To: The United States House of Representatives and The United States Senate
Congress: Help Victims of Mass Shootings/Terrorism By Amending the Terms of Your Health Plan to A...
Stories from Mother Jones and ThinkProgress show us that victims of our national violence epidemic are struggling with financial and emotional stresses stemming from inadequate or non-existent coverage. Congress must amend the terms of its health insurance plan to define victims of our horrific national mass crimes as special dependents which would give them access to the same care as Congressional members' spouses and minor children, providing a vital lifeline to care and an ability to maximize any charitable contributions for ongoing needs.
Why is this important?
What if you lost your legs in the Boston bombings only to discover you can either accept charitable contributions and lose your health insurance or keep your health insurance but know it still won't cover all your medical needs? ThinkProgress brings us the story of brothers caught in our modern "health care system" Catch 22. "That [accepting their charity checks] wouldn’t be an issue if they could access health care through an employer, or if the funds were enough to cover all of their expected medical costs. But the Norden brothers’ recovery process has been slow, and they’re not sure when they will be able to work again. They also worry that the high cost of prosthetics will quickly eat up the $1.2 million sum, leaving them with nothing." Why should being at the wrong place to view the end of the Boston Marathon require anyone to make such choices?http://thinkprogress.org/health/2013/09/16/2625731/boston-bombing-victims-cash-checks/.
Additionally, Mother Jones tells us about what mass shooting victims face. "Mass shootings can be a devastating financial blow to victims and their families, especially if they don't have health insurance. Dr. Adil Haider, the codirector of the Center for Surgery Trials and Outcomes Research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, tells Mother Jones that "if a person has insurance—it will mostly likely cover everything apart from the deductible." But, he adds, "unfortunately, most of the patients we see do not have insurance." If a victim is paralyzed by a gunshot wound, costs could easily surpass $1 million—although a patient could be eligible for Medicaid or disability at that point...In Virginia Tech and Columbine, the most commonly awarded amount was $11,500 and $10,000, respectively, and payment amounts are often distributed based on number of nights spent in the hospital (after Aurora, victims who spent fewer than seven days in the hospital received $35,000)." http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/04/where-does-money-donated-victims-mass-shootings-go
But, we can get these victims access to quality care if Congress will negotiate so these individuals can be added as dependents to the Congressional plan. As dependents of the government plan, these individuals would be able to reap the benefits currently available to them while also being able to access funds donated to their recovery without fear of losing their subsidized insurance. Add your name to tell Congress to get to work taking care of our survivors! If we can't stop the killing and maiming, we can at least step up and get people the coverage they need and the care they deserve.