A Sense of Doubt blog post #3546 - VOTE for CONNECT for HEALTH Act

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3546 - VOTE for CONNECT for HEALTH Act


Those readers who follow my blog may know that I have returned to graduate school for a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.

Here's one of my assignments to write my senator to vote for a piece of legislation that affects mental heath care and services.

The Connect for Health Act would renew and fix long-term telehealth services for those on Medicare.

Now that the quarter is almost over, I am going to post more of my assignments because I have done a lot of writing in the last three months, and I like to share, that's why I have a blog.

Thanks for tuning in.

PLEASE...

VOTE!!!

COUNTDOWN!!!

https://www.270towin.com/2024-countdown-clock/

002 DAYS TO THE ELECTION

Week Nine - Main Discussion - COUN6100 - Dr. J. Lipford Sanders 

Advocating for Social Change and Impacting Legislative Action

Chris Tower

Dear Classmates and Dr. J,

I have chosen to write one of my two Washington state senators, Patty Murray, who has not added her name to a list of bipartisan co-sponsors for a healthcare bill that would permanently extend telehealth flexibility for Medicare recipients. This bill will directly impact the type of care I wish to provide as I am likely to work in private practice and much or all of my appointments will be via telehealth, and I would like to offer those services to those covered by Medicare (assuming funding for it is not gutted by the new administration elected this year). 

I am now and always have been an advocate for social change and social justice: “woke” before “woke” was the term for the progressive people in our society. I touch the lives of hundreds of students as a college professor with impassioned, zealot-like speeches for causes I wish to inspire them to care about. I also publish a daily blog, which often transmits content of the need for change: “be the change you want to see in the world,” attributed to Gandhi, though he may not have actually said it. As such, I have been impressed by Walden University’s commitment to social change as it aligns so closely with my own.

This letter and my blog are just small steps in a much longer journey for equity, inclusion, justice, fairness, and diversity.

MY LETTER

The Honorable Patty Murray

154 Russell Senate Office Building 

United States Senate

Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Murray,

I am writing to urge you to add your name to the list of co-sponsors for Bill S.2016, the CONNECT for Health Act of 2023.

Over 60 senators have co-sponsored the bill, including our other Washington state Senator Maria Cantwell.

The bill will permanently extend vital telehealth services

for 67 million Medicare beneficiaries. The bill will also authorize federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics to provide clinically-appropriate telehealth services for clients. The CONNECT for Health Act is part of a greater initiative to increase availability of health care access in rural areas, even for children and adolescents (Ward et al 2024).

Also, barriers for accessing care via telehealth will be addressed for older adults impacted since the onset of Covid-19 (Kho & DeDiedo 2023).

I care deeply about these issues because I am a college professor in Longview, WA, and I am studying to be a Clinical Mental Health Counselor. I see the pressing need for health care among the people with whom I work on a daily basis. As you know, access to health care prohibits many from receiving the services they need. This bill will allow so many more people to access services that they desperately need; without this bill, the telehealth flexibilities for Medicare will expire at the end of 2024, leaving many without access to health care.

Thank you for your time, consideration, and for your service to our state and country.

Respectfully,

Chris Tower

PO Box 1009

Kalama, WA 98625

gmrstudios2@gmail.com

https://sensedoubt.blogspot.com/

TWO OF MY 3536+ BLOG POSTS

Thursday, May 9, 2024

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3369 - Prevalence Inflation in Mental Health and Adolescents

Saturday, September 12, 2020

A Sense of Doubt blog post #2034 - Justice is what love looks like - Weekly Hodge Podge 2009.12

A NOTE ON MY BLOG: I started daily postings on my Sense of Doubt blog after the death of my mother in 2015 entitled “Hey Mom” posts. My blog was selected to be source material for a scholarly study on coping with the death of parents through blogging by Deakin University of Australia. Though not always about grief, social justice, or mental health, I have written on all these topics and many more for nearly ten years. Also, though not always completely original, and containing many “shares” of the content of others, I try to maintain variety on the topics of interest to me. As such, my blog is the story of my life and my studies.

References

Kho, S., & DeDiego, A. C. (2024). Considerations of Medicare Telehealth Services With Older Adults. Adultspan Journal, 23(2), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.33470/2161-0029.1166

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=a9h&AN=179798021&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s6527200

Marcia M. Ward, Divya Bhagianadh, Fred Ullrich, Kimberly A. S. Merchant, & Carlos Mena. (2024). Overview of School-Based Telehealth Network Grant Program Services Delivered to Students in Rural Schools. Journal of School Nursing, 40(5), 566–573. https://doi.org/10.1177/10598405221142498

https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=shib&db=eric&AN=EJ1439307&site=eds-live&scope=site&custid=s6527200

“Senators Urge Permanent Extension of Telehealth Flexibilities for Medicare Beneficiaries.” (Oct. 3, 2024). American Counseling Association. https://www.counseling.org/publications/media-center/article/2024/10/03/senators-urge-permanent-extension-of-telehealth-flexibilities-for-medicare-beneficiaries

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2411.02 - 10:10

- Days ago: MOM = 3410 days ago & DAD = 066 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I post Hey Mom blog entries on special occasions. I post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day, and now I have a second count for Days since my Dad died on August 28, 2024. I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of Mom's death, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of her death and sometimes 13:40 EDT for the time of Dad's death. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.