Good news for Americans without health insurance

[leelaplay]

Good news for Americans without health insurance - maybe

Sweeping Health Care Plan Passes House

Luke Sharrett/The New York Times Published: November 7, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/health/policy/08health.html?_r=1&hp

WASHINGTON Handing President Obama a hard-fought victory, the House narrowly approved a sweeping overhaul of the nations health care system on Saturday, advancing legislation that the Democrats said could be their defining social policy achievement.

After a daylong clash with Republicans over what has been a Democratic goal for decades, lawmakers voted 220 to 215 to approve a plan that would cost $1.1 trillion over 10 years and that Democrats said would provide relief to Americans struggling to buy or hold on to health insurance.

 

[August59]

I'll believe it when I see it. From what I understand CFS will be pushed very hard through the psycholgical arm of this great health care bill.
I'm not opposing or approving of this bill. It just seemed to me that it was just way too much, way too quick to do it right. I hope it works out and I geuss we will see.

 

[liverock]

Under this healthcare bill what doctors can test for and treatments carried out will be stricly defined and monitored by a government agency, this is clearly laid down in the terms of the bill and has caused a great deal of controversy among doctors, who feel that they are being professionally restricted and patients will suffer.

This restriction is to make sure costs are kept under control. My guess is you will end up with a system like the UK National Health system which is absolutely useless for CFS sufferers. The only treatment offered is either cognitive behavior therapy or phsychiatric evaluation.
If you have a sympathetic doctor at the moment, who will help with getting some testing and drugs paid for through insurance, you may find this will stop
under the new healthcare system.

 

[zoe.a.m.]

silver lining

I'm not sure exactly what it will look like to have government agencies in charge of what testing and treatments are approved, but it's unlikely that it will be worse than what many deal with now having private insurance. With very very (even Microsoft stopped their great coverage) few plans really covering what doctors declare as necessary or beneficial (and covering such a small % of what they do approve), we may find that government agencies are easier to work with--or no worse--than private insurance companies. I say this having worked for the federal and state government for many years, and having the 'pleasure' of dealing with endless bureaucracy!

It's also a good time in terms of the XMRV discovery and the Whittemores doing whatever exactly they're doing in Washington. When I was last at the WPI website, I saw the number of projects in the works, many of which are focused on other biomarkers that will be used to diagnose neuro-immune illnesses.

Had the Science article not broken, the CFSAC meeting not occurred (yeah, I know we're still waiting on years' worth of recommendations ), the retroviral link not discovered, no WPI, etc. and if we were dependent upon what the CDC has said and done--we'd be in trouble. Luckily, that's not the case. I will continue to hold out hope that the retrovirus will garner enough enthusiasm in the general medical and scientific population to keep CFS in the news and that the biomarker tests (and hopefully pathogen tests as well) will be available sooner rather than later.

I still think competition will foster more choices and lower costs. It's also good to remember that having CFS acknowledged as being in the company of autism and more will garner more awareness. To have these illnesses under the same umbrella will be beneficial because parents of autistic children will demand care and treatment and the government would be ill advised to refuse that demand. Because of the prevalence of neuro-immune illnesses in children and adolescents, you'll likely see demands coming from schools as well. I really think these factors bode well.

 

[susan]

Australia

Everyone here gets great health care for little cost.

 

[fresh_eyes]

This legislation looks to me very different from the UK system (which does indeed sound like an absolute nightmare for ME sufferers). All it does is offer one public, nonprofit insurance option to compete with all the private for-profit insurers who are making the choices to limit our healthcare now. It's supported by many doctors, as shown by its endorsement by the American Medical Association. I'm hoping it will lead to me being able to get *some* medical care, because as of now I have none at all.

 

[Uno]

This legislation looks to me very different from the UK system (which does indeed sound like an absolute nightmare for ME sufferers).

Speaking as a sufferer in the UK who is currently very sick and being hauled through the UK mental health system as per 'National Health Service policy', it's interesting to hear what is happening across the pond.

Our NHS system is falling to pieces. It's all based around politics, recommended guidelines, funding and psychiatary has it's fingers in ALL of these pies making it near impossible to get treatment. A woman who has M.E that lives near me died two weeks ago unseen by a single medical expert.

This same board of Psychs and their US collegues are I believe on recommendation panels on US medical insurance companies also making it really hard for people to be covered, hence the US is also fighting the Psych route but at least you have a few more options than us over here...there isn't a single doctor in the UK willing to prescribe Valtrex or run an MRI scan, speaking to people across the whole country.

My doctor didn't even send me for a chest Xray when I had pleurisy and my heart and lungs aren't functioning properly. Even to see a doctor you have to wait over an hour in crowded waiting rooms let alone the emergency services.

I am planning to pool all my resources together to come to America to see a proper doctor, maybe then I can get some degree of a normal life back!

 

[fresh_eyes]

Hi Uno. I've been shocked by what I've learned about the UK health service's response to ME - it's a crime. I do hope you find care that helps you. Our system is awful too, in a different way. I'm hopeful that this XMRV development will bring changes for us all.