Why would people choose a public option?

More and more ‘big businesses’ are hiring a large percentage of ‘part-time employees. These part-time people are not eligible for benefits such as health care with many of these companies. So, we end up with people having to work 2 or 3 part-time jobs because full-time jobs aren’t available and they can’t afford insurance without working multiple jobs. In many of those part-time positions, a person would be luck to be able to make insurance payments with the payment from one part-time job while the other one or two would provide the income necessary to survive on a daily basis.

People who have health care but can’t afford the co-pays were a substantial percentage of those I transported to the Emergency Room via ambulance when I worked as a paramedic. Why? Simple. The co-pay for doctor’s visits and the problems of having to take time off of work to get into the office when the doctor was there created financial stress. If the person could hold off until it was serious enough to warrant going to the ER, it was likely to be a lower copay (many insurance companies require no co-pay for ‘emergencies’) and the ER is open during hours the doctor’s office isn’t. If you are a working parent and trying to juggle what ‘sick time’ you have between your needs and those of your children, you can quickly get to the point where you are losing income.

Sure, there are walk-in clinics available….in some areas….at some times. If you happen to have transportation to get to one located in other areas and if you happen to be able to get there at the time that the clinic is open, you can go there but, that doesn’t fit for everyone.

What about those people who don’t have any insurance? They don’t go in to the doctor because they can’t afford it. Once they are sick enough they make it to the ER. All of these result in driving ER costs up. Those costs are spread out over all of those people with insurance premiums. If everyone had insurance, there could actually be a reduction in insurance premiums, if CEO’s are willing to let that money go back to consumers, you would see the savings.

There are some additional ‘hidden’ cost to either having insurance that is not affordable to use except in emergencies or not having insurance at all. As a child abuse investigator, I can tell you that over 50% of the cases I worked on involved situation where stress resulted in abuse, or the absence of affordable health care resulted in parents being accused of being abusive or neglectful. Stress is one of the primary contributing factors to abuse of children and adults. it is associated with alcohol and drug abuse. One of the most common sources of stress in our County is due to finances. Medical care/insurance is a primary source of financial stress.

All of the abuse/neglect cases cost taxpayers in employees, services (psychological, social, medical, and judicial). Simply removing or reducing one stressor could make a huge difference.

The Health Care issue is not just about Health Care! There are a lot of other factors that come into play. We desperately need health care reform. I, for one, also think that citizens deserve the right to choose if they wish to participate in a public option. That does not mean that everyone should be forced to join, simply that people should have the right to make that choice for themselves. For politicians to prevent people from making that choice for themselves is not fair. It is not right.

You may or may not agree with me. However you feel about this let your elected officials know. Take the time to make a call or send an email. This should be the people’s choice not the choice of whoever has the most money to spend on advertising. (It is ironic that the very companies you pay When your insurance company pays the bills are the ones paying for those ads?)

You may also want to take a few minutes to look at a website called Opensecrets.org. This site shows you where the political contribution elected officials receive come from. There are some interesting relationships between the positions elected officials are taking on this and where their funding comes from. And, yes…all of that contribution stuff is made available by FOIA.

By the way, all this talk about a ‘rush’? We could wait forever for insurance companies to ‘police themselves’. If they were going to do it, they would have done it by now.

I’ll be interested in hearing what you have to say.

I began looking more closely at Crab Creek when I found out that it was being damaged by runoff because of developments and stormwater. And I did a blog specifically related to Stormwater.

The Roanoke Times article provided more information.

Heavy rains fuel isolated flooding

The final piece came in the form of a statement by a property owner:

McCoy said Crab Creek floods every five to 10 years. “Each flood, it gets worse,” he said. “We’ve had a few floods,” Vickie McCoy said, “but nothing like this.”

Well, unless the average amount of water in a raindrop has increased, or the creek bed has shrunk, you have to look at some other reason for a pattern of flooding that is worsening over time. That common element is the loss of pervious surfaces.

Wikipedia reports:

Because impervious surfaces (parking lots, roads, buildings, compacted soil) do not allow rain to infiltrate into the ground, more runoff is generated than in the undeveloped condition. This additional runoff can erode watercourses (streams and rivers) as well as cause flooding when the stormwater collection system is overwhelmed by the additional flow. Because the water is flushed out of the watershed during the storm event, little infiltrates the soil, replenishes groundwater, or supplies stream baseflow in dry weather.^[3]

We have existed in what is essentially considered a drought condition for the last decade. Decisions were made by the Town of Christiansburg to allow rapid growth with huge expansions in the amount of impervious surfaces. Well, the water has to go somewhere. Maybe you don’t care because it doesn’t affect you. Or does it? Will it affect your insurance rates as these flood damage claims continue to climb over the years when we go back into normal water fall patterns? Will it affect the value of your property? It is obvious from the statements in the Times article that Christiansburg residents are not the only ones who will suffer the consequences. The storm water doesn’t stop in Christiansburg, it continues on down the Creek doing damage, creating fear, potentially spreading disease and providing great breeding grounds for mosquitos (that also carry disease).

Decisions made by Town Council affect more than just Christianburg residents. Issues of stormwater have been brought before Town Council before and those citizens with the courage to complain have been brushed aside and/or laughed at by those in power.

It is time for this type of arrogance and ignorance to stop. We need to elect Town Council members who take the job seriously. We need to elect Town Council members who get accurate information and follow their own codes. We need Town Council members who will make sure that the codes of the town are followed by those who work for the town. For instance:

From Chapter 25 of the Town Code (found on myvaresources.com and at christiansburg.org):

Sec. 25-4. Grading–Plans to show elevation or lowering.
Whenever the paving, grading or making of sidewalks or streets anywhere in the Town is ordered by the Town Council, it shall be the duty of the Town Manager, when in his opinion such street or sidewalk should be so graded as to raise or lower the same materially with reference to the property of abutting lot owners, to make his plans of such improvement, showing accurately in feet and tenths of feet the elevation or lowering of the street with reference to such adjacent property. (Code 1972, Sec 25-4)
State law reference(s)–Grading streets, etc., Code of Virginia, Sec 15.1-368 et seq.

Sec. 25-5. Same–Waiver of damages by property owners.
Before proceeding with the work mentioned in Section 25-4, the Town Manager shall obtain from the owners of the property to be affected by such change of grade a written waiver of all damages. If such property owners refuse to sign such waiver, the Town Manager shall report
the situation to the Town Council and receive authority from that body before proceeding with the work.
(Code 1972, Sec 25-5)

It would seem that in situations such as the one in Cambria where the road surface was raised higher than the entrances to buildings, this would be an appropriate step to take. It was not done.

I’ve gone around Town looking at other areas where the same situation has evolved. Is this incompetence, arrogance, or a combination of both?

What do you, as a citizen, have a right to expect from your town? Is this what you are happy with?

I’m still waiting to see the updated stormwater management code that the State came in and required Christiansburg to complete.