The Iowa 2008 blog is a companion to AARP Iowa's Voices for the Future. Conversations reported here are the views of attendees and do not necessarily represent the views or policies of AARP. AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization that does not endorse any candidates nor make contributions to political parties or candidates.
Sioux City, Iowa
A diverse group of individuals participated in a conversation at the Sioux City Convention Center on Thursday night. Compelling stories, ideas and challenges were shared by this group of stakeholders.
A woman shared a story about her husband who had become very sick. He had the option to have surgery to cure the problem, but since they were small business owners and unable to afford insurance, the cost of the surgery was too expensive. Her husband opted not to go through with the surgery because he didn't want to burden his family with tremendous debt. He died without the surgery.
The group regularly emphasized the importance of wellness education, preventative health care and financial literacy.
One participant concluded that there is plenty of money in the United States, but there is a distribution problem with the money. How could money be redistributed so all people can have access to affordable health care?
