ATLANTA
Victory in Grady Hospital struggle
By
Dianne Mathiowetz
Atlanta
A tenacious six-month struggle by the Grady Campaign
Coalition to reverse sharp price increases in health-care
services for the poorest Atlantans has been victorious.
On July 26, the board that oversees Grady Memorial Hospital,
Atlanta's only public hospital, voted unanimously to
"indefinitely" postpone a plan to raise the fees for
prescription drugs and clinic visits.
Faced with a projected $26.4 million shortfall at the
beginning of the year, the Hospital Authority opted to wring
extra cash out of its poorest patients, those who have "0"
cards. These are people who by the hospital's criteria are
considered to have such low incomes that they are unable to pay
for medical care.
Twenty-six thousand Grady patients have "0" cards. The new
plan would have required many of them who use life-sustaining
medications for diabetes, cancer, high blood pressure and heart
disease to pay $10 per prescription and $5 to see a doctor--in
cash.
An internal Grady document projected that without access to
discounted drugs, 6,500 people would suffer worsening health or
die within 30 to 60 days after fees were hiked.
Nationwide, every year hundreds of thousands of people
needlessly suffer or die because they cannot afford the
medicine their doctors prescribe. President Bill Clinton's
recent proposal to cover a certain amount of prescription drug
costs for the elderly under the Medicare program is an
indication that it's a serious enough matter for politicians to
use as an electoral issue.
What is still left unaddressed is the many younger people
who can't afford necessary medicines either.
As soon as the details of the prescription plan became
public in February, members of the Open Door Community, an
advocacy group for the homeless, began a series of
demonstrations at the hospital. They were immediately joined by
people from community and religious organizations, leaders of
the Central Labor Council, AIDS activists, elected officials
and hospital staffers. This broad array of people formed the
Grady Campaign Coalition.
A multi-pronged, protest-oriented strategy was developed.
The first goal was to pressure the Grady Hospital board to
rescind the increases. Activists packed meetings. They won a
temporary postponement in March and now an "indefinite"
delay.
The second goal was to get more money from the Fulton and
DeKalb county governments to pay for the prescription program.
Again, people were mobilized to make thousands of calls to
county officials. Demonstrations were held. Meetings were
disrupted.
Dozens were arrested at consecutive DeKalb County Commission
meetings for trying to bring the funding issue to the
commissioners' attention.
This intense fight for access to health care for the very
poor produced a pledge of $3.5 million from Fulton County and
an additional $1.1 million from DeKalb County.
Third, the coalition is seeking long-term financial
solutions to the crisis at Grady from the state and federal
governments. On July 22, the coalition held a March for
Medicine to the State Capitol to present the governor with a
list of demands. One demand is that the governor recognize
Grady Memorial Hospital as a regional provider of health care
for all.
Like all public hospitals, Grady Memorial has been put in
the position of having its funding cut by all levels of
government as part of the right-wing political agenda of the
last decades. At the same time, an increasing number of
uninsured and poor people require its services.
Across the country, millions of workers have lost jobs that
had insurance benefits. More recently, many have been cut off
welfare programs and no longer have medical coverage.
Grady receives funding from property taxes levied by the two
counties of the city of Atlanta. However, metropolitan Atlanta
has grown from 65,000 in 1891--the year Grady was chartered to
provide health care to the poor--to over 3.5 million spread
over 13 counties in 1999. These additional counties do not
contribute an equitable amount to Grady to cover medical costs
for their poor residents.
Atlanta's economic growth has increased the pressure on
Grady. Many jobs in the area are in low-paying service
industries and have little or no insurance benefits. The
workers at these businesses go to Grady. So in effect, Atlanta
residents are subsidizing the profits of huge hotel and
restaurant chains and giant retail stores.
The struggle in Atlanta has won national attention. Dr. Neil
Shulman, a doctor at Grady since 1969, wrote an article in a
recent issue of the Nation magazine. Groups across the country,
facing similar cuts in medical services, have contacted the
Grady Campaign Coalition. A web site is being established to
coordinate information.
For more information, contact medcrisis@netscape.net
This article is copyright under a Creative Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME :: U.S. NEWS :: WORLD NEWS :: EDITORIALS :: SUBSCRIBE :: DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page