It’s Too Hard to be Sick In America
Foxy Mop
Posts: 2,823
I don't really post in AMT at all, but I've been meaning to do mention this for awhile now.
My dad was diagnosed with CML/chronic myelogenous leukemia and it was hard to get insurance coverage for gallons of blood he would run through, the surgeries, the hospital stays and the aggressive treatment he needed. It took months, almost a year, for him to even get into the clinical trial program for medicine called Gleevac which is now a common used drug that has had great success in keeping the CML at bay, at least for awhile. (On a side note, nowadays it costs $32,000 per year for a 400 mg/day dose). My dad lived 11 years longer than the original 3 months they gave him, but many of those years were spend worried, frustrated, horrified and angry because of quagmire of crap in dealing with the insurance companies.
This post is about Advocacy for Patients. This is Jennifer Jaff's newest book. Inside are stories about Jennifer and all of the people Jennifer fights for. Mike McCready wrote the forward.
I hope that it's not, but with the way our insurance companies are headed, one day this could be you;
http://www.advocacyforpatients.org/too_hard.pdf
Please give it a read, then donate a dollar, five dollars, or whatever you can to help her help the people who have to fight to get treatment they deserve in this country.
Please mail donations to the address below:
Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness, Inc.
c/o Jennifer C. Jaff
18 Timberline Drive
Farmington, CT 06032
Or donate to the organization using PayPal from the Advocacy website at: http://advocacyforpatients.org
Thanks
My dad was diagnosed with CML/chronic myelogenous leukemia and it was hard to get insurance coverage for gallons of blood he would run through, the surgeries, the hospital stays and the aggressive treatment he needed. It took months, almost a year, for him to even get into the clinical trial program for medicine called Gleevac which is now a common used drug that has had great success in keeping the CML at bay, at least for awhile. (On a side note, nowadays it costs $32,000 per year for a 400 mg/day dose). My dad lived 11 years longer than the original 3 months they gave him, but many of those years were spend worried, frustrated, horrified and angry because of quagmire of crap in dealing with the insurance companies.
This post is about Advocacy for Patients. This is Jennifer Jaff's newest book. Inside are stories about Jennifer and all of the people Jennifer fights for. Mike McCready wrote the forward.
I hope that it's not, but with the way our insurance companies are headed, one day this could be you;
http://www.advocacyforpatients.org/too_hard.pdf
Please give it a read, then donate a dollar, five dollars, or whatever you can to help her help the people who have to fight to get treatment they deserve in this country.
Please mail donations to the address below:
Advocacy for Patients with Chronic Illness, Inc.
c/o Jennifer C. Jaff
18 Timberline Drive
Farmington, CT 06032
Or donate to the organization using PayPal from the Advocacy website at: http://advocacyforpatients.org
Thanks
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edit: I meant to say family at the end.
Thanks, Jeff. It's been five years since he's passed, so it's gotten easier, I suppose.
Reading Jennifer's stories scares me because at any point in time any of us can get injured at work, get diagnosed with a disorder or disease and be completely left in the dust by the insurance agencies and government. Having lived through it on the fringe as a teenager with my dad makes me even more concerned as an adult and mom.
This is my kind of love...
♥♥♥
It's a real eye opener isn't it. I work in the health industy and see it often. It's not until it happens to you that you realize just how screwed up the whole system can be. Being seriously ill is enough for anyone to contend with at the best of times and on top of that the System put in place to supposedly work for you, more than often works against you. It's absolutely wrong.
My Aunt had/has pancreatic cancer diagnosed two years ago and financially it has practically destroyed her life. She is in a constant state of losing her home. She and my mom who live together, have to go to a food bank now at a local church closet with a few canned items available.
I too lost everything due to a chronic illness and no insurance for years.
America, it's time to take care of the sick without regards to money. There must be a way.
Thank you for sharing your story Jennifer.
And yet...there apparently really are people who think that government will be an improvement in the bureaucracy that is the health insurance industry today.
...are those who've helped us.
Right 'round the corner could be bigger than ourselves.
Damn... so sorry...
This is when I am happy to live in a country like this one with a national health service... as flawed as it may be.
sorry you are wrong, for the most part Medcaid works fine, so why not expand it beyond the poor, to include all uninsured. This biggest issues is the cost...
In addition I have a friend who's father is a big time doctor and has done well for himself and actually supports some form of nation health care however says it will never happen until the amount of compensation in malpractice lawsuits are under control. The money that a doctor has to pay for insurance would make them loss money in a nation plan.
thanks for info Foxy
I grew up in Canada. I saw a system that had a few flaws but was GROSSLY misrepresented by the American media. I never had to worry when I lived there.. here a simple slip and fall can bankrupt you.
and a full time criminal
Is your avatar meant to look like a cross between Obama & Bush or has my vision just gotten that bad?
or cripple you for life.
http://www.geocities.com/ivykennedy/chat/sicko.htm
i mean to the fat cats in DC care? no. it's all about making a buck.
is the guy that reform canada's healthcare still alive? why can't we follow his model?