Tell me again how the free market can handle health care?
From the Pragmatic Progressive.
I only know this woman’s first name, Midge. I assume she lives in New Jersey because the closest hospital to her was in Hoboken. But her story is all too common.
“Let’s talk about insurance companies. My husband Dan became very ill last Friday. He rushed in from work unexpected. He was weak, shaking violently and on the verge of passing out with a 104.2 fever. I knew how dangerous that was for an adult and immediately rushed him in a cab to the closest hospital which was Hoboken University Hospital. They attended to him immediately and said he had a very bad infection and was septic. After days in the hospital it was determined he had sepsis and the bacteria in his blood was ecoli. He went through several days of being very sick and was hooked up to all kinds of medication and they tell me I saved his life by getting him there when I did. The good news is he’s doing better and was released with intense antibiotic treatment at home for 21 days. Sounds like a happy ending right..? …WRONG. The telephone rang at 4:00 yesterday afternoon at the hospital and they wanted to talk to Dan Hough, it was a representative of Cigna. I saw his face go white as she said he was in an out of network hospital and Cigna was not responsible. Really???? We didn’t chose this hospital for a bruise, a twisted ankle etc. we choose it because his condition was urgent and it was the closest one to us. As he tried to explain what had happened and tell her that he was never told of this network issue she said he should have called his primary care physician..well we just moved here and we don’t have a primary care physician, we moved here two weeks ago. The hospital never told us about this being an issue and we had a case worker who was arranging for home care if needed, she never said a word…but I’m getting off topic… This Nurse consultant kept trying to trip Dan up… a very sick man… to catch him in a lie as he struggled to explain she said “Just consider this an education” …so folks looks like we are in for another fight. We asked why they did not call us immediately and perhaps we could have changed hospitals although Hoboken said we would need an accepting physician. Again, we do not have a doctor. Dan’s treatment could not be interrupted, his life depended on it so we felt helpless..seems Cigna does not understand that. So a life threatening illness followed by abuse from a “caring Cigna nurse. Yup, it’s all about money. They have several pages on facebook and they talk about how they are different and how people are not seen as a number..really? PROFITS OVER PEOPLE it’s been that way for a long time and once again I am feeling the sting of what this really means to people. I am asking you to help, if you know Dan and I please copy this story or go to their fb pages to ask them why they would punish us for doing what was needed to save a life. Ask them about their caring treatment to a seriously ill patient. The fight is on, I’m not rolling over for this because it was life or death and Cigna is afraid they will lose some money..Yeah sure Cigna, you care about people, they are not just numbers to you! I’d like an apology from the Cigna nurse, perhaps she would like to know they had to take his blood pressure twice because he got so upset.”
Insurance companies will go to great lengths to deny payment; this story is just one of millions out there. What’s yours? You can e-mail it to me at lifeomike@gmail.com.
Tags: Patient Pals & Family Friends
Life o' Mike has a peer support program for people with one or more serious or chronic medical issues or disabilities.
We aim to reduce isolation and fear among people who have conditions, including psychiatric illness, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, mild dementia or other cognitive disorder or disability, thereby reducing depression and complications as people learn to improve self-management of their medical conditions.
Patient Pals help alleviate feelings of isolation and frustration. They can help people develop a list of questions to ask the doctor and then accompany the person to the doctor to make sure all the questions are answered, taking notes to be sure the person understands the doctor’s answers.
Our trained volunteers also accompany their “Pals” to art exhibits, movies and walks outdoors, meet for coffee, call to check in and more.
Our Pals have experienced weight loss, improvement in diabetes, HIV, psoriasis, depression and more, just because they have someone who cares about them. Some relationships develop into longer-term friendships; other Pals move on to more independent lives.
Family Friends are there to help caregivers and other family members grow into their new role.
We need volunteers, who are asked to donate a minimum of one hour a week. Training is free and includes information on active listening, ways to help and when to know more help is needed.
And of course, we need funding.
To learn more, call Leslie Boyd at 828-243-6712 or e-mail lifeomike@gmail.com.
Life o’ Mike honors Joe Eblen
Life o' Mike presented its first Michael T. Danforth Community Service Award to Joe Eblen at a luncheon on June 8, in the Friendship Hall of First Congregational Church, 20 Oak St., Asheville.
Joe, seen here with Leslie Boyd, left, and his wife, Bobbie, has spent his life helping children and families, both as a coach and game official for more than 60 years, and as founder of Eblen Charities.
Start From Seed
Life o' Mike has a new program- Start from Seed (SFS).
SFS is a volunteer doula program aimed at providing non-medical, comprehensive support to low income, high-risk women and families of Buncombe County focusing on three areas:
1. We help new doulas with certification and training in return for their participation as a volunteer doula for SFS
2. We mentor volunteer doulas with their first few clients
3. Our volunteer doulas provide birth and postpartum doula services to low income, high risk moms, providing support and tools to empower them as a new parent.
A birth doula is a trained and experienced professional who provides continuous physical, emotional and informational support to the mother before, during and just after birth; a postpartum doula provides emotional and practical support during the postpartum period.
Start from Seed clients are referred to us from the Buncombe County Department of Health’s Nurse-Family Partnership Program, Western North Carolina Community Health Services, and Mission Hospital. The Program is intended and designed for growing clients’ inner strength and helping them gain empowerment to help them cope with the emotional, physical and mental challenges of childbirth, labor, and motherhood.
Our new moms and their infants have many needs. If you would like to help them get off to a good start, please visit our Start from Seed web site: Start from Seed, or call Program Director Chelsea Kouns at 804-814-9946.