[quote=spdrun]For the majority of Americans, it is, whether it’s called rationing or a high deductible. I’m not sure if a baseline level of public coverage (or public option replaceable with private coverage) would actually make our system worse.
And I’m still frustrated that my aunt needed to wait quite a while to have a PET scan approved for a form of cancer that can grow pretty rapidly if untreated.
It’s almost as if her private insurer said “meh, it would be cheaper if she died in 6 months rather than us paying for treatment.”[/quote]spd, I think if you call her and drill down to the facts, you will find that your aunt has an EPO or HMO.
It is precisely for the reason you mention here that I won’t accept one of those plans. I’ve seen too much already in this regard and can tell you with certainty that in your aunt’s case, time is of the essence. I’ve known too many people who had to wait for approval for a procedure or wait too long to be diagnosed properly by an incompetent set of mishmash unrelated providers across town from one another who effed around for weeks with their (piecemeal) medical records before even setting an appt. These debacles took place all the while these patients’ short window of opportunity to travel to a decent integrated cancer center (with their own in-house lab/scientists) passed before them leaving them only one choice …. hospice.
I’ve seen this scenario play out over and over with those patients who either had an HMO/EPO or lived in an area without an good integrated cancer center for their type of cancer … or both. It’s a really sad situation all around which I feel didn’t need to happen in the way that it did. None of them lived six months and 3 of them lived 3 months or less.
