Dave Pavlick and his wife, Taffy, volunteered to feed me Sunday dinner at their home in Cleveland, Ohio. I was honored to meet Dave's entire extended family. Being an Atlanta girl, I was thrilled with my plate of ribs, potato salad, and macaroni salad. Turns out, Dave and I have a lot in common. Dave knows how good a home cooked meal can taste while living on the road because he, too, is a healthcare rambler.
An unlikely convert to the healthcare reform movement, Dave is a former marine, who spent 26 years working as a correctional officer, and he is now a servicing representative for the United Auto Workers.
In 2000, Dave heard a doctor speak about the failings of our healthcare system. The notion of universal healthcare was not exactly in line with his political views. But Dave is a man of faith, a Lutheran, and of brotherhood, a union leader. He was drawn to healthcare activism as "love thy neighbor as thyself." Before long, Dave was an active member of Single-Payer Action Network Ohio (http://www.spanohio.org/).
Dave's not your ordinary activist. In 2006, he took to the road on a 23 day, 600 mile walk about western Ohio to promote the Health Care for All Ohioans Act. Dave’s hitting the road again September 1st and will be walking 560 miles through eastern Ohio, again to raise funds for SPANO and to gather support for the Act.
Dave's heart was warmed, as mine has been, by the kindness of total strangers inviting him into their homes for a meal and a soft bed. He, too, has been transformed by getting to know everyday working Americans whose families are suffering from lack of affordable healthcare.
As individuals, we cannot fix American healthcare on our own. We must do it together. Join Dave and me in working toward a better America. You don't need to walk 600 miles, or spend four months in a small purple school bus. You can start by making healthcare a priority issue when you cast your vote on election day.
Roberta Yetman, 57, works as a board-certified fitter for a locally owned durable medical supply company in Erie, PA. She fits mastectomy products for recovering cancer survivors and compression stockings for people with vein disorders.Millions of working Americans like Roberta, who are within reach of retirement, are on the "Your on Your Own Health Plan" (YOYOP). As a country, we have to ask ourselves whether this makes good economic sense.
A recent Harvard study showed that in the years leading up to Medicare eligibility, the uninsured go without needed care for chronic illnesses such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, resulting in an increased use of medical services that continued until at least age 72. "Medicare is bearing the brunt of when uninsured people put of seeing doctors or seeking medical care when they turn 65." (Kolata, NY Times, 7/12/07).
The study suggested that extending coverage could result in cost savings, which would be nice, not to mention improved health and diminished human suffering.
Come on, America. We can do better.
Ezra blogs for the American Prospect. He's a bright, 20 something guy, wise beyond his years, who gained his name in healthcare and has expanded into a variety of topics. Ezra's a frequent headliner at healthcare meetings. 
Here's Ezra at a Kaiser Healthcare Blogosphere panel I attended in Washington, DC. He's the cute one second from right.
The female moderator ever-so-fondly mentioned Erza's recipe for Grilled Bread and Tomato Salad included in one of his blog posts. My first thought was "Every young woman in this room wants this guy's phone number." My second thought was "I need to do a Road Recipe on my Bandwagon Blog."
There was one problem with this theft of story idea. What recipe to feature? Dinner concoctions during the National Bandwagon Tour have been pretty basic. Week One: Baked Potatoes. Week Two: Tuna Salad Sandwiches. Week Three: Grilled Cheese Sandwiches. Not much interesting there.
During Week Four, I decided to quit being so lazy and come up with an original recipe suitable for camping, dorm life, or singles (the criteria being 5 main ingredients, 1 pot and 1 knife). Besides, I need to expand my topics beyond the sad state of healthcare, so people will want to read my Blog.
So here goes. This is an original recipe that takes about 30 minutes on a one-burner camp stove.
Tortellini with Sausage & Peppers
Ingredients:
1 sweet onion, sliced lengthwise
1 red bell pepper, sliced lengthwise
minced garlic, to taste (I used 8 cloves)
1 package of link sausage (I used pre-cooked, spicy chicken), cut into 1/3" pcs.
8 oz package cheese tortellini
extra virgin olive oil (for saute)
salt & pepper to taste
Directions:Saute onions in a tablespoon or two of olive oil until carmelized and set aside. Saute bell pepper until tender, adding garlic in the last few minutes, and set aside. Saute sausage until browned and set aside. Cook tortellinis per package instructions. Mix all ingredients in the same pan. Season to taste. Enjoy!
I noticed that Ezra didn't include a photo of his completed salad. I haven't posted the photo of my dish either because it looked like barf. But let me assure you, this is delicious. It keeps well, and you can enjoy it for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The Bandwagon burned through the thread on the front tires in the first 1,500 miles of the Tour. I bought new ones, and the fellas who did the work strongly suggested that I have the wheels aligned. The Bandwagon was too big a project for them. By good fortune, I was referred to Frank's Affordable Alignments in Allison Park, PA.Frank Hovanec is the kinda guy you want working on your car. Frank learned his trade from a master who did things the right way. Frank takes pride in his workmanship. Your car will not leave his shop with a half-done job.
