Passing this along for my good friend Beep:

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What I most want for my birthday...

From the it-doesn't-hurt-to-ask dept:

Please, please, please write to:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Let him know that you have a friend who is receiving medications free via Medically Needy Medi-Cal, under the 133% of federal poverty level program, that she has an SSDI income of approximately 131% of the federal poverty level which increases slightly every year due to Social Security cost of living increases, and that she is totally dependent on free Medi-Cal to literally survive.

Despite saving money in every way she can, including sharing a one-bedroom apartment with another disabled person, she has absolutely no disposable income left over at the end of every month and cannot pay for her medications. She is taking nine medications regularly, including a very expensive chemotherapy drug, and has severe systemic lupus erythematosus. She is very worried about what the plans are for people such as herself with the proposed "Medi-Cal Redesign" for which the state of California received a federal Medicaid waiver.

You may want to put something in the letter with your feelings about literally killing people to balance the budget...and, if you are a Republican, to mention that you don't believe your party should do this. October is also lupus awareness month.

If you are a California voter, please be sure to include your name and address, including zip code.

Please send a copy of the letter to:

Senator Barbara Boxer
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510

Senator Dianne Feinstein
United States Senate
331 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Senator Edward Kennedy
315 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

Congresman Pete Stark
239 Cannon Building
Washington, DC 20515

Health Access
414 13th Street Suite 450
Oakland, CA 94612

Families USA
1334 G Street, NW
Washington DC 20005

Bobbie Wunsch
Medi-Cal Redesign Work Groups
info@Medi-calredesign.org

Assemblywoman Rebecca Cohn, Chair
California State Assembly Health Committee
State Capitol
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0024

Senator Deborah Ortiz, Chair
California State Senate Health Committee
State Capitol, Room 5114
Sacramento, CA 95814

President George Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Please send me a blind copy of the letter (don't put my name and address in it, or I'll get investigated or something, but I would like a copy to use for further advocacy efforts for people in my position)
Pamela Gross
c/o Donald Burr
P.O. Box 91212
Santa Barbara, CA 93190

It's a lot to ask, but this beep wants to live...thank you in advance, from the bottom of my heart.

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And may I further add that it's a fucked world we live in when people have to literally plead for their lives to try to keep their health care.

Today a woman died because she was in line in the hot sun for four hours waiting to get her flu shot. I'm not kidding.

The rest of the world is alternately laughing at us and shocked about us and our barbaric, backward, health care system. We once had private, insurance-run fire brigades in America. When people realized that this system wasn't working, (people's houses were burning down because their insurance company's fire brigade wasn't in the neighborhood, etc...) they banded together and created volunteer fire departments. These volunteer fire departments became professional, publically funded fire departments.

Insurance-run health care is as silly an idea as insurance-run fire brigades. It's time to get real.