Alex Chilton (Big Star) Died Because we don't have Universal Health Care

[Taverner]

I know I've said this before, but it bears repeating. Again and again, if I have to. Alex Chilton died because we in the United States do not have Universal Health Care.

On March 17, 2010, 59 year old Alex Chilton died of a heart attack.

The day before he was mowing his lawn and felt a sharp chest pain. Not having health insurance, he blew it off. Unlike many rock stars, Alex was not rich. He toured occasionally, but mainly loved his life in New Orleans. He had put his heart and soul into the city, doing what he could when Katrina struck, and playing a series of benefit concerts afterwards.

So the next day his heart went into full attack. He was rushed to the hospital and died. If he had insurance or health care, he could have gone to the hospital to check it out, and would have been rushed into emergency surgery.

Alex Chilton always had an underground following. If you only paid attention to pop culture, you might know him as the songwriter who wrote, and with his band Big Star, recorded "In The Street," which eventually became the theme song for 'That 70's Show.'

Which brings us to today. Right now, the Republicans want less people to have health care. They want the market to decide who gets to live and who gets to die. Talk about death panels - leaving it to the market is literally making everyone roll dice for their lives.

An acolyte of Ayn Rand would say he deserved to die, because he wasn't rich.

Right now, there are literally thousands of Alex Chiltons out there. Americans who might get that warning sign that their heart might stop at any moment. And they can't have it checked out. I've been uninsured before - and it's scary. Every single threat to your health has to be downplayed, and you have to ask yourself "could this be serious? Do I have the money for the ER?"

And ER visits aren't cheap. Granted, if you had health care, you could have gone to your doctor and just paid the $70-100 for an office visit. But if you are uninsured, you do not have a Doctor. The only time you go to see one is if you are in the ER.

We need Medicare for all. Other countries have it, countries far poorer than ours. Even Cuba, a dictatorship, has universal health care.

Someone should introduce the "Alex Chilton Bill" - Medicare for ALL.

RIP El Goodo...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu_gB34pHLA

[Wickerman]

1. Brilliant

thanks

[dkf]

2. Right now the biggest stumbling block might be seniors on Medicare who dont want their benefit

Touched.

People need to be educated on the unsustainability of our health care system period and that means explaining how Medicare can't be efficient as long as it piggy backs on a failing health care model.

But defending Medicare as we know it gets us no where.

[aquart]

5. If the whole system is single payer, how does that threaten Medicare?

Doesn't it strengthen it enormously?

[dkf]

8. Medicare would be more efficient because a system wide plan could dictate prices and criteria.

Who really knows where that will lead to. But in the end, I see it as a necessity. Seniors don't because the odds they will live that long are not as high and they are protected from premium increases by the limited SS cola.

[Dont call me Shirley]

17. Medicare works well, except when you have thieves like Rick Scott

[slipslidingaway]

34. My thoughts exactly, it will strengthen Medicare now and in the future. n/t

[Lugnut]

58. Of course it will.

Right now Medicare insures the elderly and disabled people which is a fairly high risk group. When opened up to all ages across the board common sense tells me the risk is no higher than that of any other type of insurance coverage. The best part is it eliminates the parasitic insurance companies and their obscenely compensated executives.

[slipslidingaway]

64. And we let the for profit companies insure the least needy and now ...

we are going to mandate purchase, while talking about entitlement cuts.

:(

Tue Aug-28-07

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=50402&mesg_id=50402

In depth discussion of the Kucinich NOT FOR PROFIT plan. If healthcare is important to you or our nation this is a must see discussion. Please pass this along so people will understand the difference between the healthcare systems being offered.

Each part is roughly a half hour.

snips from the first video...

Speaking of the government paying for Medicare and Medicaid which props up insurance company profits by removing two segments of citizens who have high health care needs.

Arnie Arnesen

"We left the insurance company with the youngest, healthiest people and no wonder they are making a profit, because we've taken away the most expensive part of healthcare, which obviously is going to constantly sink us like a stone. Because insurance is about spreading the risk, we don't spread the risk, in fact what we do is prop up the insurance industry. Which is why they are so frightened about changing anything in the way of a system because it is about their profits and their CEO's and not about our healthcare..."

Dennis Kucinich

"For profit insurance companies make money not providing healthcare..."

