Making Room at America's Inn for All God's Children

Published

Making Room at America's Inn for All God's Children -- Marian Wright Edelman

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marian-wright-edelman/making-room-at-americas-_b_77872.html

..."For Christians, another holy advent season is upon us. People of all faiths are reflecting on things done and left undone during the past year and making resolutions for change in the new one.

When, oh when will we individually and collectively as congregations, as communities, and as a nation resolve to stop saying to our children, "There's no room at the inn"? When will we, like Tim, start saying, "You can stay at my house"?

When will we say to poor, hungry and homeless children, "Wait! We'll make a place for you at America's table of plenty"?

How long until we say to children whose parents are working hard every day trying to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, "We will help you escape poverty"? "We'll catch you in our safety net until your family is able to provide for you again"?

And when will we ensure that no child is without health coverage in our rich nation that lets our nine million children struggle without health coverage?"...

Up Vote Up Vote ×

What about the idea of making people responsible for their own actions? I'm tired of people soaking up my taxes and acting irresponsibly, and expecting the government to bail them out with handouts. Why should I work my fingers to the bones to support deadbeats? As a nurse I see it all the time! I get fed up with it.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Why should I work my fingers to the bones to support deadbeats?

I think this thread was more about supporting the children of deadbeats, who can use all the help they can get.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Public Health, DEI.
What about the idea of making people responsible for their own actions? I'm tired of people soaking up my taxes and acting irresponsibly, and expecting the government to bail them out with handouts. Why should I work my fingers to the bones to support deadbeats? As a nurse I see it all the time! I get fed up with it.

We are talking about children here. Children of deadbeats need our help more than other children, not less. You're stuck living in one of the richest countries in the world and we just don't believe in leaving children to fend for themselves, alas.

Your taxes should go to public assistance programs, to the extent that they do, because you are a citizen of this country and this is how your representatives have decided to spend these funds. I'd be surprised if any of us don't object to one or the other ways our taxes are used. Some choose to try to change things through political activism. Lucky for us, we have that right, and the right to rail against our perceived injustices.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I think what was missed was this quote from Ms. Edelman:

How long until we say to children whose parents are working hard every day trying to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads, "We will help you escape poverty"? "We'll catch you in our safety net until your family is able to provide for you again"?

There is something wrong with the structure of our economy when 25% of our children are being raised in poverty. They are the seed corn for the next generation.....

See:

Thirty-seven million Americans live below the official poverty line. Millions more struggle each month to pay for basic necessities, or run out of savings when they lose their jobs or face health emergencies. Poverty imposes enormous costs on society. The lost potential of children raised in poor households, the lower productivity and earnings of poor adults, the poor health, increased crime, and broken neighborhoods all hurt our nation. Persistent childhood poverty is estimated to cost our nation $500 billion each year, or about four percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. In a world of increasing global competition, we cannot afford to squander these human resources.

Source: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/poverty_report.html accessed 12/25/07.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg, Tele, PH, CM.

If these nine million children are without healthcare coverage because their parents cannot afford or do not have benefits available, tell them to contact their local DSS or Health Department. When I worked Public Health in Maryland we spent a lot of time looking for these kids. Every state has a CHIP (Childrens Health Insurance Program). THe eligibility requirements are very generous. If children are without healthcare in this country, it is because the parents don't know/care about the program, or have other things to do with their money......

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med Surg, Tele, PH, CM.

I have no problem paying for healthcare if the parents really can't, but there is a lot of abuse, and the eligibility levels are too generous. Health Insurance should be a responsibility, not a luxury.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
If these nine million children are without healthcare coverage because their parents cannot afford or do not have benefits available, tell them to contact their local DSS or Health Department. When I worked Public Health in Maryland we spent a lot of time looking for these kids. Every state has a CHIP (Childrens Health Insurance Program). THe eligibility requirements are very generous. If children are without healthcare in this country, it is because the parents don't know/care about the program, or have other things to do with their money......

Exactly!! I work in Public Health too and you are CORRECT, every state has SCHIP as well as MA, and yes the eligibility requirements are generous. As you stated, either they know or don't know, don't care....but anyone can go to the DSS or Health Dept and certainly apply.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Public Health, DEI.

I don't know about other states, but where I live, SCHIP is "supposed" to do family find, but they don't. I do believe that it is up to families to search out information that they need, but I have a problem with holding SCHIP up as some perfect program (even though, ha ha, no kidding, they hired a firm called Maximus to do a satisfaction survey here and guess what the results showed? 100% satisfaction!!! Yeah, right. Can anyone name a single program with which everyone is actually satisfied? If nothing else, you have to account for the fact that some people are just going to have unreasonable expectations...)

SCHIP also likes to make families reapply often and drop them if they don't. Would any of us be in danger of losing our insurance if we had to re-register 3 times a year? I might. And then there was another trick they tried to get away with... if people forgot to pay their premium and got dropped, but came back later, they wanted to charge them back premiums even though they weren't covered during those months!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU M/S Peds Home Health.
I don't know about other states, but where I live, SCHIP is "supposed" to do family find, but they don't. I do believe that it is up to families to search out information that they need, but I have a problem with holding SCHIP up as some perfect program (even though, ha ha, no kidding, they hired a firm called Maximus to do a satisfaction survey here and guess what the results showed? 100% satisfaction!!! Yeah, right. Can anyone name a single program with which everyone is actually satisfied? If nothing else, you have to account for the fact that some people are just going to have unreasonable expectations...)

SCHIP also likes to make families reapply often and drop them if they don't. Would any of us be in danger of losing our insurance if we had to re-register 3 times a year? I might. And then there was another trick they tried to get away with... if people forgot to pay their premium and got dropped, but came back later, they wanted to charge them back premiums even though they weren't covered during those months!

What state or states makes someone reapply three times a year?

Also... what kind of lesson are we teaching when we demonstrate that even if you haven't earned it; even if you don't pay for it... you will get it. Teach THAT lesson to children and the way of life for our country is going to rapidly come to a stop. Why work for anything... the government will give it to you. That guy that works hard for his stuff is a sucker...

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU M/S Peds Home Health.

In other articles that I was reading there is a reference that families that are more than 250% above the federal poverty level are getting SCHIP.

http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/health/la-he-childrennumbers26nov26,1,6282584.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-health

Number of uninsured children with household income 2 1/2 times the federal poverty level ($50,000 based on a family of four): 2.9 million
and the the income would be more along the lines of

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Uphold+the+veto%3A+Nix+the+SCHIP+expansion&articleId=afc0f262-c8b1-4b95-b673-a780067644c1

This bill expands SCHIP coverage to families earning three times the federal poverty level, or $61,950 for a family of four. As columnist George Will pointed out yesterday, the median household income in the United States is $48,201.
Up Vote Up Vote ×
What state or states makes someone reapply three times a year?

Also... what kind of lesson are we teaching when we demonstrate that even if you haven't earned it; even if you don't pay for it... you will get it. Teach THAT lesson to children and the way of life for our country is going to rapidly come to a stop. Why work for anything... the government will give it to you. That guy that works hard for his stuff is a sucker...

I believe most states are either annually or bi-annually. The application is a simple and anyone can obtain help from the DSS dept or local health dept to complete it. Maybe there are states that require caregivers to re-cert 3x per year, to check if income has increased.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Join the Discussion