What does our nation value?
While I was participating at the Texas Democratic Convention in Austin, June 5-7, 2008, my youngest daughter, age 26 (mother of 2) was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. She was hospitalized with a blood sugar of over 400 mg/dl, following symptoms of thirst, blurred vision and fatigue, the classic symptoms of diabetes. Prior to this she had been in excellent health, not even a hint of gestational diabetes when she was pregnant with her 2 children.
She has insurance, but it covers very little. The diagnosis was shocking, but the sticker shock for her medications and supplies, which are critical to keeping her alive, was even more stunning.
The statistics:
This week, the total cost for supplies as she was discharged from the hospital (and we shopped around) $700.
My daughter and her husband earn $10 per hour. My daughter’s insurance does not cover medications. What I want you, the reader, to picture, is how they (or you) can manage to live on your salary, pay for a home, raise 2 children, and still afford to pay $700 per month for medication to keep you alive.
It is stunning to me, that in the richest nation in the world, that prides itself on being “number one” we don’t have national health care. No, we would rather allow people like my daughter, to suffer due to lack of care, poor care, no care, or complications from a treatable disease due to lack of funds, rather than save money and help them care for themselves. In other words, we as a nation, would rather pay many times more for emergency room care, and indigent care (which increases our insurance premiums) rather than pay for preventative and maintenance care. This is a national disgrace.
What is even worse, is that during my daughter’s hospitalization, she got one (count ‘em ONE) visit from a diabetic educator and ONE visit from a dietician. How much can a person learn about managing a life threatening disease in one visit? In addition, during her hospitalization, there was no visit from a social worker or anyone else to inform her about what resources were available to her in order for her to find a way to pay for her life sustaining treatment.
As an RN, and her mother, I am outraged at the poor quality of care we offer our citizens. I can help my daughter, and together we will learn the best way to help her manage her diabetes. What happens to others? How do they learn what to do, and how to best care for themselves. How do they afford their medication?
For our family, I hope we can find the proper resources to pay for my daughter’s medication. For the rest of our nation, and others like my daughter, what do we do? How do we resolve this problem? How do we care for those who need assistance?
This is why I believe that a single payer health care plan is the only way to go forward.
Senator Obama, please help all of us.
I will continue to work tirelessly to help you get elected, as I have since June 2007. Remember, my husband and I worked your San Antonio event June 24, 2007, on our 35th wedding anniversary…and we have block walked, phone banked and everything else since that time. Consider those with chronic illness and help improve healthcare for them. After all, what does our nation value, guns and the corporations, or our citizens? I am hoping it is the citizens.
Thank you.
Comments are closed for this post.