[ThomCat]

48. You're blaming Medicare for the health care crisis?

:wtf:

That is the dumbest thing I've read here at DU in a hell of a long time.

[Doctor_J]

49. The unsustainability of our system is from the profiteers, not Medicare

Medicare is very efficient, and would become moreso if everyone were part of it.

:eyes:

[Brigid]

3. Thumbs up for the "Alex Chilton Bill."

This is the way it should have been done to begin with.

[undeterred]

4. I know someone with crappy health insurance who went to the ER

with chest pain. He figured better safe then sorry. Well, it was nothing serious. The bill came to $3050. The insurance paid $50 and he spent a year paying off the $3000 on his $12/hr job.

[ThomCat]

50. THIS is the problem with bad insurance.

And this is the problem EVERYONE will face with every illness, every accident, and every time they need surgery under the current flawed health care "reform."

It may give more people insurance policies, but that is all it gives people. Those policies are becoming more expensive at double digit rates, far, far faster than inflation, and the clearly stated goal of health care reform was not to reduce the cost of health care. It was only to slow down how fast costs increase.

The policies also aren't required to be comprehensive. Many services may not be covered. People can still be canceled if they use their insurance "too much," meaning that they use it enough that the company isn't simply making pure profits. Then the person who desperately needs their insurance most has to get dumped onto Medicaid at the worst possible time, in a rush, and find if their needs will or won't be covered by Medicaid when they were expecting their old insurance, that they already paid for, to cover everything.

And even if the don't get kicked off their insurance and booted to medicaid, even if their insurance does everything it is supposed to, because of co-insurance costs, anyone who uses their insurance will find themselves facing thousands of dollars of bills that insurance won't cover. One serious illness, one injury that requires medical care, or one surgery, even a minor one, is a guaranteed bankruptcy for most families.

In that kind of a situation, most families will never be able to afford to use their insurance. They will pay for a policy every month, and own it, but it will be only for show. It will be purely a very expensive card in their wallets that is essentially useless and symbolic.

[area51]

6. Our health insurance system

Why are single-payer police and fire departments considered good, but single-payer health care considered bad?

Each day, 273 people die due to lack of health care in the U.S.; that's 100,000 preventable deaths per year.

Where are the so-called "pro-lifers"?

We need single-payer health care, not a welfare bailout for the serial-killer insurance agencies.

We don't need the GingrichCare of mandated, unregulated, for-profit insurance that is still too expensive, only pays parts of medical bills, denies claims, bankrupts and kills people.

Republinazi '93 plan:

"Subtitle F: Universal Coverage - Requires each citizen or lawful permanent resident to be covered under a qualified health plan or equivalent health care program by January 1, 2005."

"We will never have real reform until people's health stops being treated as a financial opportunity for corporations."

"Employer-based health insurance has always been a bad idea.
Your life should not depend on who you work for."
-- T. McKeon

"Any proposal that sticks with our current dependence on for-profit private insurers ... will not be sustainable. And the new law will not get us to universal coverage ...." -- T.R. Reid, The Healing of America

[tridim]

7. It's really strange, but I never knew about the band "Big Star"

But have seen two posts about them in the past two days. Your post and a post by My Morning Jacket on Facebook. They sounded a lot like the Beatles. Good stuff!

[Taverner]

12. Check out their third album, Sister Lovers

One of the most melancholy albums ever printed on wax

[NICO9000]

41. But don't forget the first two classics!

"#1 Record" & "Radio City" are both pure pop masterpieces. For me, the third record was startling - such a weird, downer vibe to it. It's great too, though I'd suggest starting with the first two as they are instantly accessible.

[PSzymeczek]

51. I knew Alex Chilton most

from the Box Tops, back in the mid '60s.

[jpak]

9. Here in Maine, people put on spaghetti suppers to help families with medical bills

or place a jar in the local store to collect donations

All perfectly acceptable to the GOP

yup

[enlightenment]

24. The other day, an older gent came to our door.

He was trying to raise money to pay for the heart surgery his baby granddaughter needs (hole in her heart). Apparently the parents are stuck in the 'make too much for government programs (SCHIP, etc) but not enough to afford insurance' category.

Every time I go into a store I see another jar, collecting for yet another sick individual who can't afford health care. The number of interschool email messages asking for donations for similar is rising every day.

A nation should define its success by how well it cares for its most vulnerable citizens.

We fail.

