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lune IO, 2009
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Health Insurance Lets Kids Down
But her father m ade $260 a
m o n th ab o v e th e lim it th a t
w ould en ab le K atie an d her
o ld e r brother, N ath an , 7, to
qualify for CHIP. Mr.
H ebert is a reliable
w o rk e r w h o h a s
by M arian W right E delman
K atie Hebert, age 4, is a very helped m aintain the
sick little girl. She gets severe c o m p u te r s fo r a
seizure-like attacks that can last banking system in
11 hours from an undiagnosed P a s a d e n a , T e x a s,
neuro-developm ental disorder. over the last six years. He re
She is deaf in one ear, has a quested a voluntary pay cut in
feeding disorder and requires an already m odest incom e so
daily m edication for asthma. In his children could get in su r
h er sh o rt life, she has been ance, but his em ployer didn't re
rushed to the em ergency room spond.
The fam ily eventually spent
six times and hospitalized twice.
H er h ea lth w as put at even dow n its incom e by paying for
greater risk when she lost her unnecessary child care to be
health coverage-w hich meant com e financially elig ib le for
no more regular doctor visits, CHIP. That w asn't the end o f it,
w eek ly th erap y o r atten tio n however.
W hen Katie's dad got an au
from specialists.
To deal with this crisis, Katie's tom atic three percent cost o f
father tried to buy private in living raise in D ecem ber, the
surance, but he couldn't afford family's income once again ex
the roughly $1,000 a m onth, ceeded the CH IP limit, this time
about 30 percent o f his salary, by $20.54 a month. D uring the
to pay for the plan offered by p e rio d th a t h e r fa th e r w en t
his em ployer. A nd even if he through the process o f having
could have afforded the insur his wages low ered, Katie was
ance, it would not have covered without health coverage-again.
Katie is one o f m illions o f
all of K atie's needs. On top of
children
in working families who
th a t, o th e r p riv a te in su re rs
face
im
possible
barriers to ob
would not accept Katie in their
ta
in
in
g
h
ea
lth
co
v e rag e im
program s because o f her pre
posed
by
insurance
com panies
existing conditions.
The only alternative was the that make enorm ous profits and
Texas Children's Health Insur pay their CEO s and top m anag
ers fat com pensation packages.
ance Program (CHIP).
Knock down
the barriers with
a public plan
They have the pow er to d e
cide who gets coverage, w hat
medical treatment they'll pay for,
and they set the prices for c o v
erage. The premiums these
com panies charge and the
restrictio n s they im pose
are m ajor reasons why 46
million Americans are with
out health insurance to
day-including nine million
many moderate- and m iddle-in
come families.
T he average annual fam ily
insurance premium in 2008 was
m ore than $1 2 ,5 0 0 o r above
$ 1,000 each month. Since 2001,
the cost o f family coverage from
an em ployer clim bed by almost
80 percent, com pared with only
a 24 percent rise in workers'
eam ings.
Congress must establish a
strong public health insurance
plan if we are to give families
choices and foster competition
in the private health insurance
market.
children.
Insurance com panies' m as
sive profits and outsized execu
tive salaries are largely m ade
possible by soaring prem ium s,
high deductibles and rising co
pays that put private health in
surance b eyond the reach o f
U ninsured and underinsured
Am ericans have had to bear the
financial burden o f high m edi
cal costs. About h alf the people
in the United States with homes
in foreclosure and a large por
tion o f those w ho have filed for
bankruptcy have nam ed m edi
plan if we are to give families
cal expenses as a cause.
There are a variety o f ways choices and foster com petition
in su ra n c e c o m p a n ie s b o o st in the private health insurance
th e ir p ro fits w h ile lim itin g m arket that will bring escalat
p ayouts to co v e r h ealth care ing costs down.
W hy sh o u ld w e co n tin u e to
costs for people they insure.
They routinely deny coverage let ch ild ren fall into e ith er the
to people like Katie with pre ch asm o f p ro fit-d riv e n h ealth
ex istin g m ed ical co n d itio n s. in s u r a n c e c o m p a n ie s -s o m e
They also refuse to cover those pay th e ir C E O s betw een $10
they think will becom e ill in the and $30 m illio n an n u ally - or
future. In these cases, the cost in c o m e -re stric tiv e M ed icaid
o f treatm ent may com e to tens and C H IP p ro g ram s th at are
o f th o u sa n d s o f d o lla rs that d if fe r e n t in e a c h o f th e 50
m ust be bom e by the fam ily as s ta te s ?
C h ild ren n eed u rgent help
o u t-o f pocket expenses. Indi
vidual health insurance policies and all o f us m ust act now to
bought by people w ho are self- en su re that all children have
e m p lo y e d o r n o t c o v e re d access to affordable, com pre
th ro u g h th e ir e m p lo y e r are hensive health coverage, w her
am ong the m ost expensive and ever they live in w hatever fam
frequently the m ost restrictive. ily. O ur fragm ented system o f
All these restrictio n s harm h e a lth c o v e ra g e a llo w s to o
policy holders and increase the m any o f them to go without the
bottom line o f insurance com c ritic a l h e a lth se rv ic es th ey
p an ies w h ile d e c re a sin g the need.
G o d d id n o t c r e a te tw o
choices o f fam ilies that w ork
hard and play by the rules. U n classes of children. O ur children
fortunately they nev er get to sim ply can't w ait any longer.
feel secure that their children Let's m ake sure C ongress hears
will have health coverage from this from us.
