Western Maryland Speak-out Shines Light on Systemic Neglect of American Workers and Their Families

What if your child had bipolar before anyone even knew that was a thing? You somehow find a doctor who's supposed to help. One who has a lot of letters after their name. And works at a fancy office. And maybe you're not dressed as nicely as everyone else in the waiting room. And they seem uncomfortable, their eyes stealing glances at you from behind their magazines. And it would help if your child wasn't in a manic state today, pulling out tissues and ripping them into confetti. 

They finally call your child's name and the two of you head back to one of the appointment rooms and take your seats. You sit and you wait. You calculate how long it will take before your daughter has a complete meltdown. You think about work. That your pay barely covers the gas and the cost of this visit. And that your middle-aged boss, between hitting on you and insulting your intelligence, puts you on his layoff list for asking for time off.

A soft knock and the door opens. The doctor enters, well groomed, his pants pressed, his shoes shined, staring at a clipboard. "I see here that you're having some behavior problems with your daughter. What sorts of things have you tried?" The interrogation has begun.

You explain in detail all of the coping mechanisms and interventions you've come to rely on to get your child through the day. You're not sure if he heard any of that.

"Have you thought of attention deficit disorder?"

You had thought of that but it didn't fit. Your child could swing from a manic state to a depressive one and back again, without warning and for no reason. Then she would sometimes get aggressive and hurt her little brother. It could happen in a matter of minutes. And it's just you there to take care of them – no one else to keep both of your children safe. 

The doctor looks at you suspiciously and you feel the urge to shrink into your chair. Behind him on the wall are framed diplomas and certificates, which combined cost more money than you will earn in your life. "Your child isn't bipolar. It doesn't manifest that early. Your child is too young. It has to be something else."

"ADHD meds will help," the doctor says. "I'm writing you a prescription."

But wait. Stimulants? Your mind is racing. The doctor's already starting to leave. 

"You can't give a kid in a manic phase stimulants."

"Not bipolar. Too young. The nurse will see you out." The door closes and he's gone. 

Back in your car, you think to yourself, "What just happened?" 

That visit would start an ordeal that would last several years. The ADHD meds only make things worse. Everyone thinks it's your fault. You manage to collect data from various studies and medical journals. But you, a woman, a single mom with regular clothes and no letters after your name – what do you know? You're probably just a bad mother anyway. 

It would take 25 doctors and thousands of dollars until Ginger Lee found a medical provider who would believe her. It would take 25 doctors until one of them would listen – before one of them would trust her about her own daughter. 

Ginger Lee at Cumberland's Right to Health Speak-out

Call to Action: Protesting the 25 Million Americans Cut From Medicaid This Year

Have you ever heard someone lie to your face – but they use technically true words? Look at the disingenuous foolishness below and try not to laugh through your teeth:

During the unwinding of the Medicaid continuous enrollment provision, over 25 million people were disenrolled and over 56 million had their coverage renewed. Overall, 31% of people whose coverage was redetermined during the unwinding were disenrolled, but that share ranged widely across states.

Did you hear that? That's what policy murder sounds like. Translations are as follows:

Unwinding = You go to the pharmacy for the medication you depend on and the pharmacist says, "I'm sorry, you no longer have coverage," while someone behind you grunts for you to move along.

Disenrolled = You have been cut from Medicaid and will have to hope for the best. Try not to lose your house while you sink into increasingly devastating health and financial consequences.

Redetermined = That one really is funny, as in "your existence on planet Earth has been redetermined. Please make arrangements for your imminent demise at your earliest convenience."

Ranged Widely Across States = Depending on where you live, you may not have any chance at all of escaping these cuts, and these cuts affect every state: Red and Blue. And this is happening during a Democratic administration. It seems that, on some issues, our elected leaders are still capable of crossing the political divide and passing laws that will affect every American.

That's why Ginger and many others members across the state recently held our Right to Health Speakouts to demonstrate how America's for-profit system is failing us all. They gathered on a rainy Friday night at Allegheny College in the hills of Western Maryland, across from UPMC Western Hospital – a rural hospital struggling with understaffing, which has led to the closure of beds and reduced the hospital's ability to care for patients. And most of the patients they can treat can't afford it, leading to crushing medical debt and denial of services. 

This gathering was part of a nationwide call to action by the Nonviolent Medicaid Army, supported by United Workers and several sister organizations across the United States. They gathered in protest of the 25 million poor and low-wage workers who are being cut from Medicaid this year. Those are 25 million Americans who are being thrust into a desperate situation. One that could end in financial ruin, chronic illness, and even death. 

Borrowed Time: Living at the Mercy of a Broken Healthcare System

All of this is happening in the richest country in the history of human civilization. All of this is happening so that billionaires and for-profit healthcare executives and politicians can all pocket just a little more money. They do this so workers will be scared for their lives – scared to lose their jobs, scared to lose their private health insurance, scared for themselves, and scared for their families. Scared and compliant. 

My name is Mike Hughes. I live in Western Maryland with my wife and daughters. My wife is on disability due to heart failure and autoimmune diseases. I am autistic and struggle with anxiety and depression. I've worked the last six years as a contractor and then as a full-time employee for a major corporation. We made more profit this year than our company ever made before. Our team hit our metrics and exceeded all expectations. We thought we'd be getting bonuses. Instead, many of us were laid off without warning. How could someone who doesn't know us make a phone call and blow up that many lives? 

Now I'm scared. I don't know when I'll find another job or if we'll qualify for Medicaid at a price we can afford. My wife depends on her medication to live. Without it, her heart failure will get worse and worse until she dies. 

Policy Murder: Losing My Mother at 48

That's actually what happened to my mother who was 48 years old when she died. Not of heart failure though. Hers was an ear infection that spread to her brain and the rest of her organs until her whole body shut down. She had refused the ambulance because she couldn't afford it. A few days later, she went into a coma and never recovered. 

She had called me when it all started. To say she loved me and to say goodbye. I didn't understand what was happening. I made a joke but she couldn't hear me because of the infection. That was the last time we spoke. She never met her grandchildren. She would have been 71 years old this year. 

That's why we gathered to bear witness to what's going on in this country. To protest what Reverend William Barber of the Poor People's Campaign calls policy murder. Ginger Wiertz, along with several other mothers, stood in front of a banner of Harriet Tubman the abolitionist to proclaim what this death-dealing system has done to their children. 

"A mother knows," they exclaimed, each one recounting how they and their children were denied treatment and endangered by for-profit healthcare. They spoke out to make the invisible visible. To make the tolerable intolerable. Like Harriet Tubman who fought to end slavery, these women and other activists are fighting for an America that doesn't exist yet, except in our dreams and imaginations. An America where healthcare is a human right, not a privilege of a select few.

It's dawning on more of us every day that we get the government we're willing to tolerate. No matter how bad it gets or how powerless we feel, this situation does not continue without our consent. We don't have to put up with this. This could all be stopped if we get organized and united in saying, "No, you are not going to do this to us anymore!"

"They won't listen," Ginger said. Then after a long pause, "That's why we have to make them listen."