Letters on health care as human right, Democracy Spring sit-in
Treating health care as a human right
Discussions of health care systems offer a great deal of helpful information but often do not mention what I think are some of the most important points.
When you live in a country that offers health care to the sick rather than to the eligible, everyone is relieved of the obligation to study different plans, see where you might fit in, study differential costs and so on. Staff in health care services also are free from figuring out whether or not you are eligible.
One of my students who now teaches in Canada reminded me, when I asked whether he got benefits, that that is not a question anyone in Canada has to be worried about. The sense of dignity and security one feels in such a nation is very different.
When my friend broke her arm on the way to pick me up at the airport in New Zealand, we stopped at a hospital on the way home to get her arm set in a cast. The next day a social worker arrived at her house to ask what help she needed.
I have similar stories about life in Australia and even in New Guinea, where the Byzantine mysteries of figuring out health insurance are simply not there. They ask where it hurts, not where to send the bill.
Dorothy Billings, Wichita
Sit-in for democracy
It’s official. Democracy Spring is coming.
One of the largest civil disobedience actions will take the nation’s capital by storm. More than 2,000 individuals from around the country – including many from Kansas – will join a massive, peaceful sit-in in the U.S. Capitol this April.
We will demand Congress immediately pass comprehensive legislation to end the era of big money politics and ensure a democracy in which every vote counts and every voice matters.
Running for office has become so expensive that it is nearly impossible for a regular person to get elected. At the same time, restrictive voting laws suppress the voting rights of people of color, students and low-income Americans, and let politicians pick their voters instead of voters picking politicians. As a result, we can’t elect representatives who are like us and who listen to us.
It’s time for Congress to pass commonsense solutions making it easier for regular people to run and serve and restoring critical voting-rights protections so we can build a government that is truly of, by and for the people.
It’s time for Democracy Spring. Join us.
Lori Lawrence, Wichita
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This story was originally published March 24, 2016 at 7:04 PM with the headline "Letters on health care as human right, Democracy Spring sit-in."