[ Is it possible that the people of these rural communities, under
the stress of a broken health care system, can spark a movement to fix
health care for the nation?]
[[link removed]]

HOW THIS RURAL WISCONSIN COUNTY PUT PUBLICLY FUNDED, NON-PROFIT,
NATIONAL HEALTH CARE ON THE BALLOT  
[[link removed]]


 

Kay Tillow
September 5, 2022
Common Dreams
[[link removed]]


*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

_ Is it possible that the people of these rural communities, under
the stress of a broken health care system, can spark a movement to fix
health care for the nation? _

Supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) hold signs during an
event on health care September 13, 2017 on Capitol Hill., (Photo: Alex
Wong/Getty Images)

 

CITIZENS OF DUNN COUNTY, Wisconsin, have a plan to place national,
publicly-funded health care for everyone on their November 8th county
ballot.  In June and July at meetings of the County Board of
Supervisors, many spoke of a broken health care system and their
proposal to fix it.  After the third meeting, the Board voted
unanimously
[[link removed]] to
put the following question on the ballot:  

_“Shall Congress and the President of the United States enact into
law the creation of a publicly financed, non-profit, national health
insurance program that would fully cover medical care costs for all
Americans?”_

Located in central west Wisconsin and blessed with lakes and farmland,
Dunn County is far from bustling cities. About 16,000 of its 45,000
residents live in Menomonie, the county seat, named by the Smithsonian
as “One of the Best Small Towns in the USA.”

By focusing on the health care crisis in America’s heartland, the
people of Dunn County hope to propel the issue onto the nation’s
agenda.  They believe that rural concern for neighbors just may
outweigh the rancorous partisan divide, and with the idea spreading,
influence a Congress that has, so far, refused to consider Medicare
for All.

On July 27, 2022, between the pledge of allegiance and the story of
how the county fair proceeded despite the windstorm that took out the
electric milking machines, they stepped to the microphone at
the Board of Supervisors’ meeting
[[link removed]] to
insist that those who represent them allow their voices to be heard in
a ballot referendum.  

Margie Hagerman of Menomonie spoke first. “The health care of the
majority of Americans has been declining in recent years with lower
life expectancy than other developed countries. Other… countries
have found ways to cover everyone through a national, non-profit,
health insurance system. Why can’t the United States?”

“If you put a referendum out you're giving a voice to the
people--you need to do that because we exist only by the consent of
the people,” said Michel Brandt.

John Hoff said, “currently the drug pharmaceutical system is totally
stacked against the individual—yes, they're working on something in
congress but that's only for 20 drugs.” 

Tom Walsh told of his son, a small business owner, who, since the
Affordable Care Act, has paid $750 a month for insurance with a $5,000
deductible. “He can get one physical exam a year—that will be
free…but the rest of it he pays out of his pocket.  We need
Medicare for All basically to save small business owners, save people
that are susceptible to bankruptcy because they can't afford to pay
for their insurance and if they do have it the deductible is so high
it really doesn't help that much…so we really need a national health
insurance program.”

Steve Hogseth called attention to the top 23 countries ranked for
their democracy and asserted that, of them, the United States was the
only one without universal health care of some form.

Lenore Mercer spoke of working in a clinic when the former governor
suspended Badger Care. “I'll always remember a clean-cut,
hard-working, full-time employed father breaking down and saying I’m
not worried about myself, but for my kids, how will they get to see a
doctor? I thought this is so wrong.” 

“Our for-profit driven system balloons profits for insurance
companies and drug manufacturers and now millions of Americans can't
afford health care,” Mercer concluded.

Retired physician Lorene Vedder ended her comments by asking those in
the audience who supported putting this measure on the November 8th
ballot to please stand. All rose.

Monica Berrier, Dunn County Supervisor for District 13, weighed in at
the Legislative Committee Meeting
[[link removed]]. “I want to make the
argument that it really is in the county's interest to be advocating
for a better health care system… I'll do this through the
perspective of our budget and whether the current system is a
responsible use of taxpayer dollars.”

She said that the county spends about $500,000 each month on health
insurance and that in the 2022 budget, $10 million out of a $90
million budget has been set aside for health insurance. The $90
million is not just for personnel but includes all county
operations. 

