Writer Ruth Farquhar, of Manitoulin Island in Canada, discusses a Crohn's patient's take on the Canadian Health System in response to the rhetoric and claims being thrown around in the political battle in the US over Obamas proposed health care reform.
I think that persons with a chronic condition have a unique relationship and understanding of their health care system. Crohn's patients tend to go through flares requiring hospitalization, and according to the CCFA, "Two-thirds to three-quarters of patients with Crohn's disease will require surgery at some point during their lives." We give a lot of blood up to blood tests, take a lot of medications, and require expensive diagnostic tests.
Myself alone, I have had such tests as multiple colonoscopies, small bowel series, CAT scans, and a capsule endoscopie. I hope to beat the odds and not require surgery or further hospitalizations, but the possibility looms like a specter over my life. I cannot imagine going through this without health insurance. I am cutting back on everything I can just to be able to afford the COBRA payments for myself and my family of four as my husband and I have now both been laid off.
My mother in law is one of the many in the US with no health insurance. She lives on social security after a long career as a pro cleaner. Her last job was cleaning medical offices, in fact. She cannot afford health insurance. She pays her doctor directly when she goes, asks for generic and low priced prescriptions, and took years to pay off the bill from her last emergency room visit.
I sure hope the US House of Representatives understand that they have a clear mandate from the American people who voted for Obama. We need an improved health care system with availability of affordable coverage for all our citizens.
