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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCharlene Dill was murdered by Rick Scott, FL republicans RE Medicaid funding ("donut hole" death)
Last edited Mon Mar 24, 2014, 08:01 PM - Edit history (1)
This was written by a friend of mine (news of the death came this weekend). Posted with permission.
I was aware of Charlene's predicament with not being able to get meds or see a doc with her heart condition -- Kathleen (the writer) did a fundraiser to get her meds a while back. Now she's doing a GoFundMe for her funeral.
This is so horrific, and predictable. And preventable. And the result of Republicans in their insane crusade against Obama using the people of Florida as sacrificial lambs. And I just can't even begin to imagine all the other millions of people in Florida who aren't covered, and how many will also die or suffer permanent disability or lose their homes
the list just goes on and on.
Kathleen Voss Woolrich: A Loss Of Life, Caused By Partisan Politics The Denial Of Obamacare
An unedited story told by a fellow Floridian. The consequences of Floridas modern day partisan politics. A call to vote for change.
March 24, 2014
By: Kathleen Voss Woolrich
Born in Pennsylvania to a warm family, Charlene moved to Florida when she was 18 years old. She worked at fast food joints and Disney, cleaned houses and babysat, but through the years found herself as a single mother with 3 kids. She had heart issues that needed to be managed. Her teeth needed to be fixed and constantly had infections, but Charlene never complained. She made $11,000 dollars last year babysitting other peoples children and cleaning other peoples houses. She proudly paid her property taxes in February and took care of her little trailer, which she owned and took all three kids to school.
But, Charlene had no health insurance. Charlene was unable to get Obamacare, because she made too little to get the subsidies to purchase health insurance. She had no dental insurance. Her teeth hurt her at night and had so many cavities, but could not find a way to get the decay in her teeth fixed. She was denied medicaid and when she went to get Obamcare she was told she could not get subsidies.
So she went to the emergency room 2012. She had heart issues and was told to get on medicine and be monitored. But, had no health insurance to do so. 2012 Obama won and we all were so sure
NOW Charlene would have health insurance. But the Republican Party of Florida and Rick Scott turned down medicaid expansion. In December Charlene went to the emergency room with abcesses in her legs. Her teeth hurt her constantly. Charlene never complained. She took her two older kids to school each day and reported for work at her various jobs. Recently she began selling vaccuum cleaners in addition to the babysitting and house cleaning. She took antibiotics. She got her healthcare at Florida hospital emergency rooms.
On March 21st, she was supposed to come see me on my first day off, in a while. She was excited about seeing my daughter who she had raised since she was 3. The kids were all going to play together. She had only 2 short appointments in Osceola County, to show the vaccum to customers. At about 4 pm, that afternoon, I got a message from her niece that she had died at the customers house. They rushed her to Poinciana Medical Center and worked on her. They could not bring my best friend back. She died. She was 32.
You see, the main argument Republicans use is that its some lazy person who needs medicaid expansion. That, those of us living without healthcare or dental care are lazy. But my friend, a single beautiful mother, worked 3 jobs. She paid taxes. She paid her house taxes. And now shes dead.
Please think of Charlene when you decide who you are going to vote for in August and December. Please vote democrat. Please vote for people who want people like Charlene and me to have healthcare to have a fighting chance.
I am burying my best friend soon, because of Rick Scott and Will Weatherford. I am buring my best friend, because of the policies of the Republican Party. I am burying my best friend, because had medicaid expansion passed her needs would have been met. She is one of the 7 people who will die each day, because the Florida House of Represenatives Republicans and Tea Party decided that we are not worth living. We are not worth healthcare. We were not worth medicaid expansion.
Please vote for Charlene.
Please help get the Republicans out and expand medicaid. Ill never have her back. Ill never see my friend again. Ill never have another day with her, because of the Republican House of Representatives. Please, for Charlene and for me, register to vote and promise to vote against Rick Scott and any Florida Republican who runs. They need to know we know. We know who they hurt and we see what they are doing to the poor of Florida.
Charlene Dill 1981 to 2014
if you want to help the family:
http://www.gofundme.com/17bf60
Here's some information and an info graphic on the Medicaid Gap:
http://kff.org/health-reform/issue-brief/the-coverage-gap-uninsured-poor-adults-in-states-that-do-not-expand-medicaid/
Ilsa
(62,173 posts)Shame on him. Shame on the USA for allowing a working citizen to die without help.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)he's got to go.