“So we’re spending a lot but when we compare that to what the
employees are actually getting it’s a pretty bad deal. They’re
part of a system where delays and even outright denials of care are
routine.  I believe that as elected officials and stewards of
taxpayer dollars we have a responsibility to demand better of the
federal government that serves us.”

Berrier laid it out. “I want to close by thinking about what we
could do with this money instead.  We all know that the budget
process comes down to higgling over fifty dollars here a hundred
dollars there.  A couple months ago we had a good discussion about
the wheel tax and many of us including myself are worried about the
potential impact that this might have on people who can't afford it. 
For comparison, the wheel tax brings in just $700,000 every year and
that's peanuts compared to the 10 million dollars we are budgeted to
spend on health insurance this year…instead of wringing our hands
over the wheel tax we could be just fixing the roads instead. I think
that we as elected officials really have a responsibility to advocate
for a more efficient health care system”

Dr. Vedder had spoken earlier to the Dunn County Executive Committee
[[link removed]].  “My chief concern
is a decreasing life expectancy that we have in this country. If you
compare Canada to the United States, they live 4.5 years longer than
we do.  Back in 1970 we lived the same life expectancy so why are we
seeing this difference?

“People are afraid here in our country to access health care because
of the excess cost of medical care--30 million people in this country
don't have health care insurance, 44 % don't have the funds to obtain
medical care even if they have insurance.

“We access health care a lot less than any developed country in the
world. By avoiding health care we have our people…coming to
emergency rooms when it's too late to treat them, their disease is too
advanced.  We bankrupt people over medical bills—nowhere else in
the developed world are people bankrupted by their health.”  

Someone announced that the issue would be placed on the agenda for the
Legislative Committee.

The health care advocates came prepared to speak at the Legislative
Committee Meeting [[link removed]] on
July 20.  At a couple of minutes per person, they filled the first 35
minutes of the meeting.  Dr. Steve Brown told of his wife using
health care services in Portugal, receiving x-ray, lab services and IV
antibiotics.  She was diagnosed with Legionnaires disease and
received good care.  He said that even though they did not have
travel insurance, the bill was reasonable—about $160.

Steve Carlson of Trego spoke of a precedent in Wisconsin for a health
care ballot question fourteen years ago when county voters agreed that
everyone in the state should have health care coverage equal to state
officials.  He said that people in Washburn, Douglas, and Portage
counties are working on placing referenda, like the current one
proposed in Dunn County, on the ballot for the Spring election.

Louisa Gerasimo told of medical bills that depleted retirement
savings. “Nobody in my family is going to retire sitting pretty and
most of the reason for that can be laid at having to pay off medical
expenses, even though we were insured, for months and months and
months, and that is money we did not spend on all the things that you
can spend money on right here in beautiful Dunn County.”

Commission Hager commented that this issue had roused the most public
interest and comment since the ATV county road expansion.  The
supervisors voted unanimously to place the issue on the ballot. 
Chair Kelly McCullough said, “Looks like we will be having the
referendum all right…that also answers the question of pressuring
your legislators—does it work—it looks like it all right.”

Rural health care is in deep crisis. Over 800 rural hospitals
[[link removed]] are
under threat of closing.  Rural physicians struggle to survive on the
meager payments of Medicaid.  Mergers and acquisitions accelerate the
pain as hospitals are bought up by those whose only concern is
profit.  Delayed care causes untold suffering and death.  Is it
possible that the people of these rural communities, under the stress
of a broken health care system, can spark a movement to fix health
care for the nation?

Some people in Dunn County think so and are working to make it
happen. 

_Kay Tillow is the coordinator of the All Unions Committee for Single
Payer Health Care [[link removed]], which builds
union support for national single payer health care. She lives in
Louisville, Kentucky._

* Medicare for All
[[link removed]]
* rural movements
[[link removed]]
* Wisconsin
[[link removed]]

*
[[link removed]]
*
[[link removed]]
*
*
[[link removed]]

 

 

 

INTERPRET THE WORLD AND CHANGE IT

 

 

Submit via web
[[link removed]]

Submit via email
Frequently asked questions
[[link removed]]

Manage subscription
[[link removed]]

Visit xxxxxx.org
[[link removed]]

Twitter [[link removed]]

Facebook [[link removed]]

 




[link removed]

To unsubscribe, click the following link:
[link removed]