Where's all the INDIVIDUAL STORIES of suffering under our health care??!

[PretzelWarrior]

I saw Obama's site was collecting people's stories. Well, where are they and why aren't they being publicized more? To me, the way to combat all this fear mongering about Canadian or European style disasters is to talk about the disaster occurring every day in our country.

I saw some on Bill Moyers and other programs. So why aren't we seeing more of these people like how Obama did in that infomercial prior to his nomination?

[4lbs]

1. I plan on attending a town hall near where I live in a few weeks.

I'll be telling everyone about my own health care issue if I get the chance.

[rustydog]

2. You mean like the pencil-pushing fuck at my wife's insurance

company who over rode her physician and denied her a c-pap and denied a stress test?
Her o2 sats drop to the low 80's when she sleeps and this profit-loving PRICK gets to over rule the physician because of cost...let's not find out if this is a cardiac issue, testing costs money and that means there is money some fucking CEO or Shareholder can't greedily stuff in another orifice.

Stories like that?

[4lbs]

6. I mean more along the lines of I lost my excellent private insurance when I got laid off,

and then spent more than 3 years without health coverage, because I was denied by several different insurers for a pre-existing condition.

Then, I was lucky enough (not everyone is) to get on the state major risk medical plan, but that just means I pay more than twice as much monthly as I used to on private insurance, for much less coverage and a large deductible up front.

The ironic thing is that this state major risk medical plan is administered by one of the private insurance companies (psst... Blue Shield of CA) that denied me personal private insurance. I'm now on the Kaiser HMO plan, which is what I had during the 1980s and early 1990s when I was under my parents' health insurance, who worked for the federal government.

Still, it's better than nothing. Nevertheless, it should be much, much, better.


However, your situation is quite compelling.

[PretzelWarrior]

7. yeah. stuff like that. it is bullshit. we need people to know.

just like we got through on Big Tobacco. We need to get through about what pricks these people are. Just like the Enron energy traders saying "Burn baby burn"

[rvablue]

4. Maybe you could call your Representative in advance and ask

for 5 minutes to tell your story?

There are a lot of folks who both have health insurance and are healthy (for the time being). They need to be schooled, up close and personal, what it is like for those who are suffering under this system, as they might also one day if things don't change.

Good luck to you!

[4lbs]

5. I don't live in the district, but nearby. So, technically, I'm not one of her constituents, but a

supporter.

[Bucky]

3. It's almost like the people being screwed by the system don't have the same amount of dollars

This is the nature of things when you stand up for the have-nots. The marketing money abused patients have has already been spent on exorbitant HMO fees.

[bbinacan]

8. Be careful of what you

wish for. The Wingers will jump all over this.

"When Barbara’s lung cancer reappeared during the spring of 2008 her oncologist recommended aggressive treatment with Tarceva, a new chemotherapy. However, Oregon’s state run health plan denied the potentially life altering drug because they did not feel it was "cost-effective." Instead, the State plan offered to pay for either hospice care or physician-assisted suicide."

http://www.physiciansforreform.org/index.php?id=30

[PretzelWarrior]

9. most of that can be proven false or wildly exaggerated

for instance. was Tarceva outlandishly expensive? Was it an experimental drug with not yet proven efficacy? This one, from what I know about Oregon, is completely misleading. The stories of people dying or paying 10s of thousands more for advanced stage cancer vs. early diagnosis and treatment due to insurance bullshit far outnumber any of these wild tales.

[bbinacan]

10. Do you have data

or links to back your assertion?

[HughMoran]

11. Are you promoting the Freeper view?

Why only find a negative example and then argue about it?

[bbinacan]

13. Not promoting any view.

I just find it interesting when people make assertions about things being made up or widely exaggerated without supporting data.

[PretzelWarrior]

15. which is funny because you were the first to do so.

without fully researching the claim you just threw it out there. way to go.

[PretzelWarrior]

12. yes.

http://philadelphia.injuryboard.com/fda-and-prescription-drugs/new-warnings-for-tarceva.aspx?googleid=263706

http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2008/11/sensationalizing_a_sad_case_ch.html

google is your friend. like I said...don't believe the hype.

[bbinacan]

14. While I thank you for the links,

I'm even more chilled by them. Your second link is most telling. It says we know better and let her die. She'd be better in hospice. That should be my choice. If I want a shot at an 8% chance of survival, than it should be up to me. Not some number cruncher. The more I hear about "health reform" the more I scrutinize it.

[PretzelWarrior]

16. if you can afford to take your 8% gamble, be my guest.

I bet a private insurer would reject the treatment as well. WOuldn't they? Are you really a Democrat or progressive?

[bbinacan]

18. No need to attack

Why so sensitive? Case in point, I knew a woman diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was told she had 2-6 months to live. She made it 2 1/2 years. Why is it that you question my affiliations? Just because I may not agree with you?

edit to add: I feel like I'm at a town hall meeting and the mob mentality just arrived.

[bbinacan]

19. From the link you provided

I guess you didn't see the comment. Let me help you out. Here it is.