Rockyj
(538 posts)OMG I am in tears...
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)kathleenvosswoolrich
(1 post)On the cardiac observation floor.
I had two seizures today and I have never had a seizure in my life
I dont have regular health insurance because medicaid did not expand in the state of florida so even if they find out why I have no way to get a consult outside of the hospital. Untreated heart failure and lupus wreaked havoc all over my body and I am now having seizures. I had one the middle of an actual examination
Think it did not matter that the republican house got relelected and is denying almost a million people in Florida healthcare? It mattered to me. It mattered to my kids
I matter
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)I hope your seizures end and that you're provided with appropriate care.
Welcome to DU.
malaise
(277,303 posts)murderers.
Cali_Democrat
(30,439 posts)This is why voting is no joke, people.
Please GOTV and get those Republicans out of office.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)if there's ONE place we should be putting resources, it's there.
it would be so amazing to have the money to send vote-by-mail requests to every single dem in the state.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)He should.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)Brigid
(17,621 posts)Never mind, I can't go on.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)i know civilized. we have a ways to go.
packman
(16,296 posts)I hate that shit Scott with every breath a suffering Floridian takes. What a corrupt soul, if he has one. Sitting on his ill-gotten fortune like a diseased toad croaking out his tea-party crap.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)it's really a coterie of demons in the state house right. we HAVE to get them out.
November is going to more of an exorcism than an election the way I see it
genwah
(574 posts)Goddammit, people! Everyone running in Florida should open with, "Hey, we're sending money to Washington, and our idiot governor is keeping a lot of it from coming back. People are dying here, who's lives can be saved. Here's a picture of just one..."
Rockyj
(538 posts)And did not deserve to die because of a heartless Governor & sociopathic GOP.
I swear they are not human...
My prayers to her children, family and friends.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)His political career and those of every other filthy Republican governor and legislator murdering people to prop up their crazy- eyed hatred for government, healthcare, and Barack Obama should be beaten instantly to death for what they've done.
Their cartoon rhetoric KILLS PEOPLE.
Enough all fucking ready.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)Wow -- imagine if he picked up on Charlene's story. This is so tragic and so powerful. It MUST be talked about.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)I hope so.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)everyone is emailing everyone, sharing on Facebook and making calls.
DrDan
(20,411 posts)Control-Z
(15,684 posts)Where is the television ad about Charlene's Obamacare horror story? These are the real horror stories. People denied healthcare. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This poor woman lived and died in a horribly unfair and painful hell.
This story needs to go to the president, and to each and every senator, representative, and governor of each and every state. Is anyone doing this?
Those poor dear children.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)Those words should follow these grotesque creeps and their depraved anti-ACA tantrums everywhere.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)they should have to live with the images of all the people who've died b/c of it.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)... in order to prove that government can't help people.
It's truly demented twist of logic, and one they are carrying to increasing extremes. What government can do, and what they talk about much less, is funnel wealth upward from taxpayers to, say, a private clinic stealing Medicare funds.
Worked for Rick Scott. He is rich man who has profited most from that taxpayer-to-private interest funnel.
Now he's out to apply his model of government of, by, and for private pecuniary interests to the entire state, no matter what the cost to the people.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)i'm hoping the story gets picked up. i'm hoping people pay attention. she's like so many people i know in FL cobbling a life together of part-time work, kids and barely getting by.
maryellen99
(3,798 posts)She's a VICTIM not the repuke operatives like Julie Boonstra.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)Rockyj
(538 posts)ErikJ
(6,335 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)lots can change btwn now and then, but it's a good sign. shows that people are warming to his message, and the lack of medicaid funding has been a feature of his argument for election. people get it. i hope they vote.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)... to everyone. Money for airports. Money for schools. He's a big spender all of a sudden, after eviscerating our schools and turning away billions our own federal tax dollars marked for high-speed rail and the Medicaid expansions.
I would hope no one would buy it, but Scott's millions somehow were enough for people to overlook his dodgy past the last time around.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)That, Rick Scott is offering too little too late. He practically broke education in the state and now he wants to cut a check to every teacher to buy their votes. Everyone sees thru that.
He turned down high speed rail that would have put 24,000 people to work and brought the state into the 21st Century. These are not actions that will be forgotten by writing checks to airports.
He then says, Florida needs someone who truly loves this state.