[mascarax]

10. Please ask Rep. Steve Cohen to introduce the Alex Chilton Medicare for All bill

Rep. Cohen gave a nice memorial to Alex on the House floor after he died.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9LGwzGnx5w

Because there are millions like Alex...(not just quoting the "children by the millions" line in the song named after Alex).

So many, like Alex, don't have to die because of lack of healthcare.

And they shouldn't have to risk their life and NOT get taken care of (feel terrible about the guy who did the right thing by going to the ER and then working off a $3,000 bill on a $12/hr job!).

Cohen is the ONLY Tennessee legislator who supports Medicare for All and was a co-sponsor of HR 676:

http://www.goodhealth4all.org/support_by_state.php?state=TN

[Chorophyll]

46. Great idea! I rmeember that speech.

I'm willing to contact Rep. Cohen. I can probably bring a few others aboard too. Couldn't hurt, anyway!

[Mimosa]

11. K&R Alex was a real nice guy! n/t

[Taverner]

14. Did you get to meet him?

From what I heard, he could play practically any kind of music. Near the end of his life, I am told, he was really rediscovering the blues.

[Sonoman]

30. I did.

Alex was 16 and touring with Box Top (out of Memphis).

I was a year younger and playing with Lightnin' Hopkins. We played a fairground at Angleton, Texas. We both thought it was co cool, getting to travel and play while everyone else had to go to school. We were getting high in '66.

We kept in touch thru the years and he was the biggest non-star I have ever known. One of the coolest guys, ever.

Sonoman

[nashville_brook]

61. so cool! i got to see him play the Milestone in Charlotte in like '87...

there were maybe 40 people in the house. he had all his gear in a little sedan. he was very low-key and cool.

bonus...GG Allin was playing the all-ages club across the street. we poked our heads in to check it out and the room stunk of poop, which was likely associated with the performance.

[Mimosa]

37. Yes. He played all the small clubs.

What a nice guy. I so appreciate the OP. It is true . So many good people die because they can't afford preventative care and that is particularly true of the self-employed artists and musicians. :(

But Rethugs don't care. Neither do some Democrats. :(

[nashville_brook]

62. conversely, many people give up doing music/art b/c of the lack of insurance...

we're a country of business pigs for business pigs -- and those who dare to do anything else, risk paying for it with their life.

[Withywindle]

13. K & R

His loss was already tragic, and learning that it could have been prevented was an extra punch in the gut.

Kick for all the Alex Chiltons out there. Chances are, everybody reading this is one or knows one.

[KamaAina]

15. A contributing factor was our willful refusal to rebuild NOLA's healthcare system post-K

Back in the day, he could have gone to Charity Hospital and been treated for free (La. maintains several charity hospitals in lieu of all but the most basic Medicaid system). But "Big Charity" was never rebuilt; instead Booby Jindal forged ahead with a plan (yet unrealized even to this day) of building a huge, new medical center nearby for LSU Medical Center and the VA.

[Dont call me Shirley]

16. I am not a commodity.....

I am a human being with a heart, mind and life. I almost died from a lack of health insurance and denied access to healthcare which would have saved me from being so close to death that angels were surrounding me.

Alex is a precious being, now in spirit. Thank you for the special gifts you brought to this world. I apologize to you and your family for the selfishness of a few who deny basic necessities to so many, which takes lives too early.

Why cannot the Alan Greenspans, the Ben Steins, the Ayn Rands, the Rand Pauls, the Paul Ryans of the world understand that we are all equally precious beings who equally share in the benevolence of this bountiful, beautiful earth? That these may not hoard while too many others go without. May you become able to help all beings and do so.

[Taverner]

32. All of us deserve life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness

That's my story and I'm sticking with it

[blondeatlast]

18. We've had our differences but I can't argue with a thing you said. Medicare for all;

and damn I miss the wonderful, witty, wonder that was Alex Chilton. :(

[Taverner]

33. True that

...

[blondeatlast]

19. And for you: "Alex Chilton" by The Replacements:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8XR6nrSV3k

[azureblue]

20. and his first hit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQaUs5J2wdI

"The Letter"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzJQ4288J7A&feature=related

I cry like a Baby

[blondeatlast]

28. Didn't he do "The Letter" when he was 14 yo? I remember listening

to it when I was just a wee one.

[Sonoman]

29. 16. That's when our paths first crossed.