M arian W right E delm an is
one year to the next.
C o n g ress m ust estab lish a presiden t o f the Children's D e
strong public health insurance fe n se Fund.
MNMNNMSWMMMMRmMmMM
When Mrs. 0 Touched the Queen
by M ichael H udson
N ew s item: The First Lady touched Queen Elizabeth.
W hat does this mean ? Is it a signal that W estern C iviliza
tion will soon collapse and that the world is doom ed?
M ethinks, no.
It w asn 't mean
It w asn’t obscene
It w as actually quite serene
W hen Mrs. O touched the queen.
Mrs. O
C om pared to Jackie O
Topping the fashion and beauty scene
She looked so elegant she looked so lean
W hen Mrs. O touched the queen
H er Icon husband takes his place
King dream ed when Am erica would ignore race
In 2009 to truth from a 60s dream
W hen Mrs. O touched the queen
Tw o Young children now grace the white house lawn
No more sneaking fake ids in the A ustin Daw n
W ith joy Am erica starts to scream
W hen Mrs. O touched the queen
A Supreme Nominee
Just yesterday Ms. Parks took her seat
W hy couldn’t a black w om an ju st rest her feet
N ow All A m erica could finally sing
W hen Mrs. O touched the queen
Sonya
Sotomayor is
just what the
court needs
The netw orks send their greatest teams
The W hite H ouse press corps bursting at the seams
Yes, it seem ed to be quite a scene
But it w as only fulfillm ent o f the 60s dream
W hen Mrs. O touched the queen.
by
M ichael H udson is a labor relations specialist in Los A n g e
les a nd a regular contributor to the Portland Observer.
J udge G reg M athis
P resid en t O bam a has
nom inated Judge Sonya
S o to m a y o r to th e S u
prem e C ourt is a surpris-
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a
ing - and inspirational - selec
tion.
If co n firm ed by C ongress,
Sotom ayor w ould be the sec
ond w om an on the S uprem e
Court and the third w om an ever
p ic k e d fo r th e jo b .
She would also be the
first Latina in the po
sition.
S in c e th e
an
n o u n cem en t, m edia
pundits and politicos
have d iscu ssed S o to m a y o r’s
background and wha, role it will
play in her decision making. Her
ap p o in tm en t to the S uprem e
Sotom ayor excelled academ i
c a lly an d e v e n tu a lly w on a
scholarship to Princeton U ni
versity. She then w ent on to
study at Yale Law School.
T he ju d g e ’s back g ro u n d is
not m uch d iffe ren t from the
president’s: being raised by a
single m other in less than ideal
circum stances, rising above all
obstacles and w orking hard to
achieve academ ic and career
goals.
O bam a's real-life upbringing,
aw ay from the country clubs
an d p rep sc h o o ls th a t m o st
politicians are accustom ed to,
The country needs a justice
who understands exactly how
the average American lives.
C o u rt w o u ld be a b rea th o f
fresh air to A m erica's judicial
sy stem ; the co u n try n eeds a
ju s tic e w ho u n d ersta n d s e x
actly how the average A m eri
can lives.
Judge Sotom ayor was raised
by her Puerto Rican fam ily in a
public housing project in the
South Bronx in New York. Her
father, a factory w orker with
only a third-grade education,
died w hen she w as ju s t nine
years old, leaving her mother, a
nurse w ho worked six days a
w eek, to raise her.
D espite her family struggles.
is one o f the reasons he con
nected so well w ith the A m eri
can public. M any believed he
u n d e r s to o d
th e m ,
th e ir
struggles and their desires.
It is Sotomayor’s similar back
gro u n d that w ill provide her
with the sensitivity and em pa
thy needed to serve as a Su
prem e Court Justice. She will
bring to the court both an aca
dem ic and real-w orld u n d er
standing o f the issues the court
votes on, not ju st ivory tow er
intellectual thought that rarely
finds its w ay to the average
man or w oman on the street.
T he ju d g e ’s rulings on low er
courts are a strong indication
that she will w ork to maintain
civil rights gains m ade over the
la s t
s e v e ra l
decad es.
Sotom ayor ruled against white
firefighters from New Haven,
Conn, who claim ed reverse dis
crim ination when they were not
prom oted after possible race-
based irregularities with a re
q u ired test w ere d isco v ered ;
prom otions for all fire fighters,
black or white, were put on hold
w hile the city investigates. The
case is currently in front o f the
Suprem e Court.
S o to m a y o r’s a p p o in tm e n t
also brings the court one step
c lo se r to re fle c tin g the w ay
A m e ric a a c tu a lly lo o k s.
W omen make up over half o f
th e U .S . p o p u la tio n w h ile
Latinos com prise about 14-per-
cent o f the A m erican people.
C u rren tly the court only has
one w om an and one A frican
A m eric an am o n g its ran k s.
S o to m ay o r's selection brings
diversity to a ruling body that
is dom inated by w hite men.
If confirm ed, Sotom ayor will
bring more federal judicial ex
perience to the court than any
justice in 100 years. Her resume
show s a true co m m itm ent to
justice. She is exactly who the
court has been waiting for.
Ju d g e G reg M athis is vice
p re sid e n t o f R a in b o w P U SH
a n d a b o a rd m em b er o f the
Southern Christian Leadership
Conference.
I