As you start your historic — and no doubt childish and hysteria filled — discussions about healthcare reform in conference committee, I’d like to share a story about my insurance company with you.<\/p>\n
As you read this please keep in mind that I have great insurance. I get better care, more care, with fewer hurdles than most people — than I’ve ever had before — courtesy of my husband’s employment with a certain large software company based in Redmond, WA.<\/p>\n
I have had rheumatoid arthritis for seven years. My care is coordinated by a world-renowned rheumatologist. I am a hard case, and have gone from drug to drug trying to find one that lets me get out of bed for more than four hours a day. Most of these drugs have been new and therefore expensive. But the same expensive — about $22,000 per year regardless of which biologic I’m on. My doc has me on a new one now. Because it’s new, the pharmaceutical company is footing the bill for it for six months. Still, I got a letter from them a couple weeks ago telling me that they were approving my use of this drug, but only for three months. After that I’ll have to get approved all over again.<\/p>\n
The moral of this story is that it doesn’t matter whether healthcare is run by a company or the government: there is always going to be someone between me and my physician, between me and the care he or she thinks I need. The only way that won’t happen is if I win the lottery and self-insure. Then I can ask myself if I really need something, make my doctor provide me with proof that I’m really sick (faxed, please — we don’t do electronic medical records yet), and try to talk my doc and drug companies into accepting less money than what they bill for my care.<\/p>\n
Good luck and try to be civil. There are children watching.<\/p>\n
Lisa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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