Bury my Heart in an AHCCCS Patient

I felt strong enough for the first time in weeks to go out chalking today, so headed up to the Capitol Complex and Wes Bolin Park, one of my favorite spots to practice my free speech (That's 17th Ave I'm on, between W. Washington and W. Jefferson, right across the street from the legislators and governor's office buildings. The media and visitors and legislative aides all cross that sidewalk from the parking lot to get over there).





















Kids were all over the place singing Christmas Carols, and naturally curious about what I was writing about. So I told them about the people who are so sick that their insurance plans wouldn't cover their most critical medical treatment, and how they needed the state to pay their medical bills through the AHCCCS program - which the Arizona republican governor and legislature, the ultimate compassionate conservatives, decided isn't going to pay for their organ transplants anymore.



Then I told the kids that if Governor Brewer doesn't restore that funding, those people will die. I even named some of them: Coach Tiffany Tate, a cystic fibrosis patient who needs a double lung transplant, Randy Shepherd, a father of 3 who needs a heart transplant, and Francisco Felix, a survivor - so far - of the deadly damage of Hepatitis C. His dying family friend even tried to give him her liver, but AHCCCS still wouldn't pay for the transplant.


I didn't mention "Death Panels" to the kids, though - I thought what I told them was heavy enough already.


In the meantime, someone called the Capitol Police on me ( they always do), assuming that what I was doing was a crime. They all know my name now, but wanted to see some ID anyway - and tried to convince me that my conduct was, in fact, against the law - they just weren't going to arrest me because I was technically in the territory of the Phoenix Police.

One of the guys was actually pretty nice about trying to intimidate me in to leaving (not this one above - he was really hostile to me when I was caught alone by him on Halloween night). I was actually pretty much done for the day, but stayed long enough to argue with the cops that not only was my mode of expression not criminal (I keep it on the ground and on city sidewalks), but that the vigor with which the state solicits the poor to harvest our organs upon our death, while justifying why we or our loved ones aren't deserving of receiving transplants in life is truly criminal.


They didn't put up much of a fight on that one.

Here's the finished product - not the greatest picture, but you get the gist...

I signed it "future organ donor against Brewercare."

Happy World Human Rights Day

Future Organ Donor Against Brewercare

Today is International Human Rights Day. This would be the perfect time for Governor Jan Brewer to call a special session of the legislature to pass a bill that would restore the cuts to AHCCCS funding for transplant patients - including liver transplants for people with Hepatitis C.

I find it deeply disturbing that as an Arizona citizen living in poverty, my own organs would be harvested by this state only to be doled out to the privileged few. Clearly the poor are still good enough to be preyed upon, but not worthy enough to be saved...

Is that really what Republicans stand for here?

On that note, I'm dropping this $7 check off at the Capitol Executive Building for the Governor today. Read the article below for an explanation...

--------------from myfoxphoenix.com----------

Patients Desperately Needing Transplants Share Stories

They call on governor to restore AHCCCS cuts

Published : Tuesday, 07 Dec 2010, 5:16 PM MST

PHOENIX - Doctors, transplant patients and Democratic lawmakers blasted what they refer to as "BrewerCare" Tuesday, calling for Governor Jan Brewer to restore the money slashed from the state's Medicaid program AHCCCS.

A news conference was held at the state Capital. Among those in attendance were four people waiting for transplants for themselves or their loved ones, and called for Brewer to do something now before its too late.

Four Arizona families in need of transplants issued an emotional plea. A woman with cystic fibrosis, a father of 3 who needs a heart transplant, a man with hepatitis C and cancer, and another man who needs a heart transplant, had their stories told.

Surrounded by several Democratic lawmakers, they called for Jan Brewer to restore the money slashed from the state's transplant program.

"If the state budget were the average American salary, the cost to restore the funding would be $7. $7 to save people's lives," says Democratic Rep. David Schapira.

House Republican Jon Kavanagh says the decision to cut certain transplants was based on incomplete data that showed low success rates. He says he's still waiting for a report.

"I have the data summary here from the group of doctors including Mayo, saying significant survival rates, but they never gave us the number, they never gave us the data, we need facts," he says.

Democrats want the governor to call a special session, or use federal stimulus funds to cover the cost. However, a spokesperson for the governor's office tells me that funds were used already for job creation, education and public safety. He says even if the funds were available, they wouldn't cover the costs necessary.