ELLIE'S BLOG on Living Well with MS

This high volume talk about health care reform that we hear on television, read in newspapers and the Internet and its possible negative effect on us can be very fearful.  Sometimes we hear things that we're certain are not true. But we are not always sure how to find the facts to ascertain what is the truth. We with MS as well as those with other disabling conditions are a very very vulnerable group of people. "We have pre-existing conditions!"

Unfortunately we need Health Care!  We do not have the luxury of feeling nothing could ever happen to us that would require us to need Health Care.  We are not the people who have Healthcare Coverage but have never had to give it a test of what they really cover. We are not the people that the Health Care Insurance Industry is looking for.   We have healthcare needs that are expensive and in the future may be even more expensive. Therefore they feel they cannot make a sufficient amount money on us.

Ironically it was for this reason that Medicare was originally  passed by Congress and signed into law by President Johnson in 1965. (To see the archival document go to  http://www.ssa.gov/history/tally65.html  ) 

Elderly people could not get insurance coverage because they had or could possibly develop conditions that would require medical intervention.  They were not like healthy younger people and therefore were more expensive to cover.  Remember in our country our Health Insurance Industries are mostly for-profit companies.  Their major goal is to make as much money as possible for their Stockholders. And for some reason their board of directors feel required to reward their executives lavishly .

We who have MS take very expensive drugs to allow us to function at a higher level and to control the impact that MS has on us now and to prevent increasing disability in the future.  Now the drug companies can make a lot of money on us- but not if we can't afford the drugs.  So without some changes in our Healthcare System we're back to square one!

However as we live in a country that is a democracy we can change things. First we must seek the truth and get a variety of opinions.  Then we must advocate for what we think is right. This is what I have been trying to do for months.  But now that we're coming down to the wire I'd like some input from some of my readers on their views on healthcare issues.  So I plan for some of my blogs to take a current healthcare issue, do my research and share my research with you.

The first issue I'm raising is one that's important to all of us.  Will people with disabilities suffer if health reform becomes a reality? 

  I have found that The New Republic Magazine site has an excellent article.  It is an interview with Lisa Iezzoni, M.D., MSc . by Harold Pollack.  Dr. Iezzoni is a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and is the director of  IHP ( Institute for Health Policy ).  She has written many articles and books on disabilities and Multiple Sclerosis. She brings understanding and expertise as a Physician who is also a wheelchair user.  She's "walked the walk not just talked the talk" as she has had multiple sclerosis for 33 years.  I feel this is a must read! Even if you don't agree with her you can't help but be inspired.                                       http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-treatment/the-truth-about-disabilities-and-health-reform 

And while your on the site do check out some of the other informative articles.

                          ellie