Piecing together thoughts from just this weekend's reading of my local Star Tribune newspaper.
Yesterday, a powerful story about the suicide of a 25-year old Marine home from Iraq. The story states: "Two weeks ago, (he) went to the VA hospital in St. Cloud. He told a staff member he was thinking of killing himself, and asked to be admitted to the mental health unit, said his father and stepmother, who accompanied him. They said he was told he couldn't be admitted that day. The next day, as he spoke to a counselor in St. Cloud by phone, he was told he was No. 26 on the waiting list, his parents said." Four days later he committed suicide.
A physician interviewed in the story said, "We don't have a system for this. The VA is overwhelmed, and we're rural doctors out here trying to deal with this. Unfortunately, we're going to see a lot (like him)."
Transition to today's paper, and a story that begins: "Two months after Minnesota's elected leaders appeared committed to providing health care coverage for all of the state's 70,000 uninsured children, expectations are now being scaled back at the Capitol. Political fervor for the ambitious plan is wilting in the face of its price tag and competing priorities in health care reform and other issues.
After he won a second term in November, Gov. Tim Pawlenty declared that the path to universal health care coverage "should start with covering all kids," and that, "We now have the resources to do this." DFLers in the House and Senate said they were "thrilled" with the governor's new position and eager to move forward.
But when Pawlenty released his plan earlier this month, it covered 13,000 additional children -- fewer than half the number who lost coverage in his 2003 budget cuts."
Meantime, the Star Tribune also today editorializes that "It's Time To Think Single-Payer," citing patchwork health care reform proposals in California and Massachusetts and from President Bush this week that only show the need to think bigger.
Posted by schwitz at January 28, 2007 09:00 AM | TrackBackThanks for referencing this. I am guessing that the hard working staff at the VA elicited a "contract" from this vet that he would not harm himself once they told him of the wait for a bed. They don't call it being a "good soldier" for nothing.
Not a lot said in the other blogs so far it seems. It is unfortunate that the American public isn't being asked to make any sacrifices for this war-we can thank our leaders for that. We should all be outraged.
Posted by: mpls1934 at January 29, 2007 01:06 PM