Mamma Might Be Better Off Dead
In Mama Might Be Better Off Dead: The Failure of Health Care in the United States, Laurie Kaye Abraham argues that the health care system in the United States has indeed failed miserably, specifically in treating poor people. As Abraham portrays it, the system has not only failed, it seems to have been created to fail, and to cause as much misery for poor and helpless sick people as it possibly can. Despite this negative portrait, the author apparently believes that the system can be restructured to better serve the poor sick in this country, although it seems that a complete collapse of the system first is more likely. However, the author is not merely trying to show the sad state of the system overall, in national, statistical, theoretical, or other grand contexts. To the contrary, she wants to bring the reader down to the level where the failure of the health care system is most intensely and tragically experienced-in the lives of the poor sick themselves: "At the book's center are four generations of a black family who live in one of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods." Members of the family are riddled with various, serious ailments. Jackie, granddaughter, mother and wife of ailing kin, is shown to be not "a helpless vic
Abraham also suggests reform of Medicaid: "It probably would and should be eliminated if the country decided to guarantee some level of basic care to everyone, but if not, its payment rates must be brought in line with those of other health care payors" (257). However, as it exists now, the author says, and as she has amply illustrated in her account of the family's suffering, Medicaid merely "perpetuates inaccessible, inferior health care for the poor" (257). The reader cannot but be deeply saddened and enraged by the indignities, injustices, and outright cruelties this family faces, as representatives of all poor people seeking health care in the United States. The system is not only far worse than it was in the past, it has resisted dedicated attempts at reform from an activist President who was supported by the majority of the people who feel strongly that something must be done. In any case, there is no indication that such reform, if it comes, will deal comprehensively with the health problems of the poor, who need such reform the most. She can be compared, then, to Jackie and her efforts to secure health care for herself and her family. Simply dealing with the poor sick as real human beings with names and faces can go a long way in relieving their fear and pain. To Abraham, such reforms are possible, although she does admit that the future is unknown: As I write this, it is not clear what changes await the U. However, the author concludes with arguments about what must be done to change these dreadful circumstances. Some kind of reform seems imminent, but then again, national health insurance was just around the corner in the 1970s. It puts everything into perspective for those who have trouble grasping the complicated troubles of our health care system. She knows that we will not reform the system unless we feel deeply about the suffering an unreformed system causes to real human beings. Certainly Abraham's account of the troubles of Jackie and her family is meant to draw the reader's sympathy and inspire him or her to become actively involved in the reform of the system.
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Acceptance Essays
