Guaranteed Healthcare

I cannot help but feel hopeful as we now have a presidential candidate who promises to bring real change to America and give the American people what they want and deserve. A priority for me, and as the polls show and the statistics confirm, for the majority of Americans, is to have a real healthcare system in this country. Healthcare for everyone (universal coverage) that puts medical decisions back into the hands of the caregivers and takes the profit out of adminstrating a needed service (single payer system) and one that is humane and compassionate, emphasising wellness, prevention and equality of care across the spectrum of birth to death. Healthcare that is inclusive of dental, vision, hearing and mental health, recognizing that the body is a whole and that society is a whole and that sickness that affects a part jeopardizes the wellness and viabiliity of the whole.

I am hopeful that Barack Obama will listen and be persuaded to act on giving the people and the future of this country the true security of a healthy populous and that we will be be able to join the rest of the industrialized world in having a healthcare system that we can be proud of.

I am hopeful as a potential patient. I am hopeful as a retiree on a fixed and small income. I am hopeful as a Mother (and soon to be Grandmother). i am hopeful as a woman who spent 45 years as a nurse taking care of the ill and needy. I am hopeful as one who grew up in England and was the recipient of such a system.

Growing up I never questioned access to healthcare or my right to receive it. I never had to question how much it would cost or if it would be 'approved'. My parents never had to worry that they would lose coverage. it was just there, a solid safety net. It was there like the air to breathe and the water from the tap.

I went to the Doctors office during regular hours for check ups and minor complaints and if i was really sick or contagious, he/she came to the house. At 16 I got appendicitis and after the doctor saw me at home was admitted to the local hospital, for an appendectomy, as it turned out I already had some peritonitis (a burst abcess) and required antibiotics and and a little longer time in the hospital. During my stay , the medical team decided I needed some convalescence. There convalescence meant time to recuperate in a conducive healthy environment. So I was sent to a place in the country, a non-acute facility with doctors and nurses and physical therapists and other patients in the process of returning to optimum health. We had fresh air, healthy food, health education, lots of rest and walks in the countryside and to the nearby seashore. I was there for 3 weeks, after a two week hospital stay and returned home healed and healthy. The only stress on my family was that I was sick and they worried that I would be OK, no financial pressures. no worries that they would lose coverage or their home to pay the bills. They did not have to agonize if they could afford my recuperation. My family was not wealthy, my Mother was a single parent and I had a younger brother at home, this was not charity care, but the same care any patient would get.

You might argue that was a long time ago and things have changed now. If one is to believe the negative arguments promulgated by the industry, then that system no longer works, is antiquated and out of date. However I saw my Mother (who remained in England )through an illness and eventual death recently and the healthcare she received is proof that the system is strong, meets the medical needs of the community and is compassionate and humane.

My Mother suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis and at the end of her life, had severe osteoporosis which resulted in disintegration of the bones in her neck, that held her head on, at the same time she was diagnosed with early colon cancer. My Mother (unlike me) was extremely stoic and not one to complain, she was in tremendous pain before she was willing to admit she needed help and treatment. She was scared of being incapacitated and losing her independence. She was initially admitted to hospice for pain control and evaluation for treatment,and this is where I became an active observer of her care. I was so impressed by the facility, the caring and medical expertise. i also got to see how "Americanized' I had become, how my expectation was that the decisions would be made for my Mother, instead I was humbled by the dignity she was afforded as the caregivers gave her all she needed to make her choices and then respectfully carried out her wishes. She was sent to the hospital for surgery (rods in her neck) and then returned to the hospice for recuperation and healing. As the time approached when she was strong enough to return home, she was taken for a visit to the house with a social worker and physical therapist. Assessing for adaptations that she might need to her physical environment and in-home help that might be necessary. I went too, with my ideas. I though she needed to move her bed into the downstairs, have daily help or even a live in, none of which my Mother wanted, but I thought had to be.

Again. I was humbled as i was respectfully but firmly shut down and my Mother was listened to and then it was worked out to give her what she wanted. A stair lift was installed, simple adaptations were made to her bathroom and kitchen and she was given a home help for cleaning and shopping until she was able to drive, which happened within a few weeks. She returned home, living independently, cooking for herself and enjoying her garden and the home and neighborhood she loved, before succumbing to the colon cancer that took her life (she had opted for no treatment, wanting to enjoy her time and accept that it was limited).

She received no 'special' care and the out of pocket cost was minimal, she paid rental on the stair lift and minimal co-pays on medication. She felt safe and cared for her and lived her life as she wished.

I believe that this is what Americans mean when they say "they want to make their own health care decisions". It is my hope that the time for health care for all, is NOW.