All that and more aside, I think the more worrisome issue is the fact that our own insurers are sending patients to other countries for care. What do you think? Does that touch a chord down deep inside of you as a health care provider in the United States? It does for me.
By Peggy McDaniel, BSN, RN
I recently read a stirring blog post in the NY Times from a fellow nurse, about a cancer patient she’d treated who was an insurance salesman but whose last months were dominated by a desperate attempt to manage his mounting medical bills, bills which left his wife with a second massive burden on top of her grief at his death.
Like Theresa Brown, I am an oncology nurse. In my work in pediatric oncology, I have also seen families ravaged by cancer treatment—physically, emotionally, and economically. Young families that fight to save their children often end up bankrupt, or with a ruined marriage from the emotional strain of dealing with a loss coupled with financial strain. Financial concerns are ever present.
Theresa’s article really hit home. I hope you take the time to read it. As I was listening to President Obama’s health care reform speech last week, I heard him mention Senator Kennedy’s experience as a parent of two children diagnosed with cancer. When it comes to the pain and suffering that children experience during treatment, the Kennedy childrens’ experience and that of children without reliable insurance were probably quite similar.
I would guess, though, that the experience was very different for the parents. […]
Nurses do know the importance of these elements of health care reform.
Said President Obama this morning, to a White House audience of nurse leaders (including Diana Mason, AJN‘s editor-in-chief emeritus): “You’re the bedrock of our medical system. . . Few people understand . . . as you do why we need reform.” Click the image above to go to a page where you can watch the full speech, and be sure to check back here for Mason’s account of her visit to the White House.
But the cost of the hospitalization alone for an uncomplicated bariatric surgery is now about $28,000. That goes up to over $38,000 if complications arise—and almost $70,000 if the patient has to be readmitted. Now, what if a patient decides he'd like to go to a nutritionist every week for several years to gradually lose the weight and change his eating habits permanently? Let's say that the cost of seeing a nutritionist is $100 per visit—that's just over $15,000, but who's paying to put up signs advertising a hospital's nutritional service for weight loss ?