Allie, here are my answers to your questions.
Do you know anyone who has sustained a Traumatic Brain Injury?
Yes, I do.
What programs would you look into implementing once elected to help those with Traumatic Brain Injury?
I worked very hard to get SQ 802 passed, which will expand Oklahoma’s Medicaid program to cover more people. I am also supporting the Biden for President campaign, which is promoting a public option nation-wide. To me, that’s the number one issue: if people don’t have financial coverage for health care, their options for treatment of TBI are limited, just as with any other severe and persistent condition.
In the Report to Congress: The Management of Traumatic Brain Injury in Children: Opportunities for Action it states that “in 2003, there were approximately 640,000 TBI-related emergency department (ED) visits, 18,000 TBI-related hospitalizations, and 1,500 TBI-related deaths among children 14 years of age and younger. In this letter I stated Oklahoma is one of the top 10 leading states in the nation with the most cases. What do you propose can be done to start changing this stat?
1) Better safety education with regards to activities such as driving, use of recreational vehicle such as 4-wheelers, swimming and other water recreation, and farm equipment operation.
2) Better parent education and Child Welfare funding, to prevent TBI due to child abuse and neglect. (I saw too much of this when working as a pediatric ICU nurse and maternal-child public health nurse)
3) Better mental health funding to help treat and prevent mental disorders leading to suicide attempts.
If you were to look at the website for the Center for Disease Control under Traumatic Brain Injury > Severe TBI it states “The estimated economic cost of TBI in 2010, including direct and indirect medical costs, is estimated to be approximately $76.5 billion. Additionally the cost of fatal TBIs and TBIs requiring hospitalization, many of which are severe, account for approximately 90% of the total TBI medical costs.” Is there anyway you think it can be balanced here in the state?
I’m not sure what this question is asking. What at the state level needs to be balanced? I’ll be glad to answer if you would clarify a bit.
When it comes to traumatic brain injury related death, self-harm was the leading cause. Besides promoting getting professional help, I would really want to see something done on encouraging kids to building up their circle of friends & teaching them about who you surround yourself with defines you and can really build you up. My doctors greatly attribute a) the support I received & still do from my friends I knew growing up in Chandler when I had/still have flashbacks and being my rock b) Stillwater - community, athletes at OSU for helping to encourage me and to re-learn what it was like to be part of a unit. What type of awareness raising would you do?
See my answer about mental health support and funding, above. I would also be more than willing to work with brain injury support groups around the state to increase awareness and support. I have worked with the disability community in Tulsa and NE Oklahoma as a nurse and social worker, and I would use those contacts to help connect with support groups.
On the GOP’s website, on the platform page under the restoring the American Dream, it says “We are the party of a growing economy that gives everyone a chance in life, an opportunity to learn, work, and realize the prosperity freedom makes possible.” Do you believe this is in any way, shape, or form is really true? When there are those with Traumatic Brain Injury and Disabilities who are fighting to have an equal chance and I know there those in our party who believe Traumatic Brain Injury, Post Traumatic Brain Injury, and Disability are not important issues. What say you?
I am not a member of the Republican Party and so I can’t really speak to their concerns and their platform.
On the Democrats website, it says that your mission is to elect democrats across the state of Oklahoma and to educate citizens about the cultural diversity, freedom and equality that the Oklahoma Democratic Party represents. Is that a little too much to assume about the party that all the candidates will be able to do this? How will you be able to ensure you have candidates that truly represent what you brag the party represents and then if elected what do you plan on doing to ensuring you carry out that mission?
In response to your question "Is that a little too much to assume about the party that all the candidates will be able to do this?": anyone who is registered as a Democrat in Oklahoma is free to pay the filing fee, file the paperwork, and run as a candidate. The Party doesn’t prevent anyone from running, and Democratic voters have their choice at the ballot box during the primary election as to which candidates best represent the party’s values. It’s a good thing that we are able to vote for our preferred candidates (and we welcome Independent voters to vote in our primaries as well). Yes, I believe overall in the mission, or I wouldn’t be a Democrat, and we do our best to make sure our candidates represent our values.
If elected, I’ll carry out the mission of promoting cultural diversity, freedom, and equality by supporting legislation that I believe best provides for legal, economic, and educational justice to all citizens of the state, regardless of their race, religion, culture, or abilities; and by also supporting legislation that protects free enterprise while providing for appropriate regulation to make sure that businesses (especially large nationally-based ones) provide living wages and safe working conditions.
How would the Libertarian party compared to the Republican and Democratic party be able to help ensure that those living with a Traumatic Brain Injury had a better quality of life and once they left the hospital were still able to gain access to services to providers who would best meet their needs to help them?
I’m not connected to the Libertarian Party, so I don’t know the answer to this one.
Those with Traumatic Brain Injuries and Disabilities depend on both Social Security Insurance and Medicaid/Medicare. I was kicked off a few months after I was married. Even before I was married I was only allowed to make $80/mth before money started getting cut back. Since being kicked off I am working on doing something that will not only benefit those on SSI & Medicaid/Medicare but get the agencies talking to one another. What are you planning to do to help those with Traumatic Brain Injuries and Disabilities who depend on SSI and are either completely unable to work or can work some but not work the total time someone a without disability does?
I would work to increase the Oklahoma SSI state supplement, and make it more generous. I don’t believe it has kept up with inflation over the years and I think that needs to be fixed. I also think that SNAP benefits need to be increased.
Please answer these at your best convenience. I am only someone who is working to help others like me.
Sincerely,
Allie Murie
Director, TBI Raiders
Left-Right Traumatic Brain Injury survivor