you can forward my email to Congressman Davis and other staff in the office as you see fit. My comment is on the pending Health Care Reform bill that will likely come up for a vote this weekend. I am aware Congressman Davis voted against the House Bill that passed in 2009. I can understand why. It was not a perfect Bill. That said, as a physician who works in Birmingham taking care of patients at University Hospital and in the AIDS Clinic at UAB, I can tell you the current Health Care system is a mess...and getting worse. A vote against the Bill this weekend has the net effect of maintaining the status quo for several more years. We can’t afford that...either financially or morally. I could regale you with first hand stories ... Tragedies ...I witness daily among the patients I see. But suffice it to say, as I wrote in a published paper 5 years ago: “The safety net that catches the patients who fall through the cracks of our diseased health care delivery system is made up solely of the fabric of providers who give a damn” If providers didn’t care...if we didn’t go the extra mile, every day...the full brunt of the system would be in everyone’s face. It would be very, very ugly.And these folks, these healthcare heroes, are wearing out...I see it ...and it worries me. Worries me a lot. I don’t think the health care providers can keep this up much longer. The Bill likely to come before Rep Davis this weekend is not perfect. Far from it. But it is a start...something we all can build upon. It gives us a foothold. It gives us hope that things, one day, will be better. I know the politics of this is particularly difficult for Rep Davis. He is about to run for Governor of our State. I support him fully! And I know his opponents in that race will take shots at him for voting in favor of this Bill. But I figure, Rep Davis is going to be saddled with being affiliated with the ‘liberal agenda’ of the Democratic Congress no matter how he votes. If not in favor of this issue, there are others with which he will be labeled. And my sense is that once this Bill passes, and the public learns of the true benefits it provides (not the hateful false rhetoric in the media and elsewhere)...the public will become overwhelmingly in favor of this groundbreaking law. Much like the public is in favor of Social Security today. What concerns me for him is that the more progressive voters...who would support him 1000% ...will lose faith in him. OR at least fail to give him their full support...or worse...fail to be motivated to even turn up to vote for him. This is what I think happened, at least in part, in Massachusetts this past winter. Sure she was a bad candidate...but she did not inspire the core to even show up. Please forward this message to Rep Davis. I recall with great fondness the times I have had to share thoughts with him; most notably on a delayed plane ride from Atlanta to Birmingham a few years ago. We talked Constitutional Law. I learned a lot from him. He is a great man. Our State needs him. I am proud to support him. I hope he will find the courage to vote in favor of this Bill. Many, many people depend on it...not the least of which are the health care providers whose will is fraying as they try to catch all of the patients who the current system ignores so blatantly. Thanks for all you and Rep Davis do for all of us every day. Respectfully, MSS Michael S. Saag, MD Jim Straley Chair in AIDS Research Director, Center for AIDS Research

HEALTHCARE DEBATE

Hi Carolyn, I am grateful for the updates you send each week. I am responding on another issue and I hope you can forward my email to Congressman Davis and other staff in the office as you see fit. My comment is on the pending Health Care Reform bill that will likely come up for a vote this weekend. I am aware Congressman Davis voted against the House Bill that passed in 2009. I can understand why. It was not a perfect Bill. That said, as a physician who works in Birmingham taking care of patients at University Hospital and in the AIDS Clinic at UAB, I can tell you the current Health Care system is a mess...and getting worse. A vote against the Bill this weekend has the net effect of maintaining the status quo for several more years. We can’t afford that...either financially or morally. I could regale you with first hand stories ... Tragedies ...I witness daily among the patients I see. But suffice it to say, as I wrote in a published paper 5 years ago: “The safety net that catches the patients who fall through the cracks of our diseased health care delivery system is made up solely of the fabric of providers who give a damn” If providers didn’t care...if we didn’t go the extra mile, every day...the full brunt of the system would be in everyone’s face. It would be very, very ugly.And these folks, these healthcare heroes, are wearing out...I see it ...and it worries me. Worries me a lot. I don’t think the health care providers can keep this up much longer. The Bill likely to come before Rep Davis this weekend is not perfect. Far from it. But it is a start...something we all can build upon. It gives us a foothold. It gives us hope that things, one day, will be better. I know the politics of this is particularly difficult for Rep Davis. He is about to run for Governor of our State. I support him fully! And I know his opponents in that race will take shots at him for voting in favor of this Bill. But I figure, Rep Davis is going to be saddled with being affiliated with the ‘liberal agenda’ of the Democratic Congress no matter how he votes. If not in favor of this issue, there are others with which he will be labeled. And my sense is that once this Bill passes, and the public learns of the true benefits it provides (not the hateful false rhetoric in the media and elsewhere)...the public will become overwhelmingly in favor of this groundbreaking law. Much like the public is in favor of Social Security today. What concerns me for him is that the more progressive voters...who would support him 1000% ...will lose faith in him. OR at least fail to give him their full support...or worse...fail to be motivated to even turn up to vote for him. This is what I think happened, at least in part, in Massachusetts this past winter. Sure she was a bad candidate...but she did not inspire the core to even show up. Please forward this message to Rep Davis. I recall with great fondness the times I have had to share thoughts with him; most notably on a delayed plane ride from Atlanta to Birmingham a few years ago. We talked Constitutional Law. I learned a lot from him. He is a great man. Our State needs him. I am proud to support him. I hope he will find the courage to vote in favor of this Bill. Many, many people depend on it...not the least of which are the health care providers whose will is fraying as they try to catch all of the patients who the current system ignores so blatantly. Thanks for all you and Rep Davis do for all of us every day. Respectfully, MSS Michael S. Saag, MD Jim Straley Chair in AIDS Research Director, Center for AIDS Research

Service Opportunity

We hope to see everyone working together with the Metropolitan Birmingham Services for the Homeless on April 10, 20100. Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for more information and to fill out volunteer form. Click here for more information: SCN_0007.pdf