Obama finds a “face of health care reform” in Lake Worth
by Michael C. Bender | June 26th, 2009Lisa Smith of Lake Worth is featured in this video from President Obama’s Organizing for America, the latest in the group’s “Faces of Health Care Reform” video press release series.
In the video, Smith says she lost her job and her insurance and then was denied coverage by private insurers because of a preexisting condition. Smith has hydrocephalus, or water on the brain, and monthly prescriptions that cost about $800.
Obama’s team says that with regular checkups, it’s easier to control her condition. But without those visits, Lisa is “forced to wait until her situation is dire enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room.”
Organizing for America Director Mitch Stewart doesn’t say exactly how the government should help Smith, just that it should.
“Unfortunately, her story is indicative of what’s wrong with our broken system – we must reform our system to lower costs, increase access and protect patient choice,” Stewart said in a release.
Organizing for America, occasionally referred to as Obama 2.0, is the post-election repacking of Obama for America, the grassroots machine that launched the Democrat into the White House.
Part of the group’s new work has included collecting “hundreds of thousands” of personal health care stories.
From the OfA release: The grassroots effort is building support in communities across the country for a plan that adheres to President Obama’s three principles for reform: lowering costs, preserving patient choice and increasing access to quality care. Tens of thousands of people in all 50 states participated in OFA’s June 6th Health Care Kickoff events, where attendees shared their stories, talked about the President’s principles for reform and started to plan activities in their own communities. This Saturday, June 27th OFA is organizing a national Health Care Day of Service. Earlier this week, OFA launched Health Care Stories for America an innovative online tool where hundreds of thousands of genuine health care stories can be shared, found and read, by city and state, from all across the country.
Tags: Barack Obama, health care, health insurance, Organizing for America
Where's the money? Use The Post's interactive database of who wants and who's getting federal dollars.
Use these interactive graphics to find and contact Palm Beach County and Treasure Coast legislators.
Sentenced to die for crimes judged heinous and cruel, inmates await execution in a 9 feet by 6 feet cell.
June 26th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I don’t know what to say. Its a catch, thats for sure. She does deserve to have the care she needs, and I’m guessing she can’t cover ALL of the expenses by herself. Indeed, its not fair to her, seeing as she didn’t do anything to bring this disease upon herself.
On the other hand, I don’t want to have to pay for her care.
June 26th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Why is this different than anything else anyone needs? Why is this a right just because it is a need? At least people asking us to pay for them should approach it as a request, not a demand. And thank us when they get it.
June 26th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
Can car insurance be a right next? Internet access, food? The bottom line is that people are insisting others either give them something or have someone else pay for them to get something, sounds like extortion to me
June 26th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
IT SUCKS NOT HAVING HEALTH INSURANCE AND THE STATE OF FLORIDA IS NO HELP TO THE UN-INSURED ! I FOR ONE, KNOW 1ST HAND. not knowing how ur going to pay doctor bills and medications is trying on anyone. but to be ill at the same time makes it almost impossible to continue ur fight to get well. yes, it comes down to having to go to the ER and then the state will help. but once ur out of the hospital, there is no way to pay for medications. so people end up in the hospital and it cost the tax payers even more money. We need something to help all the people in this situation.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
There are millions of similar stories out there of people falling through the cracks in our health care system. There needs to be a system in place that covers medical costs for people based on their ability to pay for it. This woman should not have to die because a 5 minuite CT scan of the brain costs $3000.00.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
I am so sorry for Ms. Smith’s health condition and lack of insurance to cover appointments/medication. Has Ms. Smith attempted to contact her drug companies to request assistance with her medication needs? Afterglow, they are not the ogres portrayed by the media! Major drug companies were assisting long before Montel got his bus on the road!!
June 26th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I am so sorry for Ms. Smith’s health condition and lack of insurance to cover appointments/medication. Has Ms. Smith attempted to contact her drug companies to request assistance with her medication needs? After all, they are not the ogres portrayed by the media! Major drug companies were assisting long before Montel got his bus on the road!!
June 26th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
HURRICANE SCAM ALERT!!!
Here’s how it works. You suffer damage to your property. Your insurance company refuses to pay the full amount that it will take to repair your property. Someone recommends a Public Adjuster Claim Service to you. The salesman (who works on commission) states that his company is the best in the business, guarantees that he will get you the additional money that you need to fully repair the damage and will do all of this quickly. All of this is offered for a fee of 20% of the additional money you get when the claim is settled. Out of financial and emotional desperation, you sign their contract. You are now officially scammed.
