[VIDEO] Tea Party Crowd Cheers Letting Uninsured Die #WTF?

On Monday night, CNN held a Tea Party Republican Debate and one of the highlights was this big #WTF moment that came when the crowd cheered when Ron Paul was asked: if a sick person with no insurance coverage goes to the hospital should society just let him die?

Seriously, when did our society become so selfish? Would those people who cheered not want help if they couldn’t afford insurance and they were in that position? I guarantee you if they would be looking for “handouts’ and “help” if they couldn’t afford insurance. Are we not civilized? I think that a civilized society should look after its people who can’t take care of themselves in situations like that, life or death. These people want programs that help themselves like Social Security, but when it comes to helping others, they can go to hell. Why and when did we become so selfish?

Posted by:

Justin Burkhardt

No Health Care for a Big Star.

This comes late to 99P. Mostly because I didn’t want to re-cover a story that many in the indie rock world were talking about non-stop (totally justified) a few weeks back. However, some new details emerged today that made me profoundly sad and I figured I’d share.

I’m not going to preach about who Alex Chilton was. If you know, you know. If you don’t, click some of these links and introduce yourself. He was the lead singer of The Box Tops and Big Star, the latter being one of the great tragedies of ’70s music. They should have been huge, but without proper love from their label, Alex, who only got better with age, was never more famous than when he was 16 singing The Box Tops‘ “The Letter”. That is until about a decade later, when music nerds everywhere started discovering those forgotten records. Not surprisingly, a massive impact was quickly made on bands from the ’80s and ’90s, and Paul Westerberg of The Replacements went so far as to write a song about him, simply titled “Alex Chilton”.

Ok, so I just preached. What? I’m a fan.

Anyway, the reason I even wrote this was to tell you that today, news arrived that one of the most influential voices in rock and roll history died of a potentially avoidable heart attack. His wife stated that Alex had been feeling a shortness of breath and chest pains while mowing the lawn for two weeks before his untimely death. He never went to the doctor, however, because he lacked health insurance.

Alex Chilton, dead at 59. Hopefully he’ll be the last life lost to the all too common illness known as “uninsured”.

Posted by:

Sean Gardner

Wiretap: Youth Is Not A Pre-Existing Condition

The barriers to entry for health insurance are so high that many youth simply go without. It’s not that we don’t want it: we’re perfectly aware we’re not invincible. We’re just priced out of the market. I suppose that’s why you never see any “Blue Cross means Bitchin’ Coverage!” ads, targeted at a younger demographic.

A recent study by the AFL-CIO found that a whopping 31 percent of young workers are uninsured. Moreover, young blue-collar workers are uninsured 40 percent of the time. The key barrier to entry for health care? You guessed it — cost.

Check out the rest of this piece about young people and health care by 99Problems.org’s very own Steve Romain in Wiretap!

Posted by:

Sam Patton

Wal-Mart’s Announcement Leaves People Shocked

Mark June 30, 2009 down in your calendars people. It was a landmark day. The day that the Queen of England ordered an official swan census. The day that it was announced that daily sex improved your sperm count. Oh yeah, and it was the day that Wal-Mart announced that it supported employer-mandated health insurance.

Wait, what? Yup, you heard (or rather, read) right. Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, the country’s biggest private employer, and possibly also the most controversial business in America, has announced its support for the overhaul of the health care system. Furthermore, Wal-Mart has announced that it would like this coverage to extend to both full and part time employees, and that policies should be put in place that reduce health care costs.

Reactions to this news have been mixed. Some laud the announcement as a milestone move towards better health care and worker benefits, while others question the motivations behind the decision—seemingly so out of character for a corporation that has been criticized for its’ stance on worker benefits.

… Continue Reading

Posted by:

Yolanda Clatworthy

Time for America’s Check-Up

Are you one of the 46 million Americans who don’t have health insurance? Think you’re paying too much for too little if you do? Either way, you’ll probably welcome the news that a plan for health care reform is one step closer, thanks to an announcement Obama made Sunday that placed reform costs at 1 trillion dollars over ten years rather than the 1.8 trillion dollars that had been announced earlier. It’s a reform he labeled a “necessity rather than a luxury.”

Just about everyone agrees that it’s necessary to offer insurance to all Americans and to control healthcare costs from skyrocketing. Despite this, a bipartisan agreement is still far from a done deal. Much of the disagreement stems from a public/private divide and from concerns over the sheer amount of money needed to overhaul the system. Some feel that 1 trillion dollars is still too much money to be spending on health care—which it is. It’s a lot of money period. But in the grand scheme of things, it feels like something worth investing in. Put it into context: in 2009 alone the US will be spending 1 trillion dollars on defense-related issues, including the military and two wars. What’s another trillion dollars spread out over ten years, especially if it is an investment in the future happiness and well-being of Americans?

Besides, the system can’t get worse than it already is. The US pays more for health care than any other country—approximately $5711 per person each year. And you get significantly less bang for your buck than other countries: lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, and less coverage (15% of Americans don’t even have access to healthcare). It’s kinda like forking over the money for a gourmet meal and ending up with a corn dog.

At this rate, any reform seems better than no reform at all.

Posted by:

Yolanda Clatworthy