How Could You?
How can you write an article on the "creative class" in Knoxville [Feb. 6] and not mention nor interview at least a couple of UT professors? In this same issue Jack Neely discusses at some length the Art and Architecture Building. Are there no creative people working in that edifice? The English Department at UT contains several published novelists and poets. Shoot, you can even bump into creative people in our department.
Todd A. Diacon
Department of History
University of Tennessee
A Real Plan to Fix the System
As someone who has worked as a primary-care provider within the TennCare system for seven years, it has becoming increasingly difficult to stomach complaints that more money will fix TennCare. Yeah, we need more money, but money won't fix anything if we don't prevent the diseases in the first place.
Oversized everything—from burgers to sodas to cars and televisions—has led us, as a nation, to become the fattest people in the world. Obesity is 30 percent in America and Type II diabetes is epidemic. All the money and medications in the world will not save TennCare if we do not end this downfall. Unfortunately, disease prevention is not as interesting or profitable as life-saving heroics, so there is little reimbursement from the insurance industries.
Secondly, restaurants, pharmaceutical companies, city government, and schools do not support preventive care. We drive everywhere, are served outrageously large portions of fried and sugary foods, and wash it down with gallons of sodas. Our children are fatter than ever. They do not walk to school and there is no daily physical education.
We are taught that a pill will fix what ails us. Rather than having to take the latest purple pill at over $100 monthly, less sugary, greasy food would help. I've had patients tell me they drink 4-10 liters of Coke a day! Soda used to be a treat, now it's a staple. At a minimum the schools should at least stock the Coke machines with diet drinks. And at a minimum city governments should provide adequate sidewalks to facilitate walking. Children as young as 15 year are acquiring Type II diabetes from poor eating and exercise habits. Keep in mind that it takes five prescription medications to treat a Type II diabetic effectively. Then start adding arthritic medications etc. to treat the pain from the obesity and the picture gets very expensive.
Many TennCare patients fit this description. TennCare provides insurance to those no other insurance companies want: that is, the sickest of the sickest. This is the population who have abused their bodies most, are morbidly obese, have endless chronic diseases, or just have bad luck and have some disease or condition that makes them "uninsurable." The average TennCare patient takes seven prescription medications. Most patients have very little concept of health or good nutrition.
Those of us who care for TennCare patients care for the hardest patients. We have the fewest resources and work with a very unstable network of specialists to help out. Patients are most definitely discriminated against.
In order for a primary care provider to make a buck treating TennCare patients, we can spend a whole five minutes with them. This in essence creates the revolving door syndrome. We throw some prescriptions at them and tell them to quit smoking and lose weight as we run out the door to see the other 50 people in our waiting room. Sadly this is what the patients expect! There is very little time to teach lifestyle changes and little money in the budget for mental health to help them change some of these habits. More ironically, however, is that TennCare will gladly pay for the five medications it takes to treat a diabetic properly, but will do nothing to help patients lose the weight that starts the cascade. Nor will they cover any remedies that aid in cigarette cessation. They simply don't. Here we have a population, many with very poor health and few resources, who are in dire need of lifestyle modification, yet little is devoted by TennCare that lends support to successfully making those changes. Money and effort is needed in health education and in the prevention of disease and obesity. I would like to see the state and federal governments live up to their founding premise of truly promoting and supporting preventive health care and make it possible for this very unhealthy population to make some positive changes.
Tina Rosling
Knoxville
In Defense of Two Feathers
[In response to a Jan. 30 Letter to the Editor by Greg and Rachel Sewell Nesteruk]
I don't know where you have been. Or who you work for. But I know that the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act doesn't get it here in Tennessee.
Someone needs to wake up! TDOT and the state have their own ACT. Tell me why there are so many boxes of Indians in the McClung Museum just setting there. These remains should be returned and buried.
Carl Two Feathers is at least the only Indian I know of who gives a flip about his ancestors around here in East Tennessee. Many others just run their mouth with no action. I met Mr. Two Feathers at a protest in Townsend two years ago. He led many people to try to save their native history. And lately I still see by your news that he is still doing it. I am proud to know that someone is doing something to save what history we have here in the area. I just wish that there were more people like him everywhere!
David Fields
Maryville
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