Sick and 'Sicko'

[ubiquirk]

I'm really glad I didn't have to go off to a conference this last weekend because it gave me time to rest and get a start at kicking a sinus infection.  How do I do so?  Well, for me, I spray a lot of zinc solution up my nose, take a homeopathic remedy, and take zinc lozenges to keep it from spreading to my throat.  Then I try to sleep as much as

Comments

[firefly124]

He sticks to people being denied necessary care, and that was harrowing.

Which happens with those as well. I have two clients in particular who are dependent upon Medicare, which is much worse than Medicaid. Both were put in life-threatening situations because they kept getting bounced back out of the ER. Part of it is prejudice against people with mental illness, because of course you can't believe a word they say as it's all crazy (even if they have direct-care staff backing them up), but another huge chunk is Medicare not being willing to pay for necessary diagnostic procedures and treatment. That is the thing that scares me most about moving to a single-payer system, because that's what we have for a home-grown model, and it's extremely poor.

The whole Medicare D bit where they got involved in prescriptions is another fiasco. It took a bad situation and made it much worse, and they still haven't straightened it out after a year and a half. Though at least doctors have gotten better at finding loopholes around the mess so people can still get their meds without being accused of fraud. Sometimes.

One of my recent "favorites" that is mainly cruel but also potentially life-threatening is hip replacement. The top of your thighbone can actually be necrotic (something called avascular necrosis, caused by prolonged prednisone use, though in this particular case it didn't take long at all), but no hip replacement for you until the damned thing breaks. Once it breaks, it's a necessity. How getting necrotic tissue out of someone's body isn't necessary is beyond me, never mind that the fall associated with a broken hip can have all sorts of dangers of its own.

::looks down::

Oops, where'd that soapbox come from?

[ubiquirk]

Yes - he kept showing all of these people in dire straights being denied care because it 'wasn't covered.' Excuses were: 'it's not necessary' or 'the procedure is too experimental.' Meanwhile, the person died. I'd say that's pretty damn necessary, and I don't care how experimental it is. Goddess, the hip-replacement thing is just another example.

Moore did attack the new Medicare D prescription plan too - it's clear that it only made things more expensive for seniors while drug companies continue to reap profits.