Be advised that a Public Adjuster Claim Service is nothing more than a licensed insurance salesman. He has no more influence over your insurance company than you do.
Before you sign a Public Adjuster Claim Service contract (they are all from the same “boilerplate”), know that this contract can NEVER be cancelled (after the three-day right to rescind has passed), does not have a termination or expiration date, does not specify what will be specifically provided or delivered, lives on until the claim is settled, cannot be terminated for failure to deliver (breach of contract) and the Public Adjuster Claim Service is legally entitled to receive his fee (because of the contract wording) even if he has nothing to do with the settlement. In fact, he doesn’t have to do a thing to collect his full fee!
In my case, after I signed his contract, it was filed away waiting for someone to settle the claim. It is guaranteed money to the Public Adjuster Claim Service.
The Public Adjuster Claim Service that I contracted with did nothing for seven months – not even call me. I fired them – I thought. I hired an attorney who settled the case/claim 15 months later. Because of the Public Adjuster Claim Service contract, I was still obligated to pay his $19,000 fee.
If this sounds like sour grapes, call the State of Florida Consumer Protection Agency (877-693-5236) and ask them to verify my statements and the reputation of the Public Adjuster Claim Service. The only way to stop this cheating scam is to change the law. Better yet, don’t sign a Public Adjuster Claim Service contract.
Hire an attorney if you need to and don’t let them charge you more than a 20% fee. And a reputable contractor will provide a free quote to repair your damage that can be given to your attorney to forward to your insurance company.
BEWARE. DON’T HIRE A PUBLIC ADJUSTER CLAIM SERVICE. You will be scammed like me.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
Yes Pharm companies are a big part of the blame game.
Try watching Sicko the documentry that compares the US health care to other countries.
Why do Americans pay 120 bucks for an inhaler here, when the very same inhaler can be bought in Cuba for under a buck?
Why can Britain, bankrupt after WW2, give free health care, to everyone in their country (again they were bankrupt!) and still thrive today?
Im sure all these countries with free Healthcare have to sacrifice something. So what our Dr’s will have to sacrifice several of their million dollar homes.
NO person or Child should never have to be turned away or DIE because of lack of insurance OR because their insurance wont cover something.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Mordy Ki, the only scam alert should be for you! I see your posts all over the internet for this scam you are engineering. Just another rat trying to make a buck off of scared people.
June 26th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Shell,
Is it true that doctors have a choice to join the new healthcare system or to opt out? How will we know that the worst doctors aren’t in the new system because of the lack of money? Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for good healthcare for everyone. I just don’t want to have Dr. Nick (Simpsons reference) as my doctor.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Basically what the new single payer health care system needs to be is an extension of Medicare that is available to everybody. It also needs to include a prescription drug benefit that covers a majority of the maintenance drugs that people need to remain healthy and keep their chronic conditions in check. Medicare part D was a scam perpetrated on the elderly in this country by the pharmaceutical companies with the help of the previous administration and a complicit congress. Verbiage exists in the legislation that actually prevents the government from bargaining with them to obtain a better price for their products. There is nothing about this that sounds like the free market at work. It sounds more like a pharmaceutical industry lobbyist’s wet dream to me. I say lets get behind a public medical plan that competes with the private insurance industry and see if they can survive it. What right do insurance companies have that allows them to profit by denying access to healthcare for somebody’s illness? How can we claim to be the most morally superior country in the world and still deny the most needy people access to healthcare? Even Sadam Hussein provided free healthcare for his people, and he was an evil dictator. Iran has free healthcare too. It would seem that the best way to reduce costs in almost anything is to remove the middle man profit takers. These entities neither produce nor consume products or services and only exist to extract a profit. Playing games with securities and pork bellies is one thing but playing games with peoples lives is morally bankrupt and has no place in an advanced society. The next time you tune into a radio talk show or cable punditry program that advocates the Status quo in healthcare, stay tuned during the commercials and watch who the advertisers are. They purchase air time on these programs to show their support for the attached message. So if you see ads for companies who sell oil drilling platforms or high priced drugs for conditions that you or a loved one may have consider their motivation when they say “This program brought to you by…..”