Jan 29 2009
Save a Fortune Now, Pay a Mega-Fortune Later…
As many of you know, my niece and nephew both have Rigid Spine Muscular Dystrophy. One of the problems with this, and there are many I assure you, is the lack of muscle development. This lack also affects their lungs. That is why I had all of you help purchase the Cough Assist machine for them last year. It usually helps them stay out of the hospital. Unfortunately my niece is currently in ICU at Primary Children’s Hospital in SLC.
Our healthcare system in the U.S. is pretty much crap. Not even pretty much, it is just crap. Our doctors and nurses are awesome. Our insurance… NOT awesome.
I am extremely sad that my sister-in-law and brother-in-law will probably become bankrupt soon because of medical bills. My niece and nephew qualify for a Medicaid waiver allowing them to be on Medicaid, and it allows their parents to still work. Unfortunately there are only so many of these waivers in the State of Utah. Basically other kids need to die in order for my niece and nephew to get them. Otherwise my sister-in-law and brother-in-law need to spend all of their money, and quit their jobs to get the same medical care. LAME. LAME. LAME.
Did I mention LAME?
If you know anyone that can help with this please let me know. We have written letters to our local and state government trying to get additional Medicaid waivers approved. Instead we hear they are going to cut them. What? They would rather have people live on welfare and receive Medicaid than have working/contributing members of society work and pay taxes.
HMMMM.
I should mention these Medicaid wavers are given to children with disabilities. They were designed to help these children live the best life they can.
This is a message my sister-in-law Jasmine wrote today on her facebook account. I want to share it all with you.
The US health care system is one bandaid fix, upon another bandaid fix, upon another. The doctors are as good as anywhere else, the staff are trained and the floors are clean - and yet as a country, the United States is ranked #37 as a health system by the World Health Organization.
This is because actually accessing care is impossible for tens of millions - even those that have health insurance, because they simply cannot afford to pay the bill.
The United States spends nearly $7000 per capita each year on health care - the highest in the world - and yet it is estimated that 18,000 people die needlessly each year, simply because they are uninsured or underinsured.
Phoenix’s intensive care doctor was sickened to receive her into intensive care yesterday. She was sickened because Phoenix could have had an RSV vaccination two months ago, but because of the highly inflated cost of $3,300 for three needles, we had to literally turn the delivery man away at the door. This was a very difficult decision for us to make and it ate away at me for weeks because Isis nearly died from RSV at Phoenix’s age, as many of you remember. Earlier that morning, Phoenix’s doctor had admitted a young mexican boy who had become blind from an untreated tumor - this tumor was untreated for the exact reason that Phoenix didn’t get her RSV shots - the cost.
Australia spends just over $3000 per capita and every person has access to care. The current Australian system, known as Medicare, coexists with a private health system. Medicare is funded partly by a 1.5% income tax levy (with exceptions for low-income earners), but mostly out of general revenue. An additional levy of 1% is imposed on high-income earners without private health insurance. As well as Medicare, there is a separate Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that heavily subsidises prescription medications. Doctors still make great incomes and the public hardly notices the tax.
As my sister put it last night sitting by Phoenix’s bed, “In Australia, we all take care of each other”. I hope to be able to sit by my children’s hospital beds in the future and be able to focus all my worry and attention upon my sick child living and recovering, rather than how on earth we are going to pay for it.
I hope for the day where we all take care of each other here too.