I was a year younger and playing with Lightnin' Hopkins. We played a fairground at Angleton, Texas.

We kept in touch thru the years and he was the biggest non-star I have ever known. One of the coolest guys, ever.

Sonoman

[Taverner]

31. Awesome!

Sounds like you've lived a complete life there

[taterguy]

25. I like this version . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QDS4GBLgZg

[hfojvt]

21. even if he was rich or had insurance, he might not have gone to the doctor

being rich didn't save John Ritter.

I had a sharp chest pain right before my 40th birthday. I did a google search and diagnosed myself with an ulcer, which I then ineffectively treated with milk. Until I was hospitalized some five years later on an unrelated matter and got an EGD.

[Taverner]

22. Yes but his GF/wife clearly noted that he said so

She noted that he complained about the pain, she told him to go see a doctor, and he said he didn't want to go to the ER and get stuck with a huge bill

John Ritter's case was really tragic. Looking back, all of the warning symptoms were there: the pains, the swollen ear lobes, etc.

But in all of our wisdom, sometimes we miss the big gorilla that's right in front of us

[hfojvt]

26. I know how that is

If you HAD to go, you'd go, but the worst part is to go, find out it is nothing, and still get a $500 bill.

But a standard office visit is only around $100 isn't it?

For me, the main part of my $800 ER bill was the $500 they charged me for X-Rays I didn't need and didn't want.


Funny, now that I think of it, when I later went to the ER for the same problem and had insurance, they didn't give me any X-rays.

[blondeatlast]

23. Having no insurance directly contributed to his death, however. Had he even gone to the ER, he

would not have received the same attention and treatment that I, who have had heart problems for almost a decade (and am much younger than Chilton) would receive. I have a health plan.

I have a lifetime chronic illness and have had no insurance--back then, I neglected "little" things, too--and have had major complications because of it.

[PSzymeczek]

55. John Ritter's crisis

was so sudden. There weren't really any warning signs.

[Rowdyboy]

27. A rec for Alex-a class act and a cool guy....a tragedy that we lost him needlessly

[socialist_n_TN]

35. I think an Alex Chilton law would be great.......

He was one of the best, under the radar 60s singer EVER.

As an aside, I've used the Box Tops guitarist on SEVERAL of my songs and he always had nothing, but good things to say about Alex. And trust me, if Alex had been an asshole, he wouldn't be able to keep it from his players. :)

[slipslidingaway]

36. knr with an exception ...

"Alex Chilton (Big Star) Died Because we don't have Universal Health Care"

Which party was in control of the recent HC discussions and which party deliberately keep any Medicare for All supporters out of the debates while allowing the for profit supporters into the discussions?

We cannot just continue blaming this on "the other party" when we had a chance to advance the issue and did the opposite.

:(

"Which brings us to today. Right now, the Republicans want less people to have health care. They want the market to decide who gets to live and who gets to die. Talk about death panels - leaving it to the market is literally making everyone roll dice for their lives."

[Taverner]

40. You have a point

Our own party didn't fight too hard lately...

[slipslidingaway]

43. Thanks, not only did they not fight too hard, they blocked anyone...

from the kick off meeting, the WH summit on HC, the televised WH town hall meeting (Obama's personal physician of 20+ years was told not to come at the last minute) and most of the hearings in Congress excluded any Medicare for All advocates. I watched as Obama called upon Ron Williams and Karen Ignagni at those WH meetings and gave their voices a platform for all to hear, he did not do the same for advocates of a Medicare for All system.

My journal contains many posts on this issue, this from September '09 ...

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/86

How do you win a fight if you silence the harshest critics of those who hold power ...

Please do not tell me that you are fighting the entrenched interests when you invite them to the discussions and private meetings and exclude those who have been fighting the For Profit companies for decades.

Imagine if P. Obama had called upon Dr. Maria Angell to speak at the WH summit instead of Karen Ignagni, members of Congress might be pleading for a public option.

Dr. Marcia Angell not invited to attend and therefore not called upon to speak, Conyers asked that two single-payer advocates be invited to attend....Dr. Quentin Young and Dr. Marcia Angell - his request was denied.

Watch the first few minutes of this testimony from Dr. Angell who was not allowed to attend the WH summit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQNphM6xUsE

"The reason our health system is in such trouble is that it is set up to generate profits, not to provide care..."