Frank charges a fair price and works a long day to support his wife and four children, but Frank and his wife are uninsured. Fortunately, his children are covered under CHIP, Pennsylvania's State Children's Health Insurance Program, for which the Hovanecs pay reasonable premiums.
Frank opened his shop three years ago. He had coverage for a year, but they raised his premiums, and he had to drop it. Prospective employees want coverage, but he can't afford to offer it to them. Frank's wife works for part-time for a dentist. She tried to get coverage there, but didn't work enough hours to qualify.
I'm about to reach a milestone - one month on the road! I've spent every night - except one - sleeping in the Bandwagon in state parks from North Carolina to Pennsylvania.The one missing element in the Bandwagon is running water. I'm talking no flushing toilet, no sink, and no shower. Ninety-eight percent of my bathroom needs in the last month have been met by the state parks of NC, VA, and PA.
I am pleased to report that state parks have high standards. Bathrooms are cleaned daily! Yeah! Despite my faith in their sanitizing, I wear flip-flops into the shower. This seems sensible and brings back not-so-fond memories of college dorm days.
During my visit with Sam and Heather, I was in awe of the big stuff - sofas, chairs, large rooms, and definitely the queen bed. But without a second thought, I jumped into the shower sans flops. As my toes touched the tile, they knew instinctively there was no need to recoil in fear of unseen micro-organisms. I call that a taste of home sweet home.
I was in Pittsburgh yesterday for the Democratic National Platform Committee's final meeting. Clinton forces and single-payer advocates jockeyed behind the scenes to put their stamp on the healthcare aspects of the Party's final Platform to be presented at the convention in Denver August 25-28.In the lead-up, Clintonites met with committee members to discuss language allowing for a Clinton-style solution. The result was a negotiated addition to the Platform acknowledging healthcare as a "shared responsibility between employers, workers, insurers, providers and government." Clintonites spoke glowingly of this compromise in opening remarks.
Not good enough said others, including Rep. John Conyers and his legion of single-payer advocates. By amendment passed to rousing applause, the Platform now declares: "While there are different approaches within the Democratic Party about how best to achieve the commitment of covering every American -with everyone in and no one left out- we stand united to achieve this fundamental objective through legislative process."
The practical political effect of these machinations is yet to be seen. The Platform is not binding on a future President Obama, but it's safe to say Clintonites walked away smiling.
When I was in Washington last week, I visited my Senator Johnny Isakson's office to talk with his legislative assistant, Tyler Thompson, about free-wheeling insurance companies that refuse to sell an individual health insurance policy to my son, Chris, who has Type I Diabetes. I wanted to know what legislative solutions Senator Isakson has for Chris and for people like my daughter, Caitlin, who has epilepsy. She can buy a policy, but it costs a fortune and excludes her illness and her expensive medications.Mr. Thompson told me that Senator Isakson believes in "free market" solutions. There are too many "constructs" inhibiting competition among insurers, he said. Once these "constructs" are removed, insurers will want to compete for my children's business. I asked him: "What "constructs" do you mean?" His answer was that he didn't know, so he couldn't tell me.
I went home to the Bandwagon to ponder why insurers would want to compete for customers who are chronically ill when that clearly would be a bad thing for their bottom line. Isn't lack of regulation the problem, not the solution? Is this an honest economic debate, or a poorly contrived theory to cloak the wanton protection of insurance company profits?
I'd like to believe that my senator wants to serve his constituents, but honestly, I just can't see it. Mr. Thompson made it clear to me that health care reform was a matter of politics, and insurance companies had a seat at the table. The not-so-thinly-veiled message was: "Insurance companies are powerful, and your family is not. Go home and wait on free market reforms."
Sorry, Senator Isakson. I'm not buying this talk about free market reforms. There are millions of people who walk in our family's shoes, and my bet is that they don't buy it either.
With insurance premiums skyrocketing from the reach of middle class working Americans, the faces of the uninsured are changing. Steve and Youngra and their two daughters, my campground neighbors at Ohiopyle State Park, are from Columbus, Ohio. Steve & Youngra and their children are uninsured.Steve is a self-employed real estate broker and property manager. The family policies available to them on the individual insurance market are unaffordable. Youngra has returned to school to become a nurse so that the family can obtain reasonable group coverage.
It has always been a part of the American Dream that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to afford to care for your family. When it comes to health care, that's just not true any more.
Small business owners, and those like Steve who are self-employed, are particularly vulnerable because they have no bargaining power with behemoth insurers. This is the law of the free market. We need the government to step in and level the playing field with health insurers to make affordable coverage available to everyone.
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