It's a great message for him. Charlie Crist is not my first choice, but he's a better choice than Rick Scott, and everyone knows that he truly loves the state. That's worth a lot. Rick Scott has shown nothing but contempt for Florida and Floridians.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)Yes, his views seem to bend gently in the political breeze from time to time. But he refused to help Bush by cutting early voting hours and also, he IS NOT RICK SCOTT.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)mrmpa
(4,033 posts)I m eligible for Medicaid under federal guidelines, but it was not expanded in my state either. I can't afford the health insurance rates, keep my fingers crossed and go to a free clinic.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)The ACA is supposed to expand Medicaid so no one is left out.
We need to fix this.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)but we're paying for their healthcare while our people die. it's grotesque.
mrmpa
(4,033 posts)is the only way to fix it, in my opinion
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)DirkGently
(12,151 posts)The ACA *is* a good thing. But all the issues -- Republican generated and otherwise -- just point further to the need for true unversal healthcare. No one in "the richest country in the world" should have to juggle paperwork or dig for money, never mind go without healthcare.
One card in your wallet. No out-of-pocket costs to pay. Period.
mcar
(43,348 posts)Every Dem in Alex Sink's district who just stayed home should hang their heads in shame, because we should be voting in every election to prevent this very travesty from happening.
RIP this lovely women and blessings on her family and friends.
The Fl legislature pays $8 per month for their health insurance but they don't believe Charlene and people like her are worthy of health insurance because they don't work hard enough, or look right, or make enough money or live in the right neighborhoods - or something.
FL House Speaker Will Weatherford married into his job so apparently he earned his $8 monthly high quality health care. Senate president Gaetz is a multi -millionaire so apparently he earned his $8 monthly health care. Guess Charlene and her kids just don't rate in Florida.
The truly frustrating thing is how many Floridians in similar dire circumstances will vote R in November
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)this is exactly the sort of story to help turn that tide in November. people HAVE to see the real faces on this issue. the lives of people aren't political footballs -- we're moms and sisters and daughters and best friends. We're FLORIDIANS -- we're supposed to care about each other.
on the Alex Sink thing -- i don't read too much into that except that it's a wake up call for the party. there's a tremendous amount of work to educate people on "down ballot" voting, and special elections and all the non-presidential year stuff. i hope that lesson gets through to those who control those things.
Alex could have won with more feet on the ground she was within that kind of striking distance given the overall low turnout. also, Jolly might not be able to hold on to that seat given the changing demographics in that district.
mcar
(43,348 posts)And there were far more registered Rs in that district than Ds. Charlene is a real and tragic face on the Healthcare issue.
I hope it helps to make a difference here. GOTV 2014!
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)HockeyMom
(14,337 posts)Should blast the airwaves with this story. A few years ago he wanted to CUT Medicaid. Show the faces of exactly who is getting Medicaid. A non-profit agency serving the MR/DD population ran ads on TV showing their Consumers. These are the people who Rick Scott thinks are" lazy loafs on Medicaid".
Put a FACE on these people, like this woman and her children.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)i hope we're getting thru to them.
the thinking lately (inside baseball here) has been not to attack Rick Scott, but to champion issue that work for Floridians. I think we need both. The milquetoast approach has achieved nothing.
mountain grammy
(27,152 posts)tea and oranges
(396 posts)the 3 children? What will become of them?
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)hopefully they will all be able to stay together.
spartan61
(2,091 posts)Scott and President Obama, we should make sure that Ed Schultz gets a copy too. He will certainly give it a lot of air time. This really needs to be publicized so all those jerk governors who have denied their citizens expanded Medicaid can see what their decisions have really done. This is so heartbreaking.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)bluestateguy
(44,173 posts)Not that he put up much of a fight when the legislature said no.
At least Jan Brewer genuinely fought to take the Medicaid money. Rick Snyder too.
leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)is wrong. he supported a privatized scheme where he and his cronies would profit, THEN he did nothing to get the Speaker of the House to bring it to the floor. NOT ONE PHONE CALL.
nothing but a PR stunt.
the bill passed in the Senate. we were all waiting on the House to act. nothing. not a peep from rick scott.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)to get a Teaparty-acceptable private scheme going ..."
He didn't. Not that that would be okay in the first place.
I don't know that I have ever seen so blatantly malicious a public figure as Rick Scott. He's hurting people at every opportunity, wearing his cocky custom-made boots with our state seal on them, then going to The Villages to have hand-picked cadres of elderly conservatives and coerced children with pre-made signs congratulate him.
