While reading this amazing article in the Deseret News about the impact of the fight on Utah's Capitol Hill over Medicaid expansion, this portion of Eminem's "Loose Yourself" starting playing in my head:
All the pain inside amplified by the fact
That I can't get by with my 9 to 5
And I can't provide the right type of life for my family
Cuz man, these *** damn food stamps don't buy diapers
And it's no movie, there's no Mekhi Phifer, this is my life
There are 130,000 Utahns who cannot afford healthcare who could see a doctor and get real treatment if the powers that be step up and do the right thing. Sadly, there are those in the legislature that would rather pass a message bill. Who are they trying to speak to? Caucus goers who select delegates to the GOP convention. But the message they send to those 130,000 people is that they are mere pawns in a political game.
"It's not hypothetical for me," said Stacy Davis-Stanford, a 28-year-old who was on top of her game in a social work career before a car accident in 2010 triggered a life-changing neurological disorder. She now spends most of her time either in bed from intense pain or in a wheelchair because she doesn't have the strength to stand.
Davis-Stanford believes the right doctors could help her walk, but she can't afford to pay a visit and only gets medical care in an emergency. "I went from being at the top of my career . . . to being fed and bathed," she said. "I still offer a lot to the world, but that is a big difference."
The Salt Lake Community College student and small-business owner is disgruntled with how long it has taken Utah lawmakers to make a decision that envelops her physical, emotional and mental well-being.
. . . .
"When they do not recognize how gravely important this is, it makes me sick," Davis-Stanford said. She's accumulated more than $200,000 in medical bills she cannot pay and is putting off tests that could lead to a firm diagnosis and possible treatment that could potentially restore her once-vibrant life.
It is not Stacy's fault that she got in a car crash. She is not to blame for being unable to afford it. So why do those seeing to become Govenor want to deny this social worker from being able to contribute to society? Why should communities have told bake sales so that someone can get an organ transplant or chemotherapy?
It is immoral and wrong, especially when our federal tax dollars are already paying for these 130,000 to get healthcare, so long as the legislature stopping trying to cut off its nose to spite it's face.
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