three articles in the houston chronicle that caught my attention this week…

from Texas remains No. 1 in uninsured:

Texas’ overall uninsured rate of 25.2 percent, and its 20.2 uninsured rate for children, continued to be the highest in the country.
...
Nationally, the number of people without health insurance last year declined from 47 million in 2006, the Census Bureau said.
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While the Census Bureau didn’t report health insurance coverage data at the local level, a report this year by Texas State Demographer Karl Eschbach estimated Harris County’s uninsured rate at 29.8 percent.

houston’s mayor, bill white, (i

<3 bill white)

put together a website, http://www.houstonhealthchoice.com, to try to help people choose an insurance plan.  it was his original intent to put together an affordable plan that would cover most services, while still allowing insurance companies a profit, but… no insurance companies would get involved.  figures, hey?

in the story above, a family of four has a daughter who suffers from brain lesions.  insurance through the husband’s employer would cost 30% of his take home pay, but they make $260 per month too much to qualify for CHIP.  they checked into private insurance, but were told that due to pre-existing conditions, they would never qualify.  the husband even asks his employer for a cut in pay so that they can qualify for CHIP, but never receive a response.  their final option was to enroll their 2 children in daycare, because CHIP allows daycare to be deducted from income, thus qualifying them for the program.  so now, instead of the children being home as they could be, they’re paying for daycare they don’t need in order to receive insurance so that they can afford treatments for the child’s illness.  it’s enough to make your head spin.

but wait, it gets worse…

read on...

from today’s chronicle, Texas leads nation in abstinence education funding:

AUSTIN — Texas spent a nation-high $17 million last year for abstinence education programs that continue to stir debate about whether classes promoting virginity before marriage work in public schools.

Federal statistics in June showed that 52.9 percent of Texas students in ninth through 12th grades had sexual intercourse, compared with 47.8 nationally. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reported that Texas youths are less likely to use condoms.

Public schools in Texas are not required to offer sex education, but those that do must make the lessons abstinence-focused. Instructions about condoms are couched in terms of how often they fail, according to state law.

Abstinence-only supporters say more comprehensive sex education sends a mixed message to teenagers that having sex at their age is fine, while opponents cite surveys that they say prove abstinence lessons are failing.

woohoo, we’re outspending the rest of the nation in ~abstinence only~ education, while our teens have sex more often than the national average AND use condoms less often.  why that must mean…. yep, you guessed it…

read on...

quote for the day: “as a girl, you see the world like a giant candy store, filled with sweet candy and such…but one day you look around and see a prison…and you’re on death row.”—the good girl

somewhere out there is a society where racism and bigotry aren’t mainstream.  somewhere out there is a society that realizes that all people are created equal.  that humans are not independent of one another, but must rely on one another.  that for a society to function properly, everyone must be treated fairly.  that a society is only as successful as it’s lowest denominator.  that it is made up of people, not policies.  that while structure and rules are necessary, there are exceptions.  that knowledge is essential for all.  that greed isn’t something to be commended.  that the society itself deserves to be invested in more than bombs and other means of war.  that the loss of hope is catastrophic, psychologically, emotionally, monetarily. 

somewhere.

just not here.

not ever.

we lack the will.  we’re too greedy.  people are a commodity.  just another item on the shelf.  we are valued not for who ~we~ are, but for our ability to be swayed.  to be marketed, to be marketed to.  and we let it happen.  over and over again.

and i’m tired.

i’m tired of seeing people close to me (7 now) commit suicide because they never received adequate mental health care.  i’m tired of seeing women dying at horrific rates from breast cancer.  i’m tired of friends losing their health coverage because they’ve used their health coverage.  i’m tired of seeing people trying to improve their lives be hampered by the thought of losing medicaid which provides them the medications necessary TO improve their lives.

and to john, i’m sorry.  i’m sorry that society failed you.  i’m sorry that we, your friends, failed you.  much love to you and your family.  the bonham wouldn’t have been the same without you.

i’m in a mood >:|  that’s as far as i’ve gotten cuz i’m not really sure what mood it is, even :|  someone said i seemed “despondent”, which might fit.  mostly, i think i’m just tired.  not so much ~fatigue~ as… ok, i’m despondent :|

went to visit family over the weekend… my uncle bill is really in poor health.  has been for years, but it’s getting progressively worse.  it’s very hard to see.  i spent alot of summers with my aunt/uncle and looked forward to those visits for months at a time.  they live up in canyon lake, in the middle of the hill country.  it’s just absolutely ~beautiful~ up there.  those visits were the highlight of every year.  i learned how to crochet, took a stab at sewing, spent hours upon hours at the pool, followed my aunt / uncle around to all their square dances, took off exploring through the hills, fed chickens / goats (ok, so now i hate chickens and goats, but at least i had the experience!), read every book i could get my hands on, stayed up til all hours of the night, ran errands with my aunt, helped pick fruit / veggies, even helped lay gravel for a road!, and, in general, just enjoyed being away from the city and the structured life at home.  it gave me some breathing room   it’s hard to watch these people who gave me so many wonderful experiences get old.  even harder, to watch their health decline. here’s my maudlin thought for the day: sometimes it seems my entire life is spent watching the decline of people i love.  color me emo.

interesting conversation with my other uncle, tho.  after listening to him discuss how corporations were overly greedy and taking advantage of everyone, especially where it pertained to healthcare, he made the comment that “thank god we don’t have canada or britain’s healthcare system”.  the government can’t successfully run ~any~ program.  then not an hour later, he’s telling my stepdaughter about the benefits of joining the military.

1. if the gov’t can’t run the program, then privatization is the answer?  privatizing isn’t done by those greedy corporations that are taking advantage of everyone? OR
2. if the gov’t can’t run the program and corporations can’t run the program, who can?
3. if the gov’t can’t run ~any~ program, what statement is that about the military?  last i checked, that was a gov’t institution.  and obviously one that he’s in support of, as he’s trying to tell my stepdaughter that it’s a GOOD thing to join a military during a WAR. 

it’s the inconsistencies that i don’t get.  coming from a military man with better healthcare than my family, provided by the government no less, pity that he doesn’t want to share.

“socialism” is not the dirty word they want to make it out to be.  it’s just next to impossible to have dialogue about healthcare and how to best improve it when you’ve to first combat the “zomg, socialism is nazism and commies are bad!” stance first.  i’m well aware that most of my views are further left than the majority of people, tho i don’t consider myself an extremist.  it’s rather akin to being the square peg trying to fit into a round hole, but.  i recognize that my ideals will never be met, so i’m forced to compromise at every turn.  and that’s okay.  though sometimes it’s tiring.  just once i’d like to “win”?    second maudlin thought for the day: i’m living my entire life in someone else’s world.

anyways…  here’s the last photo i had of my four favoritest auntses / uncleses - lola, bill, fred, mary ann