This morning the minister told that if we asked him how he was his answer would be "I'm not OK." It centered around St. Paul's letter in which he said that he would rather be with Christ than alive but duty called on earth. I'm paraphrasing here but it hit me that I'm not OK even though I tell everyone that asks that I'm fine, It was a good sermon reflecting on the toll that Covid has taken and the people that we have lost to the disease. But the sermon you won't hear is about what the politicians in our land have done to increase their power and even keep the most needy from healthcare.
I'm not OK because after 17 years of board membership on our free clinic I have had to resign. I can no longer help them and disagree with the path forward they have decided to take. It was just after I retired from the work force that I became aware of the clinic and made a donation for them to buy a building in downtown Morgantown. Shortly after I was invited to join the board of directors and I was voted in. I watched as the clinic treated people that had no health insurance because they could not afford it and they worked in low paying jobs that did not offer health care benefits. The local drug company gave us millions of dollars worth of drugs and some other companies did the same. With a minimum of employees and a great number of volunteers the clinic was able to turn every dollar donated into thirty dollars of health care. It was great for those that needed it and for the community.
The Affordable Care Act became law and suddenly over half of our clients at the clinic became ineligible for treatment there. They either had to buy one of the plans offered by "Obamacare" or they became eligible for Medicaid. Many of our clients that needed to buy insurance did but their deductible was so high that they could not afford to go to a doctor, We could not treat them legally though. Not long after the politicians in Washington DC had their say the State politicians decided that since we had a much smaller client list they would greatly reduce their grants to us and even blackmailed us into taking Medicaid patients to receive anything from the state. Treating a Medicaid patient cost us more than free care by the way. We adjusted and kept on our mission with an additional mental health facility being added to our clinic and then getting into helping those who were addicted to drugs and alcohol.
Now the politicians in the city have offered us money to move out of the city The offer is about half of the cost of moving but have put pressure to take those that need medical and mental help the most out of sight and out of mind. I have vehemently been against the move and have voiced my opinion during board meetings. The last meeting we took a vote on the move and accepting the city's offer and I was the only vote against the move. This move is into a wood frame structure that is half the size of our present building and will require close to one million dollars to re hab into a clinic that is fit for use.The location will make it nearly impossible to find for clients and those without autos will have a hard time getting there. The board is proposing a van and driver to bring clients in but that is another large amount of money. The clinic that could turn one dollar into thirty dollars worth of care is now going to turn one dollar into fifty cents worth. The move will eventually destroy the clinic and the possibility for many to receive care.
As you can see I'm not OK with the demise of a system that says it is for the little guy and then throws him or her under the bus. The politicians that we have elected to aid us in a better life have decided to help, only, those that can fund their next election campaign, Without government intervention the clinic would be running for years and helping thousands but with government stepping in it will be destroyed and it's clients told to stay out of our town. The sermon should be about corrupt politicians that distort their intentions to get elected and then step on those that really need their help, As Jesus told about Lazarus sitting by the entrance to the rich man's house waiting for some help, we have just told him to leave.
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