2.28.2007

Universal Health Care NOW

Lets make these nightmares a thing of the past.

The State of Maryland just spent $250,000 on a toothache, and in the end, it still wasn't enough to save the life of 12 year-old Dearmonte Driver. Universal Health Care would have saved Dearmonte's life, and saved the State of Maryland over $200,000.

Universal Health Care would have guaranteed Dearmonte dental coverage from any dentist in the state. His toothache would have been taken care of, either for free or for a few dollars. Tooth extraction isn't a difficult process, and any dentist can perform the procedure. Instead, Dearmonte was on medicaid and his parents were unable to find a Medicaid dentist to see him.

What happened to Dearmonte and his family is unacceptable. Its time to stop ignoring the uninsured. If we continue to do so, we risk both moral and economic peril.

Update:Another opinion at the Old Line.

3 comments:

Jkid said...

Agreed. But it seems like the only way to get our say in the issue is to either head straight to the Maryland General Assembly offices or run as independent candidates ourselves. Only problem, I'm not eligible for most Maryland offices since I'm still 18.

Andrew Kujan said...

Of course, running is also difficult because it costs so much money.

I would really like to see a federal program, and I think with a few more Democratic Senators and a President Obama or a President Edwards, it could definitely happen.

GWB cutting $23 billion from medicaid is not a step in the right direction when it comes avoiding future tragedies such as this one.

Anonymous said...

Not just universal health care, but single payer universal health care.