Column: Palin speech omits words like ‘disability,’ ‘Medicaid’
October 27th, 2008Harold Pollack, writing in huffingtonpost.com, says Sarah Palin’s “serious policy speech” on disabilities had some “jaw-dropping” omissions.
He searched the text posted on the campaign website, and found that Palin neglected to talk about health insurance, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, SSI and SCHIP. She didn’t consider what happens to “special needs kids” when they become adults. She didn’t even use the word “disability.”
He says the McCain-Palin plan offers “nothing” to help families with very serious needs. For example, he says, their health plan permits insurers to continue discriminating against people with chronic illnesses and disabilities — the classic people with “preexisting conditions” that insurers want to avoid. It also erodes the employer-paid health care plan that significantly protects people with costly health problems. An excerpt:
Governor Palin speaks eloquently about children with disabilities. Yet her crude attacks on Barack Obama as “socialist” show that she misses the larger point. We must do more to help families caring for child[ren] with disabilities. We must to do more to help others who face other challenges: joblessness, mortgage foreclosure, or the loss of health insurance coverage.
Governor Palin’s narrow governing vision does not promote the inclusive society every American deserves. So I wish her and her family well, but I cast my vote for Barack Obama and Joseph Biden.
Harold Pollack is an associate professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration and faculty chair of the Center for Health Administration Studies.
Earlier post here.
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on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 5:38 pm and is filed under Campaign 2008, Medicaid/Medicare, health care, insurance, social security.
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October 31st, 2008 at 10:35 am
I’ve been looking at this issue from various angles, and one of the things I’ve tried to think through is what concerns do pregnant women have? When I was pregnant with a dual diagnosis, when we came up for air we sat down and looked at our insurance. We wondered if we’d be financially strapped due to the necessary open heart surgery our baby would face.
We decided to switch plans during open enrollment, but we faced a huge phrase — “pre-existing condition” — we were not grappling with a moral issue (however important) or worrying about whether we were “virtuous or generous.” We had a very concrete, very serious concern and we needed an answer. Thankfully, due to my husband’s employment situation, this turned out not to be an issue for us — but I made sure I wrote down the names and contact numbers of everyone I talked to and did not stop worrying about it until those bills were paid.
I talk to women with a prenatal diagnosis every day, and their questions continue to include very real concerns about the future. While I share the concerns for the lives of the individuals with Down syndrome who continue to be targeted for termination (and of course there is a “disparate impact” of abortion on our population), I want to be able to give reassuring answers to pregnant women. Not just the important reassurance about the positive impact a child with DS will have on their lives, but also reassurance that there is adequate assistance out there, that their very real financial concerns will not be dismissed as a “liberal cause,” a “personal issue.”
I’ve heard parents of children with Down syndrome say that they don’t expect the government to “support” their child, but I often wonder if they realize what benefits (early intervention, special education, job training, assistance to live in the community, etc.) actually mean to the lives of so many.
When one is faced with a prenatal diagnosis, often the concerns of your child’s entire lifetime hit you all at once — it is a unnatural feeling to have to worry about your child as an adult even before he or she is born, but it absolutely happens. And what are we to tell them? We need to go beyond a “pro-birth” mentality to encompass the child’s entire lifetime, because that is what hits parents with a prenatal diagnosis. Having a detailed, written disability policy as part of one’s campaign that provides real answers does so much more to further the goals I have than an eleventh hour pseudo-policy that is too little too late.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I don’t understand how anyone can believe that Barack Obama is a true friend to people with disabilities. He already proved that if he has to choose, he will support abortion over babies with disabilities (his comments when refusing to support the Infant Born Alive Protection Act are a prime example.)
We are most likely not going to have enough money to do all of the things that either candidate promises..who do you really think would be more likely to have programs for people with disabilities as a priority…someone who has a child with a disability, (hint:Palin) or someone who is indebted to several special interest groups … none of which is disability-related. If Barack Obama has to choose between government funding of abortion and funding for kids with disabilities, it is not hard to guess what his ‘choice’ will be.
October 30th, 2008 at 4:04 am
I hope that Barack Obama is elected President on November 4th for all the reasons Harold Pollack mentions, and more, but I don’t think we need to point out Sarah Palin’s unfamiliarity with disability issues to justify our support of the Obama/Biden ticket.
Sarah Palin is not running for Vice President of a disability advocacy group, and having a baby with Down syndrome under six months old or a young nephew with autism is not likely to turn her focus to adult issues for people with developmental disabilities and their families.
She seems to believe that Republican policies will somehow allow her advocacy for families of children with disabilities to result in greater support and opportunities for this generation. It is not her fault that she can’t find specific ideas in her party’s platform that are supportive of healthcare, education and other options important to those who have been advocating for our children for decades.
Whether she becomes our next Vice President or not, it seems like we should be reaching out to help her become better informed rather than criticizing her for being new to the advocacy community. Where else is she going to go to become informed, Barack Obama’s website? It’s not her fault that the democratic platform is helpful overall for families, and for families of individuals with disabilities in particular.
After November 4th, if Sarah Palin returns to Alaska, we want her to work within the Republican party to create policies that show consideration for our families and opportunities for our children. If she is elected with John McCain, we certainly want her to have the best possible help for creating and instituting some.
Hopefully her advisors will be well-informed about the life-long issues of individuals with disabilities. While it is easy for us to remember how we felt when our children were small, it still could be very difficult to envision her baby with Down syndrome as an adult in the community, or to be aware of the diversity of the adult and aging community.
When the election is over, one way or another, Sarah Palin will have the opportunity to consider how Barack Obama’s message does benefit families of children and adults with disabilities. Right now, I don’t think we can expect any better than we have heard.
October 27th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
What is the # 1 cause of death for children with Down Syndrome? What procedure has eliminated 33% of the African American population since 1973? What procedure coupled with genetic screening can virtually eliminate children with disabilities? Answer = Unrestricted abortion.
Which candidate blocked the Born Alive Infant Protection Act as a state senator which guarantees medical care for severely disabled children who survive an abortion? Which candidate has pledged to introduce the Freedom of Choice Act as his first piece of legislation which will lift all restrictions on abortion? Barack Obama
Don’t focus on what one says but on what one does — there you will find their core.