Ilene Tannenbaum responds to Times article
Ilene Tannenbaum is the director of the Brooklyn College Health Clinic, and an ally to young people in the fight for our right to live healthily. She responded to the recent NY Times article on uninsured young adults, and how the unnecessary denial of their health rights is leading them into dire circumstances.
Response Below:
‘For Uninsured Young Adults, Do-It-Yourself Health Care,’ (NY Times, 2/18/09) provides yet another example demonstrating the dire need for our country to implement a national health insurance plan.
Unlike the young adults described in the article, the students at Brooklyn College do not have to rely on the internet or their friends for either self-diagnosis or medical treatment. The system developed and maintained since 1993 for students may in fact serve as a model for our nation, and not merely as an alternative to neglect, self-management, and too often, misguided care. Through a small contribution of only $10 per student per semester, each individual attending Brooklyn College has access to unlimited visits to a skilled practitioner in which preventive care is emphasized, and early diagnosis and intervention help avoid disease complications. While there remain some generally negligible costs for certain medications, laboratory tests and diagnostic procedures, the clinic attempts to assure that these services are available to its patients at substantially reduced rates.
Although the Brooklyn College Health Clinic falls far from the ideal - it cannot offer patients with alternative choices for free outpatient care, it cannot provide in-patient treatment, and budgetary limitations hamper provider availability - this imperfect model nonetheless offers evidence that a population can be served well by garnering fairly small regular and equitable assessments regardless of need or intended use. Clearly any national proposal would have to include a contribution greater than Brooklyn College students are paying, but there is no reason not to be hopeful that much can be accomplished with a modest tax-like share to help ensure this goal.
No one should have to go without access to high-quality, affordable healthcare. At Brooklyn College we have shown how it can be done.
Ilene Tannenbaum, NP
Director, Brooklyn College Health Clinic
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