Each of these Cans is a Human Being: Sharing Our Stories

By Megan Rosati Here in Maine, we want to remind our Senators of the human cost of our health care system. According to the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, employers' health care costs will increase by 9 percent next year. That means more American businesses struggling to compete and stay viable. And it means even higher premiums, deductibles, and co-pays for working families. At Change that Works, we're highlighting the stories of the men and women forced to reach out to their neighbors to cover the costs of expensive medical procedures that are either not covered, or are inadequately covered by their current insurance. And thanks to Maine Public Broadcasting Network, our message is being heard: "Sometimes I think we forget the humanity behind the cans, that each one of those cans is a human being," says Greg Howard, Maine spokesman for the Change that Works campaign from the Service Employees International Union. The group set up a display of collection jars in Portland. They'll be collecting more photographs of posters and collection jars to send to the state's Congressional delegation, and to help underscore the need for a public option. "We thought it was important to point these people out and to try to give them a voice that their cans scream every single day in convenience stores, but some don't seem to hear," Howard says. The rising cost of health care is a crushing burden on the hardworking families of Maine, and all across America. Last year, more than half of Americans postponed medical care or skipped their medications because they couldn't afford it. But what if you are the parents of a sick child that needs medical care? Then, like her parents, you could be forced to ask for help to ease the enormous financial burden of her health care: "She's been receiving chemo since she was three months old," says Sadie Bowden of Canaan, aunt to one-year-old Faylynn McEwen, who has a brain tumor. Insurance is covering hospital stays and a nurse comes to the home once a week. But Bowden says the parents have been relying on fundraisers like the concert she organized to help pay for things like long drives to the hospital in Bangor. But the $8,000-plus in donations does not make up for the fact that both parents had to leave their jobs to provide home care. "Honestly, with the fundraisers we've been doing, we're raising money but it's not a ton of money. It's helping them basically pay their bills while they're at home taking care of her," Bowden says. Until we reform our broken system, stories like Faylynn's will continue to remind us of how far we have to go before our system provides quality, affordable coverage to everyone who deserves it. An important part of reforming our heath care system so it works for everyone is providing a public health care plan option, for those who are unable to afford private insurance coverage. Although the MPBN story cites a report by the Lewin Group stating that a public plan option would siphon 119 million people off of private insurance, a FactCheck report by Newsweek refutes this claim as misleading and untrue: That's misleading. The 119 million figure comes from an analysis of a plan that would mirror Medicare and be open to every individual and business that wanted it. But that's not the type of public plan President Obama has proposed. Nor is such a plan gaining acceptance on Capitol Hill. The author of the study says that while some have backed the Medicare-like proposal, using the 119 million number "overstates the impact of what now is being considered." A public plan would provide support for those people who are unable to afford private coverage. The people of Maine should not be forced to ask their neighbors for help in order to pay their health care bills. There are faces behind these cans: let's stop begging for change, and start focusing on real reform. View more photos of Mainers 'Begging for Change' and send in your own pictures by emailing healthcarecans@gmail.com