Remarks by Dr. Janetta D. Cureton in Miami, FL

Jaznetta D. Cureton, MD is the CIR Regional Vice President for Florida.  She gave the following remarks on July 8, 2008 outside the Claude Pepper Federal Building as part of the “Health Care for America NOW!” kickoff in Miami, FL.

We are here today because our patients need access to healthcare NOW.

As a doctor, I see patients on a daily basis who suffer the consequences of having a lack of access to clinical care.  We are a nation with great innovation, research, evidence-based medicine, increased lifespan, and wealth, but many Americans are being forced to make difficult decisions:  purchase food or medication; have the money to fill up their gas tanks to get to work, or go to the doctor to be treated for chronic medical problems.

As physicians, we see too many patients who seek medical care far too late, when their condition is advanced or irreversible.  It is incredibly frustrating and heartbreaking to see patients for the first time in the Emergency Room who are seriously ill and who tell me that the reason they did not seek treatment earlier is because they did not have health insurance and could not afford to go to a doctor.

Who are they?  The woman who could not afford a mammogram and now has stage 3 breast cancer, or the man who is suffering a hypertensive emergency because he could not afford his blood pressure medication. 

What is a patient to do when they have insurance, but it doesn’t cover “pre-existing conditions?”  Or their insurer denies or delays treatments, placing obstacles in the way of patients and providers at a time when patients are seriously ill and time is precious.  These are but a few examples of how our often inhumane healthcare system puts profits before patients. 

We as a nation have enough resources to provide care for all; it is time for us to look at how we are allocating those resources and make some different choices.  We can accomplish this goal by committing to work together, beginning TODAY.

IT’S TIME... TIME TO COMMIT TO AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE FOR ALL!