Lyme Update & Health Insurance Rant 8/18/2009

[nicolebmoviesFTW2]

This is why everyone hates America.

[Ringo55753]

Could you please provide a link to the movie "Under our skin"?

By the way, do you have a brother named Devon?

[OneGirlArmy]

@Ringo55753 No I have a cousin Named Devon though. :)

[OneGirlArmy]

@Ringo55753 Go to under our skin . com to preview the movie.

[Ephilation]

So how did you convince your parents that this was a real issue? I still haven't been able to convince them.

[OneGirlArmy]

@Ephilation I had them watch Under Our Skin. It's a great film and explains a lot.

[lcb1783]

Just because the government may provide universal health insurance that rivals other health insurance companies, it doesn't mean that the government insurance plan will cover people with lyme disease. It is a nice idea, though - my mom has had lyme disease for almost twenty years - but I am not confident that they the government will help her with their proposed plan. If they do, that would be a godsend, but again, no evidence to support it.

[OneGirlArmy]

I'm not saying it will cover Lyme Disease. It is still a human right to have basic health insurance though whether it covers Lyme or not. Lyme is not the only disease on this earth.

[hoody1214]

You go girl! You and I should start our own group to fight the injustice that is going on with insurance. Aetna treats me the same way. They will not pay for a picc line unless I too have organ failure, severe cardiac problmes, treatment resistant arthritis, or neurological deficits. What a pile of crap. I'm currently trying to prove I have neurological deficits, LOL.

Love & Light--Shera

[heiwalove]

i hear you. i'm uninsured and there's no way on earth i could ever afford IV treatment. it's criminal. and lyme sufferers will likely not be helped by universal care until the CDC changes its guidelines and the IDSA spontaneously combusts -- but you're right, maybe we'd at least be eligible for a plan that covers emergency/routine care. and of course it would help millions of other folks around the country. people need to think outside themselves for more than 2 seconds.

[capricorn1968]

For profit has no place in healthcare for the chronically ill. For lyme px I'm not convinced that public health would be any better UNLESS the CDC guidelines change. Having options are always good though.

I was at an UOS screening last week, and a doctor/researcher stated that for the government to change its stance(CDC, FDA, NIH), privately-funded Research has to happen, research that will grab Govt attention & benefit the government in some way to spur them to do their own. The politics...

[OneGirlArmy]

Even if the government plan doesn't pay for my Lyme Treatment — We still deserve to have affordable emergency care.

The CDC guidelines can change whenever they change, but I wan't my general healthcare now.

Isn't it great that we are cured by a piece of paper! Hehe. <3

[capricorn1968]

I'm sorry to hear. COBRA is so very expensive. In Mass we have govt programs, MassHealth/Commonwealth Care.

When you JUST don't make the cutoff tho', it's still too pricey for the standard of living here anyway. The income reqs aren't quite adjusted to accommodate the high cost of living.

But: at least there's an option.

I'm sorry others don't have it.

Emergency care maybe okay but I do hear finding a PCP is proving to be near impossible for some.

Good luck with the IV!

[capricorn1968]

Sorry to hear about your frustrations and saga with your insurance company. It's the LAST thing that we need to deal with as people who are trying to get well.

My HMO won't grant IV, not without a positive ELISA (55% inaccuracy rate) following by CDC western blot. With major neuro involvement with lyme and bartonella, I am losing function and fine motility. Like you, guess I don't have TBDs, eh?

[cleric1104]

Good to see you. And good to see you fired up, as well! Yeah, I go through similar frustrations with my health insurance company. I'm trying to get them to pay for my Rx visits and they keep denying me. And I keep re submitting. I never went the IV route because I knew I couldn't afford it. Now I'm wondering if I'll ever totally get rid of this crap without IV. And I shouldn't have to wonder about those sorts of things. Anyone who wants to know just how broken this system is need only get Lyme.