[Pacg] Cover the Uninsured Week Events and Coverage

[Carolina 1961]

Friends,

The folowing letter by Karen Metcalf was published and featured in the
Health section of today's QC Times along with a *glossary of terms*. Be sure
to mark the important dates within the body of the letter (hi-lighted in
purple).

*Great job Karen!*



*INSURED VS UNINSURED*

Imagine you're in your fifties. Early in November you find yourself with
severe back and hip pain.  You've had this before, and generally been able
to control it with over-the-counter medicines, but this time it drags
on—through Thanksgiving, then early December, then Christmas—all the time
getting worse.



You're having a hard time driving because you get a sharp pain when you move
your foot from the gas to the brake; you spend some nights trying to sleep
on the floor, the only place firm enough to blunt the pain.



Finally, in early January, you decide to go to your doctor to ask him about
prescribing physical therapy, which helped the problem eleven years ago.  You
get the prescription, you get the therapy, you gradually improve, and three
months later you're nearly back to normal—much of the cost covered by your
health insurance.



Now imagine the same situation, but this time, because you can't afford
insurance, you're uninsured.  Is your pain any less severe?  Do you try to
carry on, but ultimately find yourself unable to take it any more, ending up
in the emergency room, hoping for a one-stop miracle cure, all the while
knowing you'll have a large hospital bill because you couldn't afford to be
seen and treated earlier?



Nearly 47 million Americans today are uninsured, 8 out of 10 in working
families.  Sometimes they have diabetes, or heart disease; sometimes their
pain turns out to be cancer, left untreated too long for a cure.  Nine
million of them are children.  And 18,000 of them die every year.



Cover the Uninsured Week, April 27-May 3, 2008, is sponsored annually by the
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as a "national effort to highlight the fact
that too many Americans are living without health insurance and to demand
solutions from our nation's leaders."


*This year's Cover the Uninsured Week activities in the Quad Cities include
the following: *
**

*Weekend of April 27: Prayer for the Uninsured in QC places of worship;
organized by QC Interfaith *

*Wednesday, April 30, 12 noon: Prayer Vigil, Broadway Presbyterian Church,
710 23rd St., Rock Island; organized by QC Interfaith in cooperation with
Progressive Action for the Common Good (PACG) and Iowa for Health Care. *

*Saturday, May 3: 1-3 PM:  Iowa Legislator-Physician Forum, Genesis Medical
Center, Adler Health Education Center 1236 E. Rusholme, Davenport; organized
by Genesis Health System, Scott County Medical Society, and Progessive
Action for the Common Good.*

Get educated and get involved!  For more information, go to
www.covertheuninsured.org
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