NEOMED students lobby Kent City Council for 'Medicare for All'

A group of medical students lobbied Kent City Council last week, asking the council to approve a resolution in support of "Medicare for All" because they believe the system they're training to work in is broken.

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Six students of Northeast Ohio Medical University told their stories to Council, saying that the city's Board of Health already recommended that council approve the resolution. Council agreed to discuss the issue at its Health and Safety committee meeting on Oct. 5.

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The students said residents and employers — including the city of Kent — would all save money if the program is implemented.

Max Brockwell said the students are members of Students for a National Health Program, the student-led branch of branch of Physicians for a National Health Program. The NEOMED chapter was founded last year and has 114. members.

He said the U.S. spends more on its healthcare system than countries with universal health coverage, and worker and employee contributions have significantly increased.

"Sadly, even though we spend the most compared to similar countries, our healthcare system is ranked 11 out of 11. Last place," he said. "The U.S. has the lowest life expectancy of these countries, the highest infant mortality rate, and the highest maternal mortality rate (and this is increasing whereas in other countries this statistic is decreasing). All of this leads to delayed care and worse health outcomes."

Brockwell said before he started medical school, he worked at a skin cancer clinic in Columbus. Though skin cancer is most treatable if caught early, many patients said they delayed treatment because of the potential cost. Patients, he said, are often told that treatment will cost "about as much as a small, nice home" if they don't have insurance.

Michael Massey said he shadowed a physician and met a young mother of two who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis as a teenager but never had insurance and couldn't afford medication — which costs $70,000 a year. As a result, the disease had ravaged her nervous system. She was at the hospital because her wheelchair had malfunctioned and crashed her into a vending machine, shattering both her knees.

"I can still picture her grimacing through tears, telling me and the physician that she needs to get out of the hospital as soon as possible, because she knew that her stay would bankrupt her family," he said.

Councilwoman Heidi Shaffer commended the students for speaking out about inequalities in the profession they're entering.

"As a grant writer, the grants that I write are often for the underinsured, and do you know who those people are?" she said. "The people with private insurance."

Councilwoman Tracy Wallach called the resolution a "logical next step."

Councilman Roger Sidoti said he has wondered how Medicare for All would be funded, but he said the government often spends large sums of money on other causes — including the war in Ukraine, a cause he supports.

"The reality is that when we put our minds to it, we come up with the money in this country," he said. "It just makes good sense to me to follow the lead of our health department."

Councilman Robin Turner said he wouldn't be alive if not for the expansion of Medicaid, a similar government-funded health insurance program for people with low incomes. He said he worries every day about paying his bills and fears getting sued.

"This is about more than dollars and cents," he said. "This is about the ability of people to have the opportunity, when they're sick and in dire circumstances, to gain access to what should be a right in this country ... we can do better than this. We should do better than this."

Councilman Jack Amrhein said it's "not acceptable" that the United States is finishing last in many health measures.

Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at 330-298-1139 or dsmith@recordpub.com.

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: NEOMED students lobby Kent City Council for 'Medicare for All'