The Republicans did not block those people from attending, IMO if we want to see change and health care for all then we need to face some hard truths.

The Dems blocked discussion of a universal HC system for all, first Under Clinton and then under Obama. Conyers talked about this on the House floor, how SP advocates were invited to the Clinton WH and asked to back down and support his plan and they did. Fast forward to the Obama WH and Waxman saying he withdrew his support of HR 676 to back the public option plan proposed by Obama. If you would like I'll find the videos and transcripts of Waxman and Conyers.

:hi:

It's Time for a Real Debate on National Health Insurance - by Jeff Cohen and Norman Solomon

May 12,1993

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/slipslidingaway/93

[hulka38]

56. Thanks for this. n/t

[slipslidingaway]

60. You're welcome and thanks for noticing :) n/t

[cbdo2007]

38. Why didn't he have health insurance?

This post is stupid and it's sad that you are using a deceased rock star as your guise when he's not here to defend himself.

You don't know why he didn't have health insurance or why he didn't go to the hospital the day before. It's presumptions to think that a 59 year old man would automatically rush himself to his doctors office after feeling some chest pain just because he can. My dad is 58, he has health insurance, and he's going to die sitting and watching FoxNews because no one can get him to go to the doctor for anything. My wife's dad just turned 62 and has diabetes and he eats the worst junk food shit you've ever seen in your life. Also...he won't go to the doctor and he's got excellent health insurance.

unrec for using this guy for your cause without his permission

[Taverner]

39. Wow...how much do they pay you?

[Chorophyll]

47. Right. So from now on, anytime anyone on DU

uses a dead person (like JFK or FDR or Thomas Jefferson) to illustrate a point they should whip out their Ouija boards first and make sure it's okay. Got it. :eyes:

And I resent the implication that Alex Chilton didn't have insurance because he was lazy or just didn't care. You know what? F*ck that.

[blondeatlast]

54. Yeah, from the guy who used his dad and dad-in;law without permission.

When I find myself hypocritical, I get uncomfortable. Some it rolls off of. :shrug:

[blondeatlast]

52. Unrec for using your dad and dad-in-law without THEIR permission. Hypocritcal as hell much? nt

[Kurovski]

42. K&R. (nt)

[Liberal_in_LA]

44. k&r

[wakemewhenitsover]

45. RIP Alex

A damn fucking shame the way that went down, and the way it continues to go down every day. Barbaric.

[tpsbmam]

53. Sad and reprehensible but NOT something that should be

done in memory of ONE person.

There are hundreds of thousands of others who've died for the same reason -- how about just plain Medicare for all without having to look to one individual who died due to lack of insurance? I knew a couple of people myself who were amazing people, gave much to their communities and people around them and who lost battles with illnesses that weren't treated thanks to lack of insurance. No single individual here is more deserving than any of the other probably uncounted millions who've already died or any of the millions who will likely suffer the same fate in the years and decades to come.

Any individual dying for this reason is a travesty. No one person dying for this reason is any more important than the next person. We're better off with a massive memorial list of the millions to hold up as the shame of the United States.

[Pterodactyl]

57. Universal lawn care would also have saved him.

[theFrankFactor]

66. What causes this kind of comment?

[JenniferJuniper]

59. Alex is featured on Ray Davies new album

entitled "See My Friends" doing a duet of the old Kinks song 'Til the End of The Day with Davies and Ray has been speaking quite a lot about Alex in recent interviews.

I remember being shocked when I found out he was barely more than a child when he sang lead on The Letter with the Box Tops (Lonely days are gone, I'm a'goin' home, my baby just wrote me a letter). I would have sworn he was a 45 year old black guy.

Sadly, there is nothing atypical about what happened to Alex. And those in their 50's - the age when serious health problems can begin and when un or underemployment is a reality for many of us - are particularly at risk.

[SnowCritter]

63. I am alive today because I had insurance

Well, perhaps that's stretching it a bit.

July 13th will mark the fifth anniversary of the surgery I had to remove a cancerous kidney. Given the alternative, I would have had the surgery done, but there was no way on earth that I could have paid for it.

I often wonder how many lives are lost because we don't have universal health care and it nearly brings this old MNLOAD to tears.

[theFrankFactor]

65. Hey, at least ya know Barack gave it all he had and so did our Democratic majorities.

I'll let you decide how to take that.