Guess what I heard about today

Colonoscopies are recommended for people over 50 as a diagnostic, preventive tool. Katie Couric had one on tv so everyone could see how much fun they are. Insurance companies send out brochures to their customers encouraging them to get one. BUT...

Today I heard about my friend's sister. She made an appointment for a colonoscopy. She is 60. It's a routine test, so the insurance company said sure, we'll pay, no problem.

During the test, the doctor found a polyp. As is routine, since he's already there, he snips it out.

Now, the routine colonoscopy has become a surgical procedure. Guess what the insurance company says?

We won't pay, this was not pre-approved.

Big surprise, hmmmm?

Diabetes types 1 and 2

Everyone hears about Type 2 diabetes from the news, from magazines, from television. Type 2 is related to lifestyle choices, by all accounts. It can often be managed by reversing those choices. But Type 1 doesn't get so much coverage, because it is more rare and maybe because it affects children more than adults, at least in its initial diagnosis. As I have already written, my 8 year old grandson has Type 1 diabetes. We found out when he was 4. No lifestyle choices make any difference in whether a person gets Type 1 diabetes or not. No lifestyle choices can reverse it. It just appears, and while researchers have a lot of theories, they don't really know why any individual becomes diabetic. All that is well and good, but unfortunately for people like my grandson, since newscasters and others don't differentiate when they talk about diabetes between type 1 and type 2, people who don't know any better could get the impression that somehow all people who have diabetes have it because of their own actions. And considering the state of health care in this country, and the problems convincing people that universal health care should be an important issue, the difference might matter.

The true cost of health

I had an asthma attack yesterday in Belk. My mother was with me and it lead to a discussion about health care, because obviously my mother is concerned and thinks I need to see the doctor. That is probably true (no, definitely true) but honestly I am afraid to go. There is the co-pay, which with my insurance is $25. But what if there is something more wrong and I need tests? Those are not generally covered until I have met my deductible, which is $1500. Then there is the issue of steroids, which is the general treatment for asthma and which frightens me. But what if something else is going on? What if it turns out to be more serious and less treatable than asthma?
Oh, well. It is time to visit the doctor and take whatever comes.

Rivalry

So today is the big Clemson/Carolina football game. It seems important now, of course. I went to school at Clemson, and it means a lot to me, but it isn't the be-all and end-all, of course. After Monday, when the fans of the winners get to grin at the fans of the losers, it is done. For most of us, anyway. But the bigger rivalry, that between those who see government as the absolute problem and those who see certain government interventions as the potential solution, will continue. And those of us who worry about what will happen in the future, who are concerned about the health care situation in this country, will continue to fight for what we think is the right thing, the only reasonable thing to do.

Another day in paradise

I was reminded of this Phil Collins song by a young man today. And also today, I listened to a friend who is worried about her daughter. Her daughter is in her late teens, early twenties. She has type 1 diabetes, which of course means that nothing she did caused the disease; nothing she did could have prevented it. Partly because of the disease, she can't get health insurance easily. She doesn't have the kind of job that offers group coverage, and of course private insurance companies can pick and choose who they cover, and how much they charge. So she makes do as best she can. In a previous post I talked about my grandson, who is 8 and also has type 1 diabetes, so this friend of mine has been a source of information and comfort for me as I travel this path with my grandson. Anyway, my friend's daughter has MRSA in her thumb, and may lose it, and to hear her experiences of the last few days made me want to scream. And aside from the MRSA, her mother thinks she may be in ketoacidosis (look it up), which basically means her blood sugar is extremely, dangerously out of whack. And part of the reason this may be so is because those little strips she uses to check her blood sugar, which basically are just a means to deliver the blood to the meter, cost $1.50 EACH. And a person with type 1 diabetes (and I imagine also type 2) uses as many as 200 of those little strips per month (I know Adam checks his sugar level at least 5 times per day). That translates into over $200/month just to find out what her blood sugar level is, not including the necessary insulin to maintain it at a healthy level.
And with all this, the most ironic thing for me is that her mother votes republican as far as I know. What is wrong with this picture? My friend loves her child, yet I am sure she doesn't think there should be universal health care. I love her, and my heart breaks for her and for her child, and my vote, MY VOTE, will go to those who will make this better.