Columnist Susan Snyder: Absence of care is chronic

Saturday, Nov. 11, 2000 | 4:02 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

When Gov. Kenny Guinn unveiled his prescription drug subsidy program earlier this year, one Las Vegas woman thought it was the beginning of a happy ending.

"I thought, 'Wow!' They said anybody who has a Medicare card," she said.

Then she discovered the plan actually covered only those Medicare recipients who are at least 62 years old. And her enthusiasm died with her hopes. She is only 58.

The woman suffers from lupus, the lingering effects of a stroke, and emphysema. Her prescriptions cost her about $500 a month, which is almost half of what she collects on disability.

"Even the guys at Walgreens tell me, 'You really need an HMO.' But I can't get insurance," she said. "What about the people with Medicare cards who are less than 62? We're screwed."

What's worse, she said, is the program's $5 million comes from tobacco settlement money.

"I have emphysema. But I can't take advantage of the tobacco money. Tobacco money is being used for non- tobacco people. We should be first."

She asked that her name be withheld, and I obliged. After all, does it really matter who she is? We know she's not alone. Choosing between food and medicine is a sad tale that can be told 1,000 times over across this country.

In fact, it was -- all during the 2000 election. Politician after politician and reporter after reporter paraded stories like this one whenever it suited the cause.

And that's the reason this woman was reluctant to tell her story at all. See, I returned her call on Election Day. And she said it was too late.

Unless politicians confront an issue during their pre-election mud fights or the news media toss it into the fray, this woman said people like her have no voice.

After the politicians settled into their seats, she would settle back into oblivion along with all the babies who never would be kissed and the first graders whose classrooms wouldn't be visited by television cameras.

Talk about a sad story.

"The only value in it was political," she said of her situation. "But explaining was too long for a sound bite. So nobody knew."

State Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, a Las Vegas Democrat, says she knows. She co-chairs the committee that oversees how the tobacco settlement money is spent, and they released the money for the governor's plan with some conditions.

Applications are being accepted and money will start going out Jan. 1. But committee members want the Nevada Legislature to examine the program during the 2001 session and consider lowering the premiums and including all residents collecting disability, Buckley said.

"Absolutely, people should contact their assemblymen and senators," Buckley said. "We will have hearings."

Still, the Las Vegas woman's words were disturbing. "It's too late," she said. "I don't think you have a story here."

But there is a story. It's a familiar one about prescription drug prices that sick people can't pay. And underneath our poorly executed solutions lurks the part of the tale where the needy figure that they can't be heard unless someone needs a political platform or a front-page story.

We can change the way this story ends. But we have to hear them first.