He's like the Michael Keaton character in Pacific Heights, locking the doors of our house while he destroys everything from within, and daring us to evict him.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)for one hot minute rick scott said he'd approve a "private" scheme. but he never did anything on it. it was all show. political cover.
the House is run by tea party radicals and they wouldn't give the bill a vote, which rick scott knew they wouldn't, and plus, it wasn't the private scheme he was asking for.
so, we have $50+ billion in federal money that we can't give to dying people b/c the tea party has to show that they will no way no how work with a black president. and i'm sorry -- but that's what this on the level of the House republicans in FL. they would rather have floridians die before affirming a policy put forth by Obama. on the most base level, it's because he's black and they won't "legitimize" him. that's the way they think.
Kablooie
(18,725 posts)It's the opposite of what we say we believe, that it is better for the guilty to go free than to have the innocent unjustly punished.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)and, "she made her bed, now she must lie in it."
Ilsa
(62,173 posts)She was WORKING! I suppose if she had quit her jobs she could have gotten coverage, but she was trying to make sure she could pay her rent.
jeff47
(26,549 posts)We need to show everyone just who Republicans are.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)that if someone who is poor gets to see a doctor, that somehow that reduces the value of their own healthcare. as if, status should be assigned to the ability to see a doctor, where only the most wealthy get good healthcare. working folks can have *some* access, but not as much as the wealthy. and poor people, well, they should just die quickly.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)"If you're getting more, I must be getting less."
Except it doesn't even work that way. We all pay when people suffer; we all benefit when they are freed to live their lives without the constant threat of needing astronomically expensive healthcare and either not being able to get it, or being financially ruined trying to pay for it.
leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)and were not at all shy about the world seeing how callous they are -- in fact, they're PROUD of their Galtitude.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)leftyohiolib
(5,917 posts)to those who say "I want to vote for someone not against someone" is this enough to get you to the polls
to the person who said this to me "I will not vote for another Democrat just because they have the letter D in front of their name ... " is this enough
will the whining and excusing ever end geeez just shut up and vote
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)it's black and white -- no shades of grey. the republicans are refusing this money b/c they want poor working people to suffer. Charlene made just $450 too much to qualify for Medicaid without the expansion. that's insane -- that turning down $450 of work would have been the difference between life or death for a mother of three.
Cha
(304,374 posts)enlightening us and for the really nice tribute to Charlene Dill.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)we'll start the work in earnest tomorrow to get some press going. it's just been so horrible for everyone. just sad messages back and forth. people haven't been able to collect their thoughts yet.
Cha
(304,374 posts)sheshe2
(86,903 posts)My heart goes out to her children.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)giftedgirl77
(4,713 posts)I hope her kiddos will be okay my thoughts are with them.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)once the fetuses are born. children need mothers who don't die from lack of healthcare. you'd think that would be an American Value regardless of political stripe.
Blue Owl
(54,410 posts)Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)sinkingfeeling
(52,868 posts)don't understand what is being done by the GOP.
RIP Charlene.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)this just happens to be the tragedy that we're aware of at the moment -- i've seen stats that show we're likely having a few people die every day for lack of healthcare in the state.
BanzaiBonnie
(3,621 posts)This should be shared far and wide.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)has given her permission to get the word out.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)The writer of the piece, Kathleen Voss Woolrich, started the GoFundMe to pay for the funeral. It's not going to bring her back, but it's making things a little easier on the family. We were chatting on FB while I posted this last night and she was not optimistic about being able to raise enough for the cremation and service. But today it looks like she'll get there.
lpbk2713
(43,187 posts)He should be slithering instead of walking upright.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)DirkGently
(12,151 posts)... reminds me so much of Mitt Romney. The sociopath with a dead kitten in his pocket, who thinks no one knows.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)DirkGently
(12,151 posts)... all I'm saying.
In all seriousness, I don't see Rick Scott, or any of the new breed of really horrific Republican governors betraying an ounce of empathy for the people they were hired to represent. I see an ice-cold dedication to the destruction of anything that might benefit the community as a whole, or raise quality of life or opportunity for anyone, save a presumed small circle of privileged cronies.
And Scott in particular seems to feel that the best and perhaps only use of government is to funnel money to wealthy interests, preferably his own.
Not just bad governance, but actually chilling.
