Poor Us

From past personal experience, 1 big problem with the current system is that it helps "the poor", but does not consider that some people's medical problems are so costly that it takes all of a lower middle class (or upper low class) family's income to purchase drugs and pay doctors.

The current system only looks at income & not the expense of being ill - even most charities do not address this. My husband became disabled suddenly in his twenties when we were just starting out. He had no health insurance & I made around 25K per year (before taxes). We didn't qualify for Medicaid based on my income - even though his medicines were over $1000 per month. Our choice was to get divorced or suffer. If we were divorced, my income wouldn't have counted. Apparently, now you don't have to get divorced - you can be married, but living separately. If it weren't for Doctors' samples, we wouldn't have survived that time. Medicaid does help the poor, but there is a huge disconnect on the part of government as to what qualifies you as poor.

I have a plan to start a charity for the "Cash Poor". These are people in dire need due to their medical circumstance - people who have little left after they pay for their healthcare expenses. I also want to set up a program that helps families of transplant patients with travel/meal expenses while they are waiting for their family member to be released from the hospital. When we were at Duke for Eric's transplant, there were so many people sleeping in waiting rooms for days. I was fortunate to have help from my church, my neighbor's church, and my employer - most people don't have that kind of support.

We'll have to see what happens with healthcare before we can commit to a format for the charity, but it is based on helping people help people. That is, a co-op offering products near wholesale cost to members where membership fees and profits go to the charity. So, we would help co-op members by allowing them to order goods at low cost and we would help people with medical needs using the profits. Donations would be based on net income after medical expenses & cost of living rather than just on income alone. For families with high drug costs, we would pledge to support those drug costs for a year. I think it can work & I'm thrilled to have the opportunity. This is how Americans should redistribute their wealth - by choice and out of empathy for a cause rather than forced by bureaucrats who don't get the real need that exists. Americans are the most charitable people in the world - it is who we are.

If anyone is interested in helping get the charity rolling, let me know. I have a start to a business plan & would be happy for any help/advice.