Well, I finally got to see the plans I qualify for on the federal exchange.

[Heddi]

312. Well I'm not ignoring you, and I never will

I have specifically chosen in my career to work in areas where I can directly impact the lives of people who do not have access to resources that most of society have.

I currently am a Case Managment Registered Nurse at a clinic for Medicare patients. I not only work at a clinic that provides them with no cost primary and urgent care to keep them from using the Emergency Room for non-emergent issues, and we also provide a wide range of services to ensure (as much as we can) that their chronic medical conditions (diabetes, heart disease, kidney failure, etc) are managed so that they DON'T suffer from emergent needs.

That makes their lives better, because we're offering preventative and maintenance care, and that keeps these folks out of the ER, and it keeps them from being admitted to the hospital, which is costly not just to society, but to the patients as well.

I recently transitioned from the bedside to case management, and I had numerous patients over the years that refused admission for serious medical conditions such as heart attack, COPD exascerbation, Diabetic issues....solely because of psycho-social issues. They knew they were sick and they understood that going home could mean dying, but they also knew that they had a job that didn't offer sick time. They had a job that would fire them if they missed work. They were the sole caregivers of children or adult family members and had no one to help them.

So now my job is to help these folks not only mitigate the severity of their chronic health conditions by giving them primary care...probably for the first time in their lives...but I also find out what barriers they have to care...can't afford the bus? Here's a bus pass. Worried that you have no one to feed your cats if you are admitted? Here, let me set you up with someone who is vetted by our agency that will come by and care for your animals. Sole provider for your children and you are needed for transporting them from home to school, or they have no one to care for them at night if you're in the hospital? Let us help you by finding some child-care alternatives and organizations that help with childcare for free or very low costs. Can't cover the cost? We'll help you out with that.

I have worked for for-profit hospitals, and it disgusted me, and I will never work in those settings again.

I have a very blessed life. I am appreciative of the help and benefits I have received throughout my life that have helped me better myself. I know I am very lucky to be where I am, and given many of the situations of my youth, I should have long ago been a victim of suicide, or a high school drop-out, teen-mom, drug addict, or prostitute. Thankfully I had help overcoming the bad things that happened to me and around me as a young person.

I know that not everyone else has the same opportunities that I had, and not everyone has the support system that I had/have. I'm not a product of boot-strap pulling. I am a product of the generosity of others and privilege of race. In many aspects, my success in life was pure luck of making choice A over choice B.

However, I do not forget where I come from, and I am not blind that there are more and more people in the situation that i grew up in, or in situations more dire.


Poverty isn't an issue of smart vs. stupid, or lucky vs unlucky, or good vs bad. It's a shame that the poor are either martyrs or devils, depending on what they eat or what narrative they fit or not