Dan Guin

From: The Catherine McAuley Center 709 madison Avenue Scranton, PA 18510

Re: Local Issue Regarding Cover The Uninsured Week March 22-28, 2009

Critical Concern Quote for the Week:
“Every person has the right to adequate health care. This right flows from the sanctity of human life and the dignity that belongs to all persons, who are made in the image of God . . . Our call for health care reform is rooted in the biblical call to heal the sick and to serve ‘the least of these,’ the priorities of justice and the principle of the common good. The existing patterns of health care in the United Sates do not meet the minimal standard of social justice and the common good,” U.S. Catholic Bishops [1993] Resolution on Health Care Reform

The attachment will offer you the background material that the Sisters of Mercy are promoting on our web site for next week’s Cover the Uninsured Week.

And here is an example that many Northeast Pennsylvania people face that I minister to through The Catherine McAuley Center on a daily basis:

A [Homeless] person is helped by an agency. The agency assists the [homeless] person(s) in obtaining Welfare benefits through the County where they are living. The Welfare package usually offers an ACCESS card for a food stamps allotment and medical assistance.

Then the agency helps the person apply for Social Security benefits. If the person meets the criteria set by Social Security they then are awarded SSI or SSD benefits. The person is assigned a date of disability. Two years from that date, the person become eligible for Medicare.

When the person in their past has been a productive citizen; their SSD benefits may exceed the set monthly amount for medical coverage; however , if the person receives over $1,000.00 a month but needs Personal Care Home Care that cost $1,050 or more a month; they are already in debt. If they need perscriptions, their debts increase. If they need to be under the care of a doctor, they are more in debt. If they need rehabilitation services, they are more in debt, etc.

Hence, being on Welfare actually serves a person more than having held a modest full time minimum wage type job during ones adult productive years.

These people are caught in a HOLE of our county’s health care system.

I hope this example helps you to understand the issues I face weekly as we, at The Catherine McAuley Center, attempt to reach out to the chronically homeless disabled population in our midst.
Sister Kathleen Mary Smith, RSM

Dan Guin

What’s that all about?

Honorable Paul Kanjorski
2188 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-381

Dear Honorable Kanjorski:

I recently read your latest e-mail concerning your bill to tax the oil companies and I was disappointed in that you did not lead the way to increase supply of oil and develop a compressive plan to make this country energy secure.

As you already know that only 40% of a barrel of oil is used for fuel, that means we are tied to oil in a lot of different ways. Taxing the oil companies will not increase supply. As a result of the congress current policies food prices are rising and the cost of transportation is skyrocketing. I was hope that you would introduce a bill that would outline how we are going to fix the problem. We need to drill for oil here in the states, we need to develop legislation that will encourage government agencies to develop economically solar energy designs, develop our coal resources, such as coal gasification, increase our nuclear energy and develop wave energy technology and other sources of energy.

We need positive action from congress, not election year politics. I know you are the person to spear head this action.

Sincerely yours;

Joseph T. Michonski