Posted by LetDocDecide on 12/25/08 at 12:16AM
My wife was diagnosed with Stage IIIb lung cancer (which really should have been stage IV) in April 2006. The diagnosing surgeon anounced that there was no hope, and that my wife would only live a short time. In fact, the prognosis for my wife suggested she had a 1%-2% chance of surviving 2 years. Thankfully, we had an ambitious Oncologist that thought the surgeon's opinion was wrong.

While it is easy to armchair quarterback the appropriateness of health care treatments. You can be the one that tells my 8 and 10 year old sons that their mother should not receive Tarceva because it is an "experimental treatment". The efficacy of all chemotheray treatments are ALL poor. The first line chemo treatment (carboplaten/Paclitaxel) that my wife received had only a 35% likelyhood of a positive response. That was 2 years and 8 months ago and she is still kicking. Her response to Tarceva has been an exceptional one, resulting in a significant reduction of the size and number of tumors in her remaining right lung. After a 3rd tier chemo treatment failed 3 months ago, Tarceva is probably the only reason she is spending Christmas day with me and my boys. In fact, I expect that she will continue having a positive response to the Tarceva for at least a couple of months. Anyone with a loved one with a terminal disease would appreciate the added time.

On the topic of cost and side effects, the side-effects of Tarceva (rash and diahrea) are nothing compared to the side effects of the Taxane or platinum chemotherapy drugs (severe anemia, reduced white blood counts and platelet levels, severe nausia, body PAIN, etc..).

In addition to these benefits, the cost of Tarceva (about $4000/month) is NOT HIGHER than the cost of chemotherapy (about $8000 per treatment every 3 weeks). It is expensive to treat cancer, period. It is unclear to me whether the author of this news story is appealing for the denial of all cancer treatments, or just Tarceva. If that is the case, they can tell the family of the next Stage IIIb/IV lung cancer patient that treatment is not worth the cost. What the hell, perhaps we should just Euthanize all cancer patients at the time of dianosis to save a little money.

I believe that the spiralling costs of health care are not caused by the compassionate treatment of those with terminal diseases. The real culprits are 1)the fact that to many individuals that have no health insurance use emergency care at a huge cost premium over preventative care; 2) People have had no incentive to use healthy lifestyles as a preventative; 3) Many people with insurance are not smart shoppers when it comes to health care. This leads to people having expensive diagnostic procedures like MRI and CT scans inappropriately.

We need to wakeup, do a little research into the available treatments for our ailments, and determine if the increased public cost for not insuring everyone and using more preventative health care.

Respectfully
Bob

[HughMoran]

20. This is an odd poster

I have no idea how somebody with such neanderthal views has been here for so long.

[bbinacan]

21. Not this shit again.

What happened to a free flow of ideas?

[HughMoran]

23. Right wing ideas?

No thanks.

[bbinacan]

24. You're hopeless. n/t

[HughMoran]

25. Et tu?

A chance to reform healthcare for the first time in 60 years and we have a person here spewing selected examples that YOU say are indicative of what healthcare reform might bring. I say bullfuckingshit, why would anybody in their right mind do this?

[bbinacan]

26. et tu brute?

You need to seriously relax.

[Uzybone]

17. if only Michael Moore made a documentary about them...

[JustAnotherGen]

22. A simple one

I have Ankylosing Spondylitis. My health insurance didn't want to pay for Enbrel which stops the 'hunch back syndrome'/squeezing of your lungs by your rib cage, etc. etc. - Wanna know why?

The pencil pushing putz didn't believe a black woman would have it. Go figure. Have the gene, positive for R.A. factor. They are nitwits.

BTW - Special shout out to my physician for going to the mattresses and putting the pencil pusher in his/her place. He's the doctor. His way or the highway.

We won. I get Enbrel.

Now if you don't have one of the 'Best' and he's not willing to go to the mattresses for you - the Health Insurance companies would have said: You were born with HLA-B27 - why don't you just shrivel up and die?


I appreciate the dissenting poster offering their view. I really really do.
But people are told these same things by the HEALTH INSURANCE SCAM ARTISTS every single day.

Wake up! They hate their customers and love ripping them off: I.E. Taking their money and never making good on their product.

[PretzelWarrior]

28. that is a good one. if for no other reason that it is so mundane and everyday.

I could see this type of scenario being repeated millions of times a year to the tune of billions of profits that are based on not providing the coverage people deserve when they fork over the premiums.

[Autumn]

27. K/R. Owed you one from yesterday

I too would like to see another one like that infomercial, that was hard hitting and touching.

[Orsino]

29. You mean, why aren't corporate MSM outlets covering them?

And why aren't more Democratic leaders repeating and acting on them?

[PretzelWarrior]

30. yes. that's exactly what I mean. there are many weapons in our arsenal

and we need to use them. personal stories of how this current system is breaking down, leaving people behind, killing them...and everyone's health care is open to risk even if they have employer based health care.

[Native]

31. I'll tell you why - it's because the people who are against health care reform simply don't give a

shit about anyone's medical horror story. Unless it is happening to them or an immediate family member, it's simply a matter of their paying for someone else's care. We've had several medical horror stories recently in the St. Pete Times, and it makes me want to hurl my breakfast when I read some of the ltte's in response. The mob mentality is me, me, me. They don't care about mankind. They don't think beyond point A. They don't know the meaning of consequences. As far as I'm concerned, they're all ate up.