I just want to tell the history of a man to whom I gave assistance a few years ago.  He had worked for me for a couple of years many times in landscape projects.  He had been to Vietnam in the supplies divisions and had come back to find his girlfriend gone and a baby he thought he had fathered. He began to drink and continued for 30+ years finally escaping to a commune in southern Indiana for respite. But he continued to drink and make problems for himself. He really hadn’t been able to ever keep a job, but was really a talented comedian and had a lot of great musical knowledge, and ability to entertain at a party. After being kicked out of the commune he had become homeless twice, and I arrange to ask him if he wanted to make a trade for living in a small cabin of general landscape care and a few other helpful things on my property with me. I was temporarily keeping his dog, and this way he could be with her too.  And so it began.
Not too long after he was found unconscious on his front stoop at 3am by my dogs, who notified me of a problem as they sensed it from the inside of my cottage.  I took him to the hospital to save time and he was given ‘every test under the sun’ including brain scan where they found that he had a tumor, and lung cancer.  I stayed with him all night and part of the day during these tests.  I was able to do all his paperwork  and explain to him the meanings of the paperwork.  He was set on a very successful regimen for brain radiation (which removed the tumor) and oncology with one of the best oncologists our city. And we had appointments set up with me as the liaison for Medicare and Social Security disability monetary help. The Hospital never billed him as all the paperwork was done and understood-he was destitute. 
Other things given to him during this time because he had a personal advocate, was smoking cessation medical care and psychological medications. I cared for him gratis, and was certainly sometimes ‘nurse Ratchet’ disallowing too much pain meds and providing super veggied, fine protein meals. Cigarette smoking was not allowed on the property and only one cigar could be smoked a day if he HAD to. What I see was the difference for this man, who was only 54 years old and looked 90 for the abuse he had reeked on himself, was that he had a well educated-English literature major, with Medieval Studies interests-who could accomplish, with legal understanding the  applications and appointments needed to set him up with the health care for the poor that is already provided in this country. In this case he needed a volunteer personal advocate
IN my further work with the homeless and generally incompetent population-many of whom are very intelligent, but not able to sort out everyday life- have been brought up by addicts and others-they need a battery of people who can walk them through the procedures required to get help. This person not being hired by the government, because they are usually paranoid about ‘big brother’ and just won’t come to get help. Churches and synagogues or other religious groups could do this work. Every large town or city population has the resources to do this
This gratis care is what hikes up the costs of the economic middle class, insurance companies, and the wealthy. But we can say that in the U.S. people don’t die of the inability to access health care. Sometimes they die of their own refusal to ask for it soon enough. No child dies from lack of health care as we have marvelous charity organizations that make it policy not to turn down families for lack of funds. Many people don’t go for health care because of the fear that it will cost money…and then it can be too late.  In England while I was there they allowed 2 infants to die because the doctors had a strike and there weren’t any operating rooms. Obama is like a little boy who decides to take his dad’s watch apart to “fix it” and can’t put it back together again, when all it needed was cleaning and a real watchmaker to tweak a gear or two.
Scarlet Periwinkle
How Much Car Can I Afford?
1 month ago
 
 
