I should also say this about “herbal medicine” since so many of you seem determined to call it all “quackery”.

Herbal remedies have been used for thousands of years all over the world, and in fact many of our modern medicines are derived from plants in the first place. Plant-based medicine is not quackery, and there is…

No, you did not.
“Actually, you are dead wrong here!”
I wasn’t at all speaking about you, or your personal experience, in the first place I was speaking on the reality of the convoluted and complex system we currently have and I stand by everything I’ve said. 

It’s a shame you can’t help me at work to help folks get connected with these programs and see what it’s actually like, because you clearly need a wake-up call. Most of the people at these agencies manning the phones have barely any understanding of the systems themselves. Including Medicare. It takes a lot of…

(fun fact, someone I know on SNAP once bought steak and lobster on sale and posted a picture of it on FB just to piss off their conservative family members. not sure when we’re going to find it within ourselves to afford dignity, respect, and autonomy to low-income people, but hopefully it will be soon)

I am extremely exhausted by the propensity of privileged people to completely misunderstand or not at all understand the complexity of enrolling in these programs, as well as receiving medical care once you’re on them. It’s exactly these attitudes that prevent us from seeing the truth about low-income people, and in pa…

“Though the lack of universal healthcare in this country is a travesty, this boy’s tragic death isn’t entirely due to it. From the Albuquerque Journal:”

I would agree with this. I definitely don’t agree with the rhetoric in far too many comments that because Medicaid and social aid programs are a thing, you just have…

This, and “you have to work to get SNAP” laws as well, so lots of disabled folks are finding themselves without care and without food right now. It’s awful :(

To repeat myself, while I realize you’ve been through it yourself, you’re only one person. There’s reams of data on the above^ going back decades on the reality of these programs. Your personal experience doesn’t negate that.

Gosh, I should also add that programs 30 years ago are vastly different from what they are now…

I am extremely correct here! I actually work for an agency that helps people apply for and get on public aid programs. There’s massive, massive barriers that I help people navigate every day. So much red tape, so much jumping through the proper hoops in the right way, agencies failing to properly contact or notify…

“just take on the debt” is the rallying cry from middle-income folks. 

You’ve seen people who had enough resources to *start cancer treatment for their cat in the first place* and you think that’s a good analogy? HELL NO. 

You’ve seen people who had enough resources to *start cancer treatment for their cat in the first place* and you think that’s a good analogy? HELL NO. I mean seriously are you trying to compare pet insurance with human or what? Not that many people actually have pet insurance, and not like pet health care in any way…

“...would they have qualified for Medicaid but just didn’t have it or do they fall in the gap between too much money for Medicaid but not enough money to afford healthcare?” this isn’t the only barrier to being approved for medicaid *by far*. Financial eligibility is only part of *the beginning of the process*. Holy…

And this. THANK YOU. 

aaa THIS. I am appalled and aghast at how flippant people are being about the realities of social safety net and social health care in this country. If you’ve never had to get low-income/uninsured care and you think it’s just a matter of applying for it, you need to crawl out from under that rock. The reality of…

you have no idea what it’s like. None. And you’re also being extremely racist and prejudiced. The reality of our healthcare system is that it’s a nightmare for low-income people and extremely, extremely difficult to sort your way through it and find care. Feel free to live under a bridge if you want, but if you ever…

“He probably could have gotten Medicaid or some sort of compassionate coverage due to being a child with cancer, but he never had that chance.”

y’all, if you’ve never tried to get on these programs or been on them you need a wake up call. it’s not nearly as simple and easy as you think, and there’s a lot of loopholes…

Once again, you CLEARLY have never been on nor had to navigate being social safety net programs/free clinics/medicare/medicaid at any point in your life. And being flippant about it in this way is EXACTLY why we still do not have single payer health care and MILLIONS still uninsured and unable to get proper health…

Someone has never has to navigate the horrors of social safety net programs and “free health care clinics” and it shows.

You’re speaking from a place of zero experience being low income and never having to use these programs. Your IT’S SO EASY claim is not only disingenuous, it’s an insult to the fact that there are…

There is no such thing as free/low-cost cancer treatment.