Sunday Night With John: We Are Better Than This.

I know they say you aren’t supposed to go to bed angry, but they haven’t said anything about writing angry. This week I have found myself increasingly moving toward anger as the movement in Iowa to decrease funding for mental health, dependent adults and at risk youth continues to get passed time after time in our state government. I can’t help but wonder what message the elected officials are sending to the public about this sector of our population in Iowa. I keep circling back to the fact that they must be saying these people don’t matter.  And I feel our policy-making government acts as if they don’t matter because they don’t vote. What are the consequences for elected officials who continually take from those who cannot speak for themselves?

In any personal arena we would call taking from those who cannot defend themselves wrong. At any family or dinner function if you were talking about supporting a person with bi-polar disorder, or a person who struggles with substance abuse, or a dependant adult, almost everyone’s response is yes, we need to take care of these people. But for some reason when we enter the public arena, we lose the personal touch and cunning politicians convince people that the budget for this population is too high and we need outside companies to come in and provide coordinated care, a fancy term made to sound helpful. But I assure it is not at all helpful.

I ask you, when do we get so far removed from our personal connection to someone who needs care that they become a line item on a budget sheet? At what point in the political process do they get clumped into a group? The people we are taking money from have hopes and dreams.  They have goals they are attempting to achieve.  And most if not all were born with this condition or born into an environment-inflicting trauma. We don’t always want to admit it but not all people can make it on their own no matter how hard they try.  In reality, the line between a life of independence and a life that requires support is paper-thin.  Life sometimes deals you a hand you weren’t expecting and it’s often hard to understand these issues if you have never known someone who desperately needed them. 

Iowa is a state that prides itself of being caring and supportive of others.  But we are increasingly moving away from those ideals to save a couple of bucks from people who are already on dental floss budgets.  Enjoy the 22 cents in savings Iowa government elected officials; don’t spend it all at once.  Please don’t patronize anybody by calling these new methods managed-care. Bringing in for-profit companies to coordinate care for people they will never actually meet is beyond laughable. When was the last time one of our elected officials making these changes accepted advice from a stranger who stood to make a buck from them? When was the last time you accepted advice from a stranger who was making money from the advice they gave you?  We are still skeptical of a doctor’s advice, that’s why we seek out a second opinion.

I’m not against fiscal responsibility and I’m not against maintaining a healthy budget in the area of Medicaid. I’m against finding short-term solutions and quick fixes at the expense of those without loud enough voices to be heard. What I’m saying in my anger is I know we are better people. We can take care of everyone, we can find solutions, and we can make our personal feelings about caring for everyone our public policy. What I’m ultimately saying is we have to be better than this.

(The opinions in every blog I write are solely my own and do not represent any company I have worked for in the past or present. Please email me to chat further about how we can help Iowa change back into a state that values and respects all of it’s demographics and begins to the lead the nation in education, and mental health care. More importantly contact your local elected official. Thank you for reading. )