Health Care Bill for Us..(Let's speak up and live!)

With all due respect, why have we been as silent as a people, concerning the health care issue? Considering we are the minority that lead the nation in terminal diseases. Should we not be more concerned? Suffice it to say, this is a topic on which we need to focus and discuss far more than we have in the past. Maybe these alarming statistics will help make us start thinking more deeply on this critical Health Care Reform Bill:
“Here are just a few examples of why African Holistic health or alternative healthcare reform and treatment are needed in the Black community:
• 63,500 African Americans will die from cancer next year.
• Approximately eleven percent of all African Americans have diabetes.
• Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death among African American women, exceeded only by lung cancer.
• African-American men have far higher death rates from prostate cancer than any other racial or ethnic group.
• 130,800 new African American cancer cases are expected to be diagnosed in 2009.
• African Americans with cancer have a shorter survival than whites in all stages of diagnoses.
• Black people with diabetes experience kidney failure about four times more than diabetic white Americans.
• The death rate for Black Americans with diabetes is 40% higher than other races and cultures.
• African-American clinics claim hypertension is a major killer of minorities.
• Stress, poor diet, alcoholism, and substance abuse; are some of the major causes.
• Compared with any other group, African-American women are more likely to get heart disease and die from complications.
• African- Americans have twice as many strokes as white Americans.
• Inner city alternative health practitioners and the CDC claim African Americans have three times as much hypertension), diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.
• One in every 250 African-American women has Lupus.
• There are 80% of African American women over the age of 50 that are obese.
• African-Americans are leading in cases of mental illness and substance abuse.
• Many senior citizens are struggling with health costs or are without insurance.
• According to the National Coalition on Health Care, there are over 46 million people in the United States without health insurance.” (African American Health Statistics, Dr. Llalia O. Africa, 2009)
Now, brothers and sisters, with the alarming statistics above, it seems that we should be a little more concerned with the government’s plan of action concerning this critical Healthcare Reform Bill. Perhaps, your current job offers you decent insurance so you do not think that this pertains to or for you. The harsh reality is that, not one of us is exempt from being inflicted with one or more of the above aforementioned health problem concerns and/or diseases, be it directly or indirectly. There are many homeless people with serious mental issues who need free healthcare and in desperate need of in-patient treatment and hospitalization. They are being turned away without medical attention, medical assistance, and medication. They ask us for money to eat, drink, or smoke; and we look down on them as if it could not happen to us. I bear witness that being in the homeless community is a lonely world. Unfortunately, a lot of us are all just one paycheck away from being evicted or going into foreclosure. We are still in a black economic critical crisis, which means more of us are without health insurance and missing out on basic health check-ups that could put a respite on our future life.
I mean, come on Black America! President Obama is literally putting his life on the line to help his brothers and sisters, while we let him go to war alone and wish him the best. This is unacceptable and we will all suffer for our lack of input in this situation. Let the physiologists tell it, Autism is increasing at alarming rates. Insurance carriers are denying prospective customers because they have pre-existing conditions such as something as simple as wearing glasses or having had stitches when they were 10 years old. They charge our ailing parents and grandparents outrageous prices for prescription coverage. Black elders are more likely to live in a degenerate nursing home than white elders. Their insurance limits them to the worst of facilities. They are now talking about investigating why doctors are opting out of procedures that would save our loved ones because insurance companies do not offer adequate coverage or because the premiums can not be paid.
Unfortunately, if you and I live long enough, we will fall victim to some form of illness. When that time comes for you or me, will there be affordable health insurance to cover us? It sometimes baffles me how we were so proud of electing President Obama, yet we sit in silence instead of speaking out about the healthcare issue(s). Remember, we could benefit the most from this bill. We need to be in opposition to the “haters” of President Obama and his policies, and match their negative opinions and schisms with positive support and bold voices as to why we need this bill to become law. It is our time to rise to the occasion and face these enemies and outright racists with our own posters and signs. In other words, when in the hell are we going to rise up and rebel? We have prayed for the Creator to send us a sign that he would help us, and now, we are failing to unify and help ourselves. I thought your vote was your voice. LET’S SPEAK UP AND LIVE!!!