June 2009 Newsletter
Washington Update
by Heather Markert, Legislative Director, ISSB of CA, a member of the Safe Child Coalition
Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of meeting with SEIU (Service Employees International Union) International President Andy Stern, Secretary Anna Burger (I gave her a thank you hug), Senior Legislative Advocate Saralee Todd, and Assistant to the Director of Government Relations Skip Roberts; Political Organizer Micheal Anadon, Political Field Director Samantha Galing Gaddy, and Job Stewards Keith Long, Michael Welsch, and Tee Henderson from Local 1000 (Sacramento); Nurse Alliance President Gayle Batiste and RN Labor Specialist Ingela Dahlgren; Political Organizer Ariana Casanova and Political Coordinator Marla Harvey from Local 1021 (Bay Area); Political Director Sylvia Ruiz from Local 1877, and many other wonderful SEIU members and leaders.
While I strongly support reform in the California family courts and related efforts at the state level, specifically the recent audit of the Marin and Sacramento courts that we successfully lobbied the Joint Legislative Audit Committee for, as a survivor of abuse, I understand that there are many factors that contribute to an unstable home environment. For our family, financial stress due in large part to the high cost of health care contributed to our instability and sense of hopelessness. As my mother was prone to mental illness and my father to narcissism and controlling behavioral patterns, such stress greatly exacerbated these underlying tendencies, cultivating further neglect and abuse.
Personally, as a carrier of the BRCA 1 gene mutation, I can testify to the poor state of our current health care system. As I have a “pre-existing condition” of 86 out of 100% chance of developing breast cancer in the next 15-20 years (and greatly increasing my risk for ovarian cancer, which killed my grandmother), I am uninsurable under most policies. Even the few that will take me require a premium that is financially out of my reach. The worst part it is that I knew this would probably happen and wanted to avoid testing, but no one would let me get preventative treatments such as bi-annual breast sonigrams and mamograms until I proved that I was high-risk enough to justify such testing. But now I can't find an insurer who will cover me to pay for such screenings. What an outrageous catch 22!
Although I do not qualify for federal health plans, I am fortunate enough to live in San Francisco, a city that provides basic coverage and services to its residents. However, this care neither follows me to other states nor covers vision and dental. And what am I supposed to do when I am accepted into a law or grad school in another city or state and have to move?
For survivors of abuse who suffer from such conditions as chronic depression, access to quality affordable physical and mental health care is vital to the healing process. While San Francisco and Massachusetts offer some form of universal care, this is the exception and not the rule. I have spoken with many women whose families struggle with similar psychological and financial problems, incurring significant debt and even falling into bankruptcy in the process of attaining and maintaining comprehensive yet affordable health care for themselves and their children.
Particularly, in the past few months while working in San Francisco and Sacramento, I have repeatedly crossed paths with representatives of SEIU (Service Employees International Union), which also represents many state workers and is the fastest growing union in the nation. Based on several conversations, we have recognized that both SEIU and ISSB of CA share such common goals as promoting the welfare of and protecting children through the preservation of and/or creation of a reformed system which delivers high quality, affordable health care.
This summer is very important to the health care reform movement as President Obama’s health care reform plan will soon be voted on by our legislators. Organizing for America, the grassroots campaign based out of the Democratic National Committee that helped elect Obama (http://www.barackobama.com), has a special project called “Organizing for Health Care.” As part of this project, Obama has asked the American public to submit their “Health Care Stories” online, sharing their experiences and opinions with both the administration and general public through publication on the website and through print, radio, and television ads.
As Legislative Director of ISSB of CA, a member of the Safe Child Coalition, I have been volunteering this summer with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) as a liaison between my SEIU friends and Organizing for America, collecting and reviewing the stories of union members, as well of hundreds of others submitted from across the nation, and helping to select the most poignant and representative for the DNC’s promotion of health care reform.
In addition to that role, I have also been lobbying CA representatives, including Dianne Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi, and Barbara Boxer; attending health care reform rallies; and speaking at social functions.
My friends at SEIU are thankful for our support. They have expressed excitement about continuing to work towards our common goal of protecting children from abuse by advocating for such policies as health care reform and preventing further cuts to state services.
Heather Markert
Legislative Director
ISSB of CA, a member of the Safe Child Coalition
P.O. Box 74366 Davis, CA 9561
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| Heather Markert with Dianne Feinstein in Washington, DC, June 2009. Heather has been advocating for healthcare reform. Survivors of sexual abuse already have enough extra stress in our lives; being unable to obtain healthcare compounds the problems. |
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| Heather Markert with Dianne Feinstein in Washington, DC, June 2009 |
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| Heather met Anna Burger, SEIU, left, at the health care rally after she spoke. Most recently cited in the Wall Street Journal's 2007 Top 50 Women to Watch and hailed by Fortune Magazine as "the most powerful woman in the labor movement," Anna Burger is both a top ranking officer at SEIU, the nation's largest and fastest growing union, and the first chair of America's newest labor federation, Change to Win. |
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