These are bad people, and they are going to do bad things until we make them stop.
Tsiyu
(18,186 posts)Heartbreaking. She tried to do everything right, and Republicans STILL killed her for being working class.
My condolences to those beautiful children and to all who loved this fine, awesome mom.
RIP Charlene
Think also of the many people who have no loved one to tell their story, who die because of abject greed.
My governor, the rich golden boy Haslam, has done the same thing here. He wants the poor to remain sick, to be locked up, or alternately, they can just die of their diseases. Haslam's buddies need a lot more $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
because CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS are far more important than the lives of working class Tennesseans
When does the greed STOP?
Cleita
(75,480 posts)He called Rick Scott a murder and said he should be prosecuted.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)to this. Shouldn't have taken someone dying.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)to donate to her funeral.
DirkGently
(12,151 posts)What a thoroughly decent human being.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)Cleita
(75,480 posts)Maybe he'll post that segment in the next few days, I hope.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)I haven't had Sirus/XM in a while, and that's one of the two things I miss (Underground Garage being the other).
Cleita
(75,480 posts)He might have some clips or articles on his website, or Free Speech TV might. I can't post links right now but you can get there with google.
Rockyj
(538 posts)GoCubsGo
(32,872 posts)I'm one of those lucky people who doesn't make enough to qualify for Medicaid. ( Nor, do I qualify for Medicaid, which is limited to people with children in my state--which didn't expand Medicaid or set up exchanges. So, odds are that I will wind up just like Ms. Dill. Lovely. I don't have $400+/mo. for the crappy "catastrophic" plans available to the people in my state, let alone something decent.
nashville_brook
(20,958 posts)It's (largely) the states with a history of slavery/racism that are the hold-outs. The second map below shows states where slavery was concentrated according to the 1860 census.
When I read the comment on FB, I can't help but see the veiled racism. That "people are lazy," "too stupid," and "don't deserve healthcare if they can't 'afford' it." It's all this "otherness" that reeks of racism.
The University of Rochester has found that despite the abolition of slavery 150 years ago, white Southerners who live in the Cotton Belt where the economy was build on slaves and plantations are much more likely to express negative attitudes toward blacks than their fellow Southerners who live where there were less slaves.
Indeed, these white people are also more likely to identify as Republican and to hold opinions on race-related political policies such as affirmative action.
The study by is believed to be the first to demonstrate the lasting effects of slavery on racial attitudes in the South.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2428103/Majority-Americas-racists-live-areas-slavery-common-says-new-study.html#ixzz2x171KCdy
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
GoCubsGo
(32,872 posts)It's not just racism. It's "I got mine. Screw you." Bunch of phoney Christians, who accuse people of being lazy in order to absolve themselves from actually acting like the Christians they claim to be. Wish I could get the hell out of here.
geretogo
(1,281 posts)Baconeater
(15 posts)I'm a Canadian, but I have disdain for the GOP, mainly because they want to shove religion down America's throat. I've been on a mainly anti-Obama forum site of late (even though I'm not anti-Obama) where I regularly expose their lies and call them out on their hypocrisies. I found that lots of the Obama bashing stems from articles that are blatantly false or use worst case scenarios as the basis for them. It makes me skeptical about everything I read on the internet, and that includes articles from the left and center as well.
I want to say that I believe this article. But it seems to missing some key things like if the father or fathers of the kids give any support, and what exactly did she die from. The skeptic in me made me do a google search. I found a site that is asking for donations for her funeral. Looks like the goal was met. But then I went to the funeral home, and a search of her name comes up empty. Maybe it isn't posted yet since her funeral is supposedly on Saturday.
But I did find her Facebook page. There are no messages after early March. No condolences that you usually see when someone passes. And what I really found strange is that friends were accepted a few days after she supposedly died (that could be explained by someone else having access to her computer and accepting the friends). https://www.facebook.com/charlene.campbell.376
Anyway, I still believe the story is true. But I'm not 100%. Bottom line, depending on what exactly she died from, there is a very good chance that if she lived in Canada, and not Florida, she would be alive today.
Cleita
(75,480 posts)health care she needed to stay alive and raise her children.
Response to nashville_brook (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Pharaoh
(8,209 posts)That's what we should call them,
using their own terms against them.
It fits doesn't it?
Pharaoh
(8,209 posts)That's what we should call them,
using their own terms against them.
It fits doesn't it?