This was originally posted to my blog, Diabetes Odyssey.
It’s no secret that I hate politics with a passion. Talking politics is up there with math in my opinion, it just sucks. But the fact is that politics (and math) are an important and inescapable part of life.
Wait, what am I talking about here? What was I going to write this post about? Oh, yeah, money, healthcare, greed, chronic illness.
Who’s responsibility is it to pay for medical treatment? Really? Should the ill pay for their own care? Should their families? Should the government? Who makes that decision and why is it that ‘persons’ responsibility?
Every man for himself, or a village to care for one?
The fact is that if we chronically ill didn’t have insurance and ‘others’ to help us pay for the right to stay alive and functioning…we’d die.
I have spoken to so many people who so callously say things like, “why should I have to pay for strangers medical care?” (taxes). And “The government has no responsibility to pay for your medical care.” and “people should only have to pay for their own medical care!”
It’s easy for these people to say these things because they have never been ill, especially chronically ill. They can not fathom the expense that goes into ongoing medical care. They have no idea how frightening it is to wonder if you are going to be able to stay alive because you can’t afford your insulin.
With their ignorant and uncaring words they might as well be saying all of us chronically ill - who never asked to be this way - deserve to die.
We do not expect or even want to have our medical expenses paid by others. We wish we could afford it all ourselves. But pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, big business, and greedy officials along with others have all made sure medicine of all kinds is outrageously expensive. It is impossible for any individual with a chronic illness to pay in full for their own medical care. We need help. We don’t want it all paid for by others, just help to reduce the cost to an affordable amount for us to reasonably be able to pay.
I have spoken with so many other diabetics of all types who either do not have full insurance coverage for all the medical supplies they need, or have no coverage at all, or have good coverage but still can’t afford all the costs! So they must pay out of pocket for their uncovered supplies. Hundreds and thousands of dollars every time they resupply. For me it can get in the hundreds every few months.
When I had no insurance I had to live on the least effective type of insulin because it was the only kind I could get, and it was the least expensive (but still very expensive). I had to make my syringes last as long as I could. They would get so dull I had to push hard to pierce my skin. Ouch. I never checked my blood sugar because I couldn’t afford the supplies. I never went to the doctor or did blood-work because I couldn’t afford out-of-pocket costs.
I could have died. I did almost die, twice.
I only survived because I had diabetic family and friends who shared supplies with me and loaned me money on occasion. And I developed serious complications I now have to live with for the rest of my life and are costing me more money for ongoing medical care.
Having to make supplies last longer than they are intended or required to is a very dangerous thing to do. Infection is costly and potentially dangerous. Not to mention poor control leading to DKA and death can easily result from using obsolete insulin, old insulin, and not enough insulin.
All because healthcare, medicine, medical supplies, are all unnecessarily outrageously expensive.
Even though I now have very good insurance I still pay a lot of money for my medications and some of my supplies.
Why?! How do we solve the problem of greed?
I always hear this song and think of debt. LOL “We owe, we owe, we owe, we owe”
