Health care access by bake sale.....

Nurses Activism

Published

the following is a prime example of the amorality of our current health insurance system. any system that requires bake sales and blog fundraisers to meet the needs of patients is no system at all.

from http://helpconnie.blogspot.com/index.html

the diabetes team says that i have less than 5 years to live if i do not get this important medical equipment to act as a normal pancreas for me. several loving and supporting friends and family have put this page together for me, in hopes that we can raise the funds necessary to get the [color=#72179d]cgms that i need to stay healthy and alive. the pump, alone, is $6000, and it looks like anthem will pay for that part of it. however, the [color=#72179d]continued glucose monitoring system (cgms) they will not, due to how new the product is. the important part is monitoring my glucose levels as a normal person does, every 5 seconds, and having the pump then secrete the amount of insulin necessary for blood sugar correction. the [color=#72179d]cgms has two parts to it: the first is a 7 month to one year part called the transmitter, that costs $1000. the second is a small sensor inserted under my skin for a period of 3 days at a time, that cost $32.00 for one. these are the two parts insurance won't pay for.

I remember a bone marrow raffle for a 2 year old some time back. Enough money wasn't raised, the boy did not get the transplant and died.

Specializes in Rotor EMS, Ped's ICU, CT-ICU,.

When someone shows evidence that this would be covered under a universal payor, then there might be a point to the criticism. As it stands, socialized systems tend to ration care and deny more expensive treatments like this when cheaper options are available.

It's quite effective; the patient doesn't live as long, and the expense is eliminated.

Coverage of bone marrow transplant patients: a survey of American and Canadian institutions.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9701392&dopt=Abstract (There was more involvement on the East coasts of both countries than the West. University hospitals in both countries were more likely to do BMT’s.)

Unlike some private insurers Canadian Medicare does not deny a BMT the physician determines is the preferred treatment.

Canadian Medicare pays for children living in the remote Northwest Territories to travel to San Francisco for their BMT.

http://www.ucsfhealth.org/childrens/medical_services/cancer/bmt/moreinfo/research.html

Toronto:

http://www.nature.com/bmt/journal/v30/n2/full/1703579a.html

Public Health Agency of Canada:

http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/publicat/tbwimf-mcplv/treat1_e.html

I see your point that it's a tragedy if someone dies because they couldn't raise enough money to pay for life-saving treatment. It IS a tragedy.

But would a universal system definitely cover a continued glucose monitoring system in this scenario?

In the UK, there have many people upset because certain newer drugs aren't approved. Is it because they aren't considered proven as better across the board? Is it because these drugs are more expensive than conventional treatments? The debates go round and round.

The government also has to draw the line somewhere on what it will pay for, just like insurance companies do. Sad, but true. If we did have universal care, we'd probably have big debates over whether or not to cover expensive new therapies. Some would be approved. Others wouldn't, at least for a time.

I do think universal health coverage would help more people access health care, but there is no perfect solution that solves every problem.

jjjoy:

You are right. Life will always have challenges.

I am selfish and lazy. It is a struggle when comfortable at home to go out and volunteer. But I will feel guilty otherwise.

jjjoy:

You are right. Life will always have challenges.

I am selfish and lazy. It is a struggle when comfortable at home to go out and volunteer. But I will feel guilty otherwise.

I'm not sure what you mean by the selfish and lazy comment. It's great that you care enough to give others out there (us) a heads up about what kinds of problems to health care access there is out there. I was simply commenting on the implication that a change in our health care system would mean that this family would then have access to this life-saving technology.

:cheers:

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