"Expert Panels"
They often say the reason life is hell is because God is watching from a distance. So if my new God- "expert panel" is watching from a distance how is my quality of care not going to be compromised? Is the same "expert panel" who says infusions don't need a needle to thread the tubing? Is this the same "expert panel" who thinks steroids are emergency treatment for MS only not pulse. Is this the same "expert panel" that has not approved chemotherapy (a treatment that works) for MS. Who is this "expert panel"? Who is going to decide how long I get treatment for MS. When is the cut off? Do they stop treating me in my 60's? I mean apparently I will be old and chronically ill so that means at some point they will cut me off my meds? OH wait I will meet with people to discuss if I want to die. The 3 years in therapy I had to NOT kill myself that they paid for seems kind of useless. The 3 years of depression for being diagnosed with MS and having my life rug ripped out from under neath me MUST totally be all my fault. I should just dies because my insurance cancelled me. OH WAIT you mean I am going to have "care" and an "expert panel" is going to decide? AN EXPERT FUCKING PANEL. Let me explain MS. When I was diagnosed I was at Grady (a state run hospital) where they kept me a week on steroids WHICH CAN BE DONE OUT PATIENT but no state run politics made me admit to a room. Then I was told by my neuro I was never having an exacerbation unless I was blind. Ummmm NOT TRUE. I have them all the time. Well had but the stress of health care is causing me to get ill. Because MS and stress are like that. So for years I degenrated to Primary Progressive MS which is pretty severe stage of MS because I was not getting the treatment I needed. Then I discovered The Multiple Sclerosis Center of Atlanta. I had to wait 3 months to get a referral to go. When I got the referral the head doctor of the Neuro clinic at Grady said "you did not know. If I was your age and had MS I would go there. I mean we can treat you but we are focused on so many other diseases that focusing just on MS is a hard thing to do" that is when I realized sometimes specialist were needed and appropriate. But my social worker,my doctor,NO ONE told me this place existed. I had to get really tired of being sick all the time.. and google it. So now here I stand. A good portion of my treatment is not approved for use in MS. "Expert Panels" like the FDA have determined that. Because of that Medicare part D does not pay for those medicines and I have to get them through charity networks. To get medications through charity networks you have to petition them that you need that medicine and you have to do it frequently. Repetitioning is a bitch. BECAUSE THEY have "expert panels" that say your cause qualifies or does not qualify for this medication. Most of these expert panels work for the pharmaceutical company these drugs come from. They are pretty forgiving hey using it for it's unapproved usuage may lead to approved usage and therefore more money in the long run for them. The humiliation of being a guinea pig for me. Because some EXPERT PANEL said I don't need _________blank to stay awake- why do I need to be awake. I am disabled I can sleep all day.. Why the hell do I need to I don't know stay focused for 4 hours? Can you tell one of my medications keeps me awake? What I am saying here is the bureacracy of EXPERT PANELS is what is wrong with Medicare right now. It's one of the issues that needs to be fixed. A health czar is not an improvement. An improvement would be to trust the doctors to make judgments about their patients health NOT EXPERT PANELS. You have to do it in a way that prevents abuse of the system and abuse of the patient. In the past EXPERT PANELS have done this by cutting the money. When the money get's cut it only becomes a mexican staring contests with patients HEALTH in the balance. AND THAT IS FUCKED. I am not saying hand over all your dollars. I am saying that doctors who truelly care about their patients do not abuse the system. Apparently, I have been bottling this crap up for days. Down to the gist.
I believe in Health Care REFORM... I do not believe that this should entail a new policy of Universal Health Care till the OLD POLICY is reformed. See first you fix the thing ya already have before giving it out broken. I do not agree with "EXPERT PANELS" deciding what treatment is best for me. That is something for myself and my doctor to discuss together. Not some EXPERT PANEL that is just a fancy way of saying RED TAPE. I find that the fact that people are ignoring the blatant call for cuts to Medicare SHOCKING. Especially one person who tried to tell me they are cutting it so they can give you more back. ARE YOU NEW? The Government never cuts anything so that it can later give you more back. They cut it to cut it. I think this Health Care Reform Bill should be about 100 pages long and only be discussing reform. TILL THEN I will fight,scream,and yell about how asinine it is. After we reform health care and deal with illegal immigrants then---then you want to discuss Universal Health Care.. OK. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME. Let's talk about it. But don't lump it in with all the CRAP your trying to pull. Then, then it just makes it crap.
The article that started today's rant
I believe in Health Care REFORM... I do not believe that this should entail a new policy of Universal Health Care till the OLD POLICY is reformed. See first you fix the thing ya already have before giving it out broken. I do not agree with "EXPERT PANELS" deciding what treatment is best for me. That is something for myself and my doctor to discuss together. Not some EXPERT PANEL that is just a fancy way of saying RED TAPE. I find that the fact that people are ignoring the blatant call for cuts to Medicare SHOCKING. Especially one person who tried to tell me they are cutting it so they can give you more back. ARE YOU NEW? The Government never cuts anything so that it can later give you more back. They cut it to cut it. I think this Health Care Reform Bill should be about 100 pages long and only be discussing reform. TILL THEN I will fight,scream,and yell about how asinine it is. After we reform health care and deal with illegal immigrants then---then you want to discuss Universal Health Care.. OK. SOUNDS GOOD TO ME. Let's talk about it. But don't lump it in with all the CRAP your trying to pull. Then, then it just makes it crap.
The article